Prev | Current Page 241 | Next

Bok, Edward William, 1863-1930

"A Dutch Boy Fifty Years After"

No one had shown him. No two persons can find
the same way out. Bok determined to lift himself out of poverty
because his mother was not born in it, did not belong in it, and could
not stand it. That gave him the first essential: a purpose. Then he
backed up the purpose with effort and an ever-ready willingness to
work, and to work at anything that came his way, no matter what it was,
so long as it meant "the way out." He did not pick and choose; he took
what came, and did it in the best way he knew how; and when he did not
like what he was doing he still did it as well as he could while he was
doing it, but always with an eye single to the purpose not to do it any
longer than was strictly necessary. He used every rung in the ladder
as a rung to the one above. He always gave more than his particular
position or salary asked for. He never worked by the clock; always by
the job; and saw that it was well done regardless of the time it took
to do it. This meant effort, of course, untiring, ceaseless,
unsparing; and it meant work, hard as nails.


Pages:
229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253