He deprecates praise; if any one likes him, the
liking need not be shown in words, but in helping
along a good work. That his church has succeeded
has been because of the devotion of the people;
that the university has succeeded is because of
the splendid work of the teachers and pupils; that
the hospitals have done so much has been because
of the noble services of physicians and nurses.
To him, as he himself expresses it, realizing that
success has come to his plans, it seems as if the
realities are but dreams. He is astonished by his
own success. He thinks mainly of his own
shortcomings. ``God and man have ever been very
patient with me.'' His depression is at times
profound when he compares the actual results
with what he would like them to be, for always
his hopes have gone soaring far in advance of
achievement. It is the ``Hitch your chariot to
a star'' idea.
His modesty goes hand-in-hand with kindliness,
and I have seen him let himself be introduced in
his own church to his congregation, when he is
going to deliver a lecture there, just because a
former pupil of the university was present who,
Conwell knew, was ambitious to say something
inside of the Temple walls, and this seemed to
be the only opportunity.
Pages:
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157