And the habits which he thus early
acquired were, in a great measure, the foundation of those
admirable business qualities which he afterwards so successfully
brought to bear in the affairs of government.
The man or woman who achieves success in the management of any
great affair of business is entitled to honour,--it may be, to as
much as the artist who paints a picture, or the author who writes
a book, or the soldier who wins a battle. Their success may have
been gained in the face of as great difficulties, and after as
great struggles; and where they have won their battle, it is at
least a peaceful one, and there is no blood on their hands.
The idea has been entertained by some, that business habits are
incompatible with genius. In the Life of Richard Lovell
Edgeworth, (16) it is observed of a Mr. Bicknell--a respectable
but ordinary man, of whom little is known but that he married
Sabrina Sidney, the ELEVE of Thomas Day, author of 'Sandford and
Merton'--that "he had some of the too usual faults of a man of
genius: he detested the drudgery of business." But there cannot
be a greater mistake. The greatest geniuses have, without
exception, been the greatest workers, even to the extent of
drudgery. They have not only worked harder than ordinary men, but
brought to their work higher faculties and a more ardent spirit.
Nothing great and durable was ever improvised.
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