"'Come on, Jim. I know where there's lots of nuggets.'
"An' what do you s'pose, now? That boy had a kind of a game that that
there field was what he called a plasser mining field; and he got me
into it, and I could 'a' sworn I was in Californy all day,--I had such a
good time.
"'Only,' says Henry, after we'd got through the day's work, 'the way you
get rich with these nuggets is to get rid of 'em, instead of to get
'em.'
"That somehow didn't strike my fancy, but we'd had play instead of work,
anyway, an' a great lot of stones had been rooted out of that field.
"An', as I said before, I can't give ye any dictionary definition of
optimism; but if your Uncle Henry wa'n't an optimist, I don't know what
one is."
At life's outset, says one, a cheerful optimistic temperament is worth
everything. A cheerful man, who always "feels first-rate," who always
looks on the bright side, who is ever ready to snatch victory from
defeat, is the successful man.
Everybody avoids the company of those who are always grumbling, who are
full of "ifs" and "buts," and "I told you so's." We like the man who
always looks toward the sun, whether it shines or not. It is the
cheerful, hopeful man we go to for sympathy and assistance; not the
carping, gloomy critic,--who always thinks it is going to rain, and that
we are going to have a terribly hot summer, or a fearful thunder-storm,
or who is forever complaining of hard times and his hard lot. It is the
bright, cheerful, hopeful, contented man who makes his way, who is
respected and admired.
Gloom and depression not only take much out of life, but detract greatly
from the chances of winning success. It is the bright and cheerful
spirit that wins the final triumph.
LIVING UP THANKSGIVING AVENUE.
"I see our brother, who has just sat down, lives on Grumbling street,"
said a keen-witted Yorkshireman. "I lived there myself for some time,
and never enjoyed good health. The air was bad, the house bad, the water
bad; the birds never came and sang in the street; and I was gloomy and
sad enough. But I 'flitted.' I got into Thanksgiving avenue; and ever
since then I have had good health, and so have all my family. The air is
pure, the house good; the sun shines on it all day; the birds are always
singing; and I am happy as I can live. Now, I recommend our brother to
'flit.' There are plenty of houses to let on Thanksgiving avenue; and he
will find himself a new man if he will only come; and I shall be right
glad to have him for a neighbor."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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