“Genius, that power which dazzles mortal eyes, is oft but perseverance in disguise.” – Orison Swett Marden
Orison Swett Marden was born in 1850 in the state of New Hampshire. He lost his mother when he was three years old, and was orphaned at the age of seven when his father died. After the death of his father he was shuttled from one guardian to another, and he worked as a “hired boy” to earn his keep. Inspired by a self-help book—written by the Scottish author Samuel Smiles–which he came across, Marden set out to improve himself and his life circumstances:
- He graduated from Boston University in 1871.
- He graduated from Harvard with an M.D. in 1881 and an LL.B. degree in 1882.
Marden wrote several books on financial success, but he always emphasized that financial success came as a result of cultivating one’s personal development. In addition, he argued that one of the most important elements of success is perseverance. He wrote about perseverance in his book, “An Iron Will”, which was published in 1901 and is now in the public domain.
In “An Iron Will”, Marden argues that the development and discipline of one’s willpower is of supreme importance in order to succeed in life. He explains that when a person decides that they will not be stopped in what they have planned, they can no more be stopped than the sun or the tide. He adds that most people fail not because they lack the necessary education or an agreeable personality, but from a lack of dogged determination.
Marden emphasizes that willpower must be cultivated and strengthened. He indicates that just as you learn to run by running, and you learn to swim by swimming, you learn to develop willpower by the actual exercise of willpower.
One of the many successful people which Marden mentions in his book is Theodore Ledyard Cuyler, who was a leading Presbyterian minister and religious writer in the United States. Cuyler would say that it was astonishing how many people lacked the ability to “hold on” until they reached a goal. He would add that people are easily discouraged; they go along fine as long as it’s smooth sailing, but as soon as there is friction they lose heart.
Success in the battle of life, Marden explains, depends on the extent to which perseverance is cultivated, strengthened, and directed in the right direction. Willpower is trained by continuous effort, repeated again and again, day after day, week after week, and month after month. The process of obtaining this self-mastery is gradual, but acquiring it is worth far more than the cost of exerting the effort that is required to obtain it.
Below you’ll find three stories of perseverance told by Marden in “An Iron Will”, a list of some of the benefits that are obtained by cultivating perseverance, and the short poem “Will” written by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
John James Audubon – Birds and Mice
John James Audubon (1785 – 1851), the naturalist after whom the National Audubon Society is named, is well-known for having painted, catalogued, and described the birds of North America. He travelled for many years all over the United States—through impenetrable forests and boundless prairies–collecting specimens from which he made elaborate, original drawings.
After enormous labor he created a collection of 200 of these original drawings with the intent of publishing them in a book. When the time came for publication, he opened the box in which the drawings were stored, only to discover that mice had gotten in and had destroyed the entire collection. The labor of years was gone.
Audubon wrote the following about this experience:
“A poignant flame pierced my brain like an arrow of fire, and for several weeks I was prostrated with fever. At length physical and moral strength awoke within me. Again I took my gun, my game-bag, my portfolio, and my pencils, and plunged once more into the depths of the forests.”
Instead of giving up on his ambition to publish a book cataloguing all of the different birds he had come across while trekking through the United States, Audubon simply set out once more and started all over again from zero.
(Ruffed Grouse by John James Audubon).
Thomas Carlyle – His Work Went Up In Smoke
When John Stuart Mill discovered that—due to other projects he was involved in–he would not be able to meet the terms of the contract that he had signed with his publisher to write a history of the French Revolution, he proposed to his friend, Thomas Carlyle, that he embark upon the project instead. Carlyle acquiesced and Mill sent him a library of books and other materials concerning the revolution.
When Carlyle had completed the first volume, he sent the manuscript to Mill. Mill’s maid mistook the manuscript for trash and had it burned. However, Carlyle refused to give up on his project and he rewrote the manuscript. Marden writes the following in “An Iron Will”:
“It was a bitter disappointment, but Carlyle was not a man to give up. After many months of poring over hundreds of volumes of authorities and scores of manuscripts, he reproduced that which had burned in a few minutes.”
Once published, the two-volume work titled “The French Revolution: A History” was very successful, and it established Carlyle’s reputation as an important nineteenth century intellectual.
François Arago – Note Found in a Textbook
The French Catalan François Arago—who became the first astronomical mathematician of his age—relates that once, when he was very discouraged, he found a short note under the cover of a textbook he was binding. It was from the mathematician Jean-Baptiste le Rond d’Alembert, and it was written to a student. The note said the following:
“Go on, sir; go on! The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn and shine with increased clearness on your path.”
“That maxim,” says Arago, “was my greatest master in mathematics.”
The Benefits of Perseverance
Marden explains that there are many benefits to being perseverant, such as the following:
- Once you create a reputation for being perseverant, others will have confidence in you: everyone believes in a person who is determined. When you begin a project, everyone—including yourself—will be convinced from the onset that you will see it through.
- A determined person uses stumbling blocks as stepping stones.
- Someone who is perseverant won’t shirk responsibility because of hostility or criticism from others.
- The purpose of the perseverant person is to push ahead each day, to get a little farther along, a bit closer to reaching their goal.
- An encouraging start is nothing without staying power.
- Grit and perseverance govern the world.
- Opposing circumstances create strength.
- When you overcome one barrier you’ll have greater ability to overcome the next one.
“Will” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Here’s the short poem “Will” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, which Marden reproduces in his book:
“There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,
Can circumvent or hinder or control
The firm resolve of a determined soul.
Gifts count for nothing; will alone is great;
All things give way before it, soon or late.
What obstacle can stay the mighty force
Of the sea-seeking river in its course,
Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait?
Each well-born soul must win what it deserves.
Let the fool prate of luck. The fortunate
Is he whose earnest purpose never swerves,
Whose slightest action or inaction serve,
The one great aim.”
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