700 Common Words Exercise No. 11
From the lives of great men we learn many things, much
that is of value to us in our own lives. Not the least important thing,
perhaps, which the life of almost any great teaches us is that we have time to
do those things which we would do if only we had the time: as old people we
look back upon lost opportunities and wish that we had had the time to follow
this course of action, that line of training. But again and again, as we read
the stories of the lives of those who have done great things, of those whose
names will be forever remembered, the knowledge is forced upon us that our
trouble is not that we have too little time but we have too little desire. Our
desire to move in a certain direction is not strong enough to influence us to
take the necessary steps, to use for that purpose the hours which are being
spent in other and possibly less profitable ways. If the desire to act and the
will to work are there, then we shall find both the time and the opportunity.
These thoughts come to the mind upon reading a recently published book in which
the writer tells in outline the story of the lives of 15 great men. From the
many remarkable men who have lived during the past 500 years the writer has
taken those men who, by their thought and by their labour, were able to
discover a great principle, some deep truth about the laws of nature which had
not before been known men who in this way added greatly to the knowledge and
learning of the world and so took all men one big step forward in the long
march towards a better understanding of the forces which govern our world. It
is not possible to read this book or indeed any book of this nature without
feeling an increased respect for the power of man’s mind, an increased respect
for his learning, for his continued attempts to find the truth even when faced
with great difficulties. The life of each of these men, it need hardly be said,
differs in detail. Some of them showed themselves even as children to have
reasoning powers beyond what we regard as usual; others were just simple
children showing no special powers of any kind during their early years. Some
were one idea men, working only their special field: others developed
remarkable minds and became better than most men in most fields of learning.
But common to them all was the power to work for very long hours, hours spent
in deep thought, in careful planning, in the perfecting of ideas, and the
putting of results together piece by piece to make the whole a whole which was
to surprise the world. Most of them lived to an old age, few dying before
reaching 70 years of age and several living to be over 80. Naturally, the
thought must come: Was there any connection between these two facts? Did these
men work beyond the common person? Or did they owe their long lives to the fact
that they lived principally for their ideas, paying little attention to the
many pleasures which interest the masses, caring little for the food and drink
or for the company of other men and women? It is difficult to attempt an
answer. We cannot be certain. But long as was the life of the man himself, it
was short when measured by the life of his work. That work has influenced the
thoughts and the labours of many men for many years. It will continue to
influence man’s thought and man’s action as long as man is a thinking being,
using the knowledge of the past to increase in the present his control over
natural forces.
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