144 THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-MASTERY
One of the most important turning points of the world war came
when the allied armies were placed under the direction of the French
marshall, Ferdinand Foch. There are some well-informed military his-
torians who claim that this was the move that spelled doom for the
opposmg. armIes..
Any modern railroad bridge is an excellent example of the value
of organized ifJortJ because it demonstrates quite simply and clearly how
thousands of tons of weight may be borne by a comparatively small
group of steel bars and beams which are arranged so that the weight
is spread over the entire group.
There is a story about a man who had seven sons who were always
quarreling among themselves. One day he called them all together and
informed them that he wished to demonstrate just what their lack of
cooperative effort meant. He had prepared a bundle of seven sticks
which he had carefully tied together. One by one he asked his sons
to take the bundle and break it. Each son tried, but in vain. Then he
cut the strings and handed one of the sticks to each of his sons and
asked each to break it over his knee. After those sticks had all been
broken with ease, he said: "When you boys work together in a spirit
of harmony you resemble the bundle of sticks, and no one can defeat
you; but when you quarrel among yourselves, anyone can defeat you
one at a time:'
There is a worthwhile lesson in this story of the man and his seven
quarrelsome sons, and it may be applied to the people of a community,
the employees and employers in a given place of business, or to the state
and nation in which we live.
Organized ifJort may be made a power, but it may also be a dangerous
power unless guided with intelligence, which is the chief reason why the
sixteenth lesson of this course is devoted largely to describing how to
direct the power of organized ifJort so that it will lead to success; the
sort of success that is founded on truth and justice and fairness which
leads to ultimate happiness.