Читать книгу How They Succeeded: Life Stories of Successful Men Told by Themselves - Orison Swett Marden - Страница 41

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“Do you believe in inherited abilities, or that any boy can be taught and trained, and made a great and able man?”

“I recognize inherited ability. Some people have it, and only in a certain direction; but I think men can be taught and trained so that they become much better and more useful than they would be, otherwise. Some boys require more training and teaching than others. There is prosperity for everyone, according to his ability.”

“What would you do with those who are naturally less competent than others?”

“Train them, and give them work according to their ability. I believe that life is all right, and that this difference which nature makes is all right. Everything is good, and is coming out satisfactorily, and we ought to make the most of conditions, and try to use and improve everything. The work needed is here, and everyone should set about doing it.”

When asked if he thought the chances for young men as good to-day as they were when he was young. “Yes,” he said, “I think so. The world is changing every day and new fields are constantly opening. We have new ideas, new inventions, new methods of manufacture, and new ways to-day everywhere. There is plenty of room for any man who can do anything well. The electrical field is a wonderful one. There are other things equally good, and the right man is never at a loss for an opportunity. Provided he has some ability and good sense to start with, is thrifty, honest and economical, there is no reason why any young man should not accumulate money and attain so called success in life.”

When asked to what qualities he attributed his own success, Mr. Armour said: “I think that thrift and economy had much to do with it. I owe much to my mother’s training and to a good line of Scotch ancestors, who have always been thrifty and economical. As to my business education, I never had any. I am, in fact, a good deal like Topsy, ‘I just growed.’ My success has been largely a matter of organization.

“I have always made it a point to surround myself with good men. I take them when they are young and keep them just as long as I can. Nearly all of the men I now have, have grown up with me. Many of them have worked with me for twenty years. They have started in at low wages, and have been advanced until they have reached the highest positions.” Mr. Armour thinks that most men who accumulate a large amount of money, inherited the money-making instinct. The power of making and accumulating money, he says, is as much a natural gift as are those of a singer or an artist. “The germs of the power to make money must be in the mind. Take, for instance, the people we have working with us. I can get millions of good bookkeepers or accountants, but not more than one out of five hundred in all of those I have employed has made a great success as an organizer or trader.”

Mr. Armour is a great believer in young men and young brains. He never discharges a man if he can possibly avoid it. If the man is not doing good work where he is, he puts him in some other department, but never discharges him if he can find him other work. He will not, however, tolerate intemperance, laziness or getting into debt. Some time ago a policeman entered his office. In answer to Mr. Armour’s question, “What do you want here?” he replied: “I want to garnishee one of your men’s wages for debt.” “Indeed,” said Mr. Armour, “and who is the man?” Asking the officer into his private room he sent for the debtor. “How long have you been in debt?” asked Mr. Armour. The clerk replied that he had been behind for twenty years and could not seem to catch up. “But you get a good salary, don’t you?” “Yes, but I can’t get out of debt.” “But you must get out, or you must leave here,” said Mr. Armour. “How much do you owe?” The clerk then gave the amount, which was less than a thousand-dollars. “Well,” said Mr. Armour, handing him a check, “there is enough to pay all your debts, and if I hear of you again getting into debt, you will have to leave.” The clerk paid his debts and remodeled his life on a cash basis.