Would Peary have been denounced if he had had a desk job in the Navy Department in
Washington. No. He wouldn't have been important enough then to have aroused
jealousy.
General Grant had an even worse experience than Admiral Peary. In 1862, General
Grant won the first great decisive victory that the North had enjoyed-a victory that was
achieved in one afternoon, a victory that made Grant a national idol overnight-a victory
that had tremendous repercussions even in far-off Europe-a victory that set church bells
ringing and bonfires blazing from Maine to the banks of the Mississippi. Yet within six
weeks after achieving that great victory, Grant -hero of the North-was arrested and his
army was taken from him. He wept with humiliation and despair.
Why was General U.S. Grant arrested at the flood tide of his victory? Largely because
he had aroused the jealousy and envy of his arrogant superiors.
If we are tempted to be worried about unjust criticism here is Rule 1:
Remember that unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment. Remember that no one
ever kicks a dead dog.
Chapter 21 - Do This-and Criticism Can't Hurt You
I once interviewed Major-General Smedley Butler-old "Gimlet-Eye". Old "Hell-Devil"
Butler! Remember him? The most colourful, swashbuckling general who ever
commanded the United States Marines.
He told me that when he was young, he was desperately eager to be popular, wanted to
make a good impression on everyone. In those days the slightest criticism smarted and
stung. But he confessed that thirty years in the Marines had toughened his hide. "I have
been berated and insulted," he said, "and denounced as a yellow dog, a snake, and a
skunk. I have been cursed by the experts. I have been called every possible
combination of unprintable cuss words in the English language. Bother me? Huh! When
I hear someone cussing me now, I never turn my head to see who is talking."
Maybe old "Gimlet-Eye" Butler was too indifferent to criticism; but one thing is sure: most
of us take the little jibes and javelins that are hurled at us far too seriously. I remember
the time, years ago, when a reporter from the New York Sun attended a demonstration
meeting of my adult-education classes and lampooned me and my work. Was I burned
up? I took it as a personal insult. I telephoned Gill Hodges, the Chairman of the
Executive Committee of the Sun, and practically demanded that he print an article
stating the facts-instead of ridicule. I was determined to make the punishment fit the
crime.
I am ashamed now of the way I acted. I realise now that half the people who bought the
paper never saw that article. Half of those who read it regarded it as a source of
innocent merriment. Half of those who gloated over it forgot all about it in a few weeks.
I realise now that people are not thinking about you and me or caring what is said about
us. They are thinking about themselves-before breakfast, after breakfast, and right on
until ten minutes past midnight. They would be a thousand times more concerned about
a slight headache of their own than they would about the news of your death or mine.