Fundamentals of Prosperity: What They Are and Whence They ComeBabson, Roger Ward
Philosophy
Fundamentals of Prosperity: What They Are and Whence They Come
Babson, Roger Ward
Business; Success
Faith and vision do not come from the wealth of a nation. It's the faith
and vision which produce the wealth. The wealth of a country does not
depend on its raw materials. Raw materials are to a certain extent
essential and to a great extent valuable; but the nations which to-day
are richest in raw materials are the poorest in wealth. Even when
considering one country--the United States--the principle holds true.
The coal and iron and copper have been here in this country for
thousands of years, but only within the last fifty years have they been
used. Water-powers exist even to-day absolutely unharnessed. Look the
whole world over and there has been no increase in raw materials. There
existed one thousand years ago more raw materials than we have to-day,
but we then lacked men with a vision and the faith to take that coal out
of the ground, to harness the water-powers, to build the railroads and
to do other things worth while. So I say, the second great fundamental
of prosperity is Faith.
III
INDUSTRY VS. OPPORTUNITY
Industry is the mother of invention. Struggle, sacrifice
and burning midnight oil have produced the cotton gin, the
sewing machine, the printing press, the steam engine, the
electric motor, the telephone, the incandescent lamp and
the other great inventions of civilization. Some religious
enthusiasts think only of the "lilies of the fields" and
forget the parable of the talents.
A few years ago I was employed by one of the largest publishing houses
in the country to make a study of America's captains of industry. The
real purpose of the study was to discover some industry or some man that
could be helped greatly through national advertising. In connection with
that study of those captains of industry, I tabulated their ancestry.
These were the seventy greatest manufacturers, merchants and railroad
builders, the leading men who have made America by developing the
fields, the forests, the mines and the industries. What did I find? I
found that only five per cent. of these captains of industry are the
sons of bankers; only ten per cent. of them are the sons of
manufacturers; fifteen per cent. of them are the sons of merchants,
while over thirty per cent. of them are the sons of poor preachers and
farmers.
Why is it that ministers' sons hold a much more important place in the
industrial development of America than the sons of bankers? The
ministers' sons inherit no wealth, they have no more than their share of
college education; they are not especially religious as the world
measures religion. In fact, there is an old saying about "ministers'
sons and deacons' daughters." I would be false to my reputation as a
statistician to hold up these captains of industry as saintly examples
for young men to follow. But the fact remains nevertheless that these
men are creating America to-day. Now, what's the reason?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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