One of the curious things noticed by those who are brought in contact with the people who have "arrived" is the fact that these successful people are ordinary after all. You meet with some great writer, and you are
encouraged to find them very ordinary indeed. They do not converse brilliantly, and, in fact, you know a score of everyday people who seem far more brilliant than this person who dazzles you by their brightness in their books. You meet some great statesperson, and they do not seem nearly so wise as lots of old fellows in your own village. You meet some great captain of industry, and they do not give you the impression of the shrewdness so marked in some little bargain-driving trader in your own town. How is this, anyway? How did these ordinary people achieve greatness?
Wherein does their greatness of achievement lie? Chiefly in this: Belief in themselves and in their inherent power, in their faculty to concentrate on the work in hand, when they are working, and in their ability to maintain their power when they are not working. They believe in themselves, and make every effort count. The wise save up their wisdom and place it where it would do some work. The brilliant writer shuts the drawer in which they contain their wit, and opens it only when they are ready to concentrate and get down to business. The captain of industry has a desire to be genuine. They always are, even when they were young. This future successful financier was "sawin' wood and sayin' nuthin'."
The great people of the world - that is, those who have "arrived" - are very similar to you, or me, or the rest of us - all of us are about the same at the base. You have only to meet them to see how very "ordinary" they are, after all. But, remember the fact that they know how to use the material that is in them.
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