IMAGINATION 399At the age of forty-the age at which the average man or woman
begins to think they are too old to start anything new-James J. Hill
was still working as a telegraph operator, at a salary of thirty dollars
per month. He had no capital, and he had no influential friends with
capital. But he did have something that is more powerful than either
-he had Imagination.
In his mind's eye he saw a great railway system that would penetrate
the undeveloped northwest and unite the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
So vivid was his Imagination that he was also able to make others see
the advantages of such a railway system. I would emphasize the part of
the story that most people never mention-that Hill's Great Northern
Railway system became a reality in his own Imagination first. This rail-
road was built with steel rails and wooden cross-ties, just as most other
railroads are built, and these things were paid for with capital that was
secured in very much the same manner that capital for all railroads is
secured. But if you want the real story of James J. Hill's success, you
must go back to that little country railway station where he worked at
thirty dollars a month and there pick up the little threads that he wove
into a mighty railroad, with materials no more visible than the thoughts
that he organized in his Imagination.
What a mighty power is Imagination, the workshop of the soul,
in which thoughts are woven into railroads and skyscrapers and mills and
factories and all manner of material wealth.
I hold it true that thoughts are things;
They're endowed with bodies and breath and wings;
And that we send them jorth to jill
The world with good results or ill.
That which we call our secret thought
Speeds jorth to earth's remotest spot,
Leaving its blessings or its woes,
Like tracks behind it as it goes.