BE ALIVE | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 18, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 25.

BE ALIVE.

If you expect to accomplish anything in the world, you must be alive,—very much alive,—alive all over. Some people seem half dormant. They impress you as partial possibilities,—as people who have discovered only a small part of the continent within themselves. Most of it remains undeveloped territory.

A man who does things is one who is alive to the very tips of his fingers. He is alert, always on the watch for opportunities. He does not give idleness time to dissipate him. He fights against that common malady known as a “tired feeling,” and conquers it.

Many a man is wondering why he does not succeed, while his desk, at which he sits, tells the story of his life, and shows the limitations of his capability. The scattered papers, the unfiled letters, the disorderly drawers, the dust in the pigeonholes, the layers of newspapers, of letters, of manuscripts, of pamphlets, of empty envelopes, of slips of paper, are all telltales.

If I were to hire a clerk, I would ask no better recommendation than would be afforded by the condition of his desk, or table, or room, or work-bench, or counter, or books. We are all surrounded by telltales which are constantly proclaiming the stories of our lives, cover them up as we will. Our manner, our gait, our conversation, the glance of the eye, the carriage of the body, every garment we wear, our collars, neckties and cuffs, are all telling our life-stories to the world.

We wonder why we do not get on faster, but these tiny biographers often tell the secret of our poverty, our limitations, our inferior position.—Success.