Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence: The Best Speeches Delivered by the Negro from the days of; Slavery to the Present Time
History
Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence: The Best Speeches Delivered by the Negro from the days of; Slavery to the Present Time
African American orators; African Americans -- History -- Sources; Speeches, addresses, etc., American -- African American authors
A young man, somebody's son, starts out with the determination that the
world is indebted to him for a good time. "Dollars were made to spend. I
am young, and every man must sow his wild oats and then settle down. I
want to be a 'hail fellow well met' with every one." So he is ever ready
to drink a social glass, to give a pun and to be a "masher on the
girls." With this determination uppermost in his life purpose he starts
out to be a good-timer. Perhaps some mother expects to hear great things
of her boy, some father's hopes are centered in him, but what does that
matter? "I am a good-timer." From one gayety to another, from one glass
to another, from one sin to another, and the good-timer at last is
broken in health, deserted by friends, and left alone to die. Thus the
"man about town" passes off the stage. When you ask some of his friends
about him, the answer is, "Oh, John was all right, but he lived too
fast. I like good time as well as anyone, but I could not keep up with
John." Was the game worth the candle?
Two pictures come before my mind; two cousins, both of them young men.
One started out early in life with the determination of getting along
"easy," shirking work, and looking for a soft snap. His motto was, "The
world owes me a living, and I am going to get mine." He was employed
first by one firm and then by another; if anything that he considered
hard came along, he would pay another fellow to do the work and he "took
things easy." It was not long before no one would hire him. He
continued to hold the idea that the world was indebted to him and
furthermore, he arrogated a belief that what another man had accumulated
he could borrow without his knowledge. He forged another's name, was
detected, and sentenced to the penitentiary and is now wearing the badge
of felony and shame--the convicts' stripes. Young men, the world owes no
man a living, but those who work faithfully and make contributions to
the happiness of mankind and the advancement of civilization. These will
ever be honored and rewarded. Is the game worth the candle?
The other cousin started out with a determination altogether different.
He believed with Lord Brougham, that if he were a bootblack, he would
strive to be the best bootblack in England. He began in a store as a
window-washer, and washed windows so well that they sparkled like
diamonds under the sun. As a clerk, no customer was too insignificant to
be greeted with a smile or pleasant word; no task was too great for him
to attempt. Thus step by step, he advanced, each day bringing new duties
and difficulties but each day also bringing new strength and
determination to master them, and to-day that cousin is a man of wealth
and an honored citizen, blessed too, with a happy home.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account