898 THE PRINCIPLES OF PERSONAL INTEGRITY
No one may become great without feeling themself humble and
insignificant when compared with the world around them, the stars
above them, and the harmony with which Nature does her work.
For every rich man's child who becomes a useful, constructive
worker on behalf of humanity, there are ninety-nine others rendering
useful service who come up through poverty and misery. This seems
more than a coincidence.
Most people who believe themselves to be failures are not failures at
all. Most conditions that people look upon as failure are nothing more
than temporary defeat.
Careful analysis of one hundred men and women whom the world
accepts as being "great" shows that they were compelled to undergo
hardship and temporary defeat and failure such as you probably have
never known and never will know.
Lincoln died without ever knowing that his "failure" gave sound
foundation to the greatest nation on this earth.
Columbus died without knowing that his "failure" meant the
discovery of the great nation that Lincoln helped to preserve with
his "failure:'
Do not use the word failure carelessly.
Remember, carrying a burdensome cross temporarily is not failure.
If you have the real seed of success within you, a little adversity and
temporary defeat will only serve to nurture that seed and cause it to
burst forth into maturity.
When Divine Intelligence wants a great man or woman to render
some needed service in the world, the fortunate one is tested through
some form of failure. If you are undergoing what you believe to be
failure, have patience; you may be passing through your testing time.
No capable executive would ever select as their lieutenants those
whom they had not tested for reliability, loyalty, perseverance, and
other essential qualities. Responsibility, and all that goes with it in