When a man attacks a new problem, -whether in science or in business, he must use all the powers of his mind. He is like a traveler who must fuad the best possible route thru a wilderness. His imagination is the telescope with which he now and then brings distant vistas near to him. His judgment aids him in finding the points of the compass. His memory keeps records of the paths he has traveled and helps him to return if he strays. His will keeps him pressing for ward.
We cannot measure or estimate the importance of imagination. We know how much our physical com fort and well-being depend upon our eyesight, and what a fearful calamity blindness is, but the loss of our inner vision, our imagination, would be a greater calamity than the loss of physical eyesight.
8. Idea and ambition.—Many men seem quite sat isfied with life if only they have a job which yields them what they consider a decent livelihood. After school days are over, they strive for no further mental development, but are content to devote what leisure they have to social pleasures, sports and amusements of various kinds. They like to feel certain that their job is secure. They may grumble now and then be cause their salary is not raised, for their family ex penses increase as time goes on, but they give no thought to self-improvement or to plans for bettering their lot. Such men lack ambition. They bear a very close resemblance to animals of the field; they have a definite number of wants and are fairly con tent when those wants are gratified.
Ambition is a purely human quality, not possible in the slightest degree in a beast. It makes man dis satisfied with his present status and eager to climb to a higher level. It is the child of vision and desire. The imagination, aided by judgment and memory, creates for us a more attractive, an ideal environment, and pictures in it a stronger, wiser and happier self. It contains for us all the promise of Canaan to the Israelites and beckons to us with such compelling charm that we struggle toward it with all our energy and will. Sacrifices, fatigue, hunger, misfortune, criticism by our friends, the cajolery of temptation —all these things mean nothing to us and fail to stop us. Then we are men of purpose, of ambition. An idea has taken possession of us.
A. man who lacks vision will never feel the spur of great ambition. He may greatly desire riches and honor, but he cannot earn them, altho by miserly meth ods he may accumulate a small fortune.
It is quite possible for a man to possess vision and yet not be ambitious. He perceives the ideal, but does not feel irresistibly drawn toward it. He is content to admire it or to talk about it to others. A man of this type usually lacks red blood , energy and will; he may get his greatest pleasures out of reveries and reflec tion and care little about achievement. These men sometimes become poets and philosophers and write books which stimulate the imaginations of thousands of other men, thus bringing to others the beauty of the ideal and the energy and push of ambition. Tho they do not harness purpose with their visions, they give something invaluable to humanity. But the men of clear vision who neither struggle to attain their ideal, nor give to others any mental stimulus, are mere dreamers, intellectual drones.
9. Idea and enthusiasm.—The man of real enthu siasm puts his soul into his work. He does so, not because he loves his work per se, but because the idea back of the work has made him captive. A so-called matter-of-fact man, a man who prides himself upon taking things as they are, who has no use for theories, dreams or speculations of any kind, is never an en thusiast ; in fact, be scorns enthusiasm as a stigma of an ill-balanced mind. He is sure that an ounce of common sense is worth a ton of enthusiasm. No great ideal ever tempts bim from his moorings. He may be a faithful, industrious, intelligent worker all his days, but his career in business, or in a profession, will be mediocre, commOnplace, uninteresting. Such men often make the best of neighbors and citizens, but they do nothing to make Mother Earth a better place on which to live.
Enthusiasm is the most dynamic of all human quali ties. In a sense it is the ideal descended on earth to battle with realities. Men instinctively recognize its high origin and easily surrender to its influence. That is why we say that enthusiasm is contagious. A salesman not charged with enthusiasm could not sell a cake of ice in the tropics. A business organization lacking enthusiasm does not get out of its men 50 per cent of their potential efficiency. The enthusiasm of a manufacturer of funeral caskets, or of an under taker, is a bit gruesome, but it is a necessary part of his equipment if he is to succeed.