He realized that in order to do this he must do
two things: he must husband his financial resources and he must begin
to accumulate a mental reserve.
The wide public acceptance of the periodical which he edited naturally
brought a share of financial success to him. He had experienced
poverty, and as he subsequently wrote, in an article called "Why I
Believe in Poverty," he was deeply grateful for his experience. He had
known what it was to be poor; he had seen others dear to him suffer for
the bare necessities; there was, in fact, not a single step on that
hard road that he had not travelled. He could, therefore, sympathize
with the fullest understanding with those similarly situated, could
help as one who knew from practice and not from theory. He realized
what a marvellous blessing poverty can be; but as a condition to
experience, to derive from it poignant lessons, and then to get out of;
not as a condition to stay in.
Of course many said to Bok when he wrote the article in which he
expressed these beliefs: "That's all very well; easy enough to say, but
how can you get out of it?" Bok realized that he could not definitely
show any one the way.
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