DO not
merely think that you are going to become great; think that you are great now.
Do not think that you will begin to act in a great way at some future time;
begin now. Do not think that you will act in a great way when you reach a
different environment; act in a great way where you are now. Do not think that
you will begin to act in a great way when you begin to deal with great things;
begin to deal in a great way with small things.
Do not
think that you will begin to be great when you get among more intelligent
people, or among people who understand you better; begin now to deal in a great
way with the people around you.
If you
are not in an environment where there is scope for your best powers and talents
you can move in due time; but meanwhile you can be great where you are. Lincoln was as great when
he was a backwoods lawyer as when he was President; as a backwoods lawyer he
did common things in a great way, and that made him President.
Had he
waited until he reached Washington
to begin to be great, he would have remained unknown. You are not made great by
the location in which you happen to be nor by the things with which you may
surround yourself. You are not made great by what you receive from others, and
you can never manifest greatness so long as you depend on others. You will
manifest greatness only when you begin to stand alone. Dismiss all thought of
reliance on externals, whether things, books, or people. As Emerson said,
“Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare.” Shakespeare will
be made by the thinking of Shakespearean thoughts.
Never
mind how the people around you, including those of your own household, may
treat you. That has nothing at all to do with your being great; that is, it
cannot hinder you from being great. People may neglect you and be unthankful
and unkind in their attitude toward you; does that prevent you from being great
in your manner and attitude toward them?
“Your
Father,” said Jesus, “is kind to the unthankful and the evil.” Would God be
great if he should go away and sulk because people were unthankful and did not
appreciate him? Treat the unthankful and the evil in a great and perfectly kind
way, just as God does. Do not talk about your greatness; you are really, in
essential nature, no greater than those around you. You may have entered upon a
way of living and thinking which they have not yet found, but they are perfect
on their own plane of thought and action. You are entitled to no special honor
or consideration for your greatness.
You are a
god, but you are among gods. You will fall into the boastful attitude if you
see other people’s shortcomings and failures and compare them with your own
virtues and successes; and if you fall into the boastful attitude of mind, you
will cease to be great, and become small. Think of yourself as a perfect being
among perfect beings, and meet every person as an equal, not as either superior
or an inferior. Give yourself no airs; great people never do.
Ask no
honors and seek for no recognition, honors and recognition will come fast
enough if you are entitled to them.
Begin at
home. It is a great person who can always be poised, assured, calm, and
perfectly kind and considerate at home. If your manner and attitude in your own
family are always the best you can think, you will soon become the one on whom
all the others will rely. You will be a tower of strength and a support in time
of trouble. You will be loved and appreciated. At the same time do not make the
mistake of throwing yourself away in the service of others. The great person
respects himself; he serves and helps, but he is never slavishly servile. You
cannot help your family by being a slave to them, or by doing for them those
things that by right they should do for themselves.
You do a
person an injury when you wait on him too much. The selfish and exacting are a
great deal better off if their exactions are denied. The ideal world is not one
where there are a lot of people being waited on by other people; it is a world
where everybody waits on himself. Meet all demands, selfish and otherwise, with
perfect kindness and consideration; but do not allow yourself to be made a
slave to the whims, caprices, exactions, or slavish desires of any member of
your family. To do so is not great, and it works an injury to the other party.
Do not
become uneasy over the failures or mistakes of any member of your family, and
feel that you must interfere. Do not be disturbed if others seem to be going
wrong, and feel that you must step in and set them right. Remember that every
person is perfect on his own plane; you cannot improve on the work of God. Do
not meddle with the personal habits and practices of others, though they are
your nearest and dearest; these things are none of your business. Nothing can
be wrong but your own personal attitude; make that right and you will know that
all else is right. You are a truly great soul when you can live with those who
do things that you do not do, and yet refrain from either criticism or
interference.
Do the
things that are right for you to do, and believe that every member of your
family is doing the things that are right for him.