The Art of Pleasing

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Feb 9, 1882

The Art of Pleasing

TRY TO PLEASE. The late George Merriam, publisher of "Webster’s Dictionary," whose early life, though spent in poverty, gave token by its diligence, purity and kindness to his mother, of what a true, noble man he would become, said, when he was an old man: "I trace my success in life to a desire to please. To try to please was my great aim; first my father, and then for his sake, my employer. I lived with my mother, and took four or five apprentices to board with her, and if at the end of the year she came out short, I evened it up."

The one who tries to please makes many friends, and therefore has wide influence. One need never sacrifice principle, but one can always be kind. "What is the secret of the success of Miss — ?" — one of the belles in Washington last winter — we asked a friend "She does not appear remarkably intellectual and she is not very beautiful." "No," said the person addressed, "but she tries to please people." And this was the secret of her being loved.