It does not always follow, however, that because a man is not
working he is not willing to work. When the supply of labor is
greater than the demand, there must always be some who at times
are unemployed. But a great many of those who are thus often out
of work are left behind, not because there is no work to be had, but
because others are more skilful and therefore get ahead of them.
Every man should aim at the highest excellence in his work, but in
order to attain this, one must have ambition to excel and a real
interest in and liking for one's work. The choice of one's occupation,
business, trade or profession is therefore one of the most important
acts of a man's life. Next to choosing a good wife is choosing a
good business, and the two choices are intimately connecte'd with
each other. If a man chooses a business for which he is unfitted he
will be a failure, not a success in it. And if he fail in his work how
can he make a home for a wife, and what first-rate woman will listen
to his proposal ? She will reason — for women sometimes do reason,
whatever some men may say to the contrary — that a man who is a
poor workman will be a poor home-builder and husband. Women
I40 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
worth winning like the man who never lags behind, but goes straight
ahead in life by honesty, good conduct and skill in his work. " Pity is
akin to love," they say, but it is asking too much to expect a woman
to take pity on a man who cannot take heed of himself, much less of
a family. Take heed, then, how you choose your occupation ; and when
you have chosen it, devote all your energies to make yourself a
master of it.
Many influences, however, beside his own free choice determine a
man's occupation in life. Parents exercise a great influence in this
matter. Some fathers take it for granted that their sons will follow
their own occupation. The farmer makes his son a farmer, the
carpenter makes his son a carpenter, the builder makes him a builder,
and so on. . But very often the son has no taste or ability whatever
for his father's occupation. How often do we find the business an
energetic father who took pleasure. in his work has built up in the
course of a lifetime, destroyed in a few years by the son who succeeds
him, but has no such fitness for it! It is so with the professions. It
does not follow because a man's father was a skilful surgeon or
physician that he himself will be so. His nerves may be weak where
his father's were strong. His hand may be unsteady where his
father's was firm. Because a man's father was a great painter, it does
not follow that he will be a great painter also. As well might we
expect the son of a great general or navigator to inherit the military
or nautical talent of his father. Yet in how many businesses and
professions it is " Father and Son " who compose the firm, when
the son is really a nonentity in it so far as skill and fitness are con-
cerned !
Page 85
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
It does not always follow, however, that because a man is not working he is not willing to work. When the supply of labor is greater than the demand, there must always be some who at times are unemployed. But a great many of those who are thus often out of work are left behind, not because there is no work to be had, but because others are more skilful and therefore get ahead of them. Every man should aim at the highest excellence in his work, but in order to attain this, one must have ambition to excel and a real interest in and liking for one's work. The choice of one's occupation, business, trade or profession is therefore one of the most important acts of a man's life. Next to choosing a good wife is choosing a good business, and the two choices are intimately connected with each other. If a man chooses a business for which he is unfitted he will be a failure, not a success in it. And if he fail in his work how can he make a home for a wife, and what first-rate woman will listen to his proposal ? She will reason — for women sometimes do reason, whatever some men may say to the contrary — that a man who is a poor workman will be a poor home-builder and husband. Women
I40 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
worth winning like the man who never lags behind, but goes straight ahead in life by honesty, good conduct and skill in his work. " Pity is akin to love," they say, but it is asking too much to expect a woman to take pity on a man who cannot take heed of himself, much less of a family. Take heed, then, how you choose your occupation ; and when you have chosen it, devote all your energies to make yourself a master of it.
Many influences, however, beside his own free choice determine a man's occupation in life. Parents exercise a great influence in this matter. Some fathers take it for granted that their sons will follow their own occupation. The farmer makes his son a farmer, the carpenter makes his son a carpenter, the builder makes him a builder, and so on. . But very often the son has no taste or ability whatever for his father's occupation. How often do we find the business an energetic father who took pleasure. in his work has built up in the course of a lifetime, destroyed in a few years by the son who succeeds him, but has no such fitness for it! It is so with the professions. It does not follow because a man's father was a skilful surgeon or physician that he himself will be so. His nerves may be weak where his father's were strong. His hand may be unsteady where his father's was firm. Because a man's father was a great painter, it does not follow that he will be a great painter also. As well might we expect the son of a great general or navigator to inherit the military or nautical talent of his father. Yet in how many businesses and professions it is " Father and Son " who compose the firm, when the son is really a nonentity in it so far as skill and fitness are concerned !