Failure a Stepping Stone to Success
It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failure. There were hours of despondency when Shakespeare thought himself no poet and Raphael no painter, when the greatest wits doubted the excellence of their happiest efforts.
Many have to make up their need to encounter failure again and again before they finally succeed, but if they have pluck the failure will only serve to arouse their energies, and stimulate them to renewed efforts. No one can tell how many of the world’s most brilliant geniuses have succeed because of their first failures. Precept, study, advice and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done and this latter is often of more importance than the former.
We have read of our late B. T. Washington, we can realize the fact that from boyhood even till his death, he sought an opportunity, though the opportunity sometime seemed to be very small. Dr. B. T. felt the need of an education yes, he felt there was something he could do someday for the betterment of his race, so he accepted the small opportunities and after became a man of fame, integrity, and honor, he did not have the opportunity that most of the boys and girls have today, but because of his determination he was able to live and die a man of fame and honor.
Young Ladies and Gentlemen; a great deal has been done to help improve to the race, but do you know there is still more to be done, and there is something that we can do. There is more expected of us today than it was expected of men years ago; so we must begin work more earlier in life. Young Ladies and Gentlemen; let us put our whole heart mind and brains to work to help improve our race; though we may fail but from this failure we can organize future success.
We may wish ourselves great but unless we do something we shall forever be a wisher.
We must realize that our ways in this world is like a wall under a row of trees, checked with light and shade, and because we cannot all walk along in the sunshine, we therefore, fix upon the darker passages and so lose all the comfort of the cheering ones. There is no royal road to success, the road that leads to success lies through fields of hard, earnest and patient labor, it calls on the young man and woman put forth all energy, and bids him build well his foundation, go to success since it will not come to you, and remember even as steel is tempered by heat, and through much hammering and changing original form, is at last wrought into useful articles, so in the history of many men do we find that they were attempered in the furnace of trials and afflictions.
Let us then strive against despondency, even when the way before us is both dark and dreary it still is worse than useless to give away to despondency. Energy and proper afflictions may recover what you have lost; take heart; pluck up courage; give not over to despondency; by confronting the evils of life they will lose their force.
We are able to know today that intelligence has awakened and spreaded out her hands, and from time immemorial intellectual endowment have been crowned with bays of honor, men have worshiped at the sign of intellect with almost an eastern idolatry, the world at large has crowned education with its richest honors, its pathway has been strewn with flowers, its brow has won the loftiest plume, and now we own schools, we must prepare ourselves to meet the demand of the world, rouse ourselves, and do not allow our best years to slip past because we have not succeeded as we thought we would. Why; because the man who never failed is a myth. If we fail now and then do not be discouraged. It is indeed a happy providence that given to mankind the bright shining sun of hope to dispel the gloom of despondency. We have all seen the sunburst from behind the clouds and light up a storm swept landscape.
The trouble is, that many of us when we are under any affliction, are troubled with certain malicious melancholy, never take notice of the most benighting ones.
We must bear in mind that it is only the past and experience of every successful man. The most successful men oftener have the most failures. These failures which to the feeble are mere stumbling blocks, to the strong serve to remove the scales from their eyes so that they now see clearer, and go on their way with a firmer tread and more determined mien, and compel life to yield to them its most enduring trophies.
The world is not coming to an end, nor society going to destruction, because our petty plans have miscarried. The present failure should only teach us to be more wary in the future and this will gather a rich harvest as the final outcome of our efforts. The most successful men oftener has the most failures. So if success were to crown our efforts now, where would be the great success of our future.