Edison， the world’s greatest inventor and scientist，was a “tramp” telegraph operator， he failed innumerabletimes before he was driven， finally， to the discoveryof the genius which slept within his brain.
Charles Dickens began by pasting labels on blacking pots. The tragedy of his first love penetratedthe depths of his soul， and converted him into oneof the world’s truly great authors. That tragedyproduced， first， David Copperfield， then a successionof other works that made this a richer and betterworld for all who read his books. Disappointmentover love affairs， generally has the effect of drivingmen to drink， and women to ruin； and this， becausemost people never learn the art of transmuting theirstrongest emotions into dreams of a constructivenature.
Helen Keller became deaf， dumb， and blind shortlyafter birth. Despite her greatest misfortune， she haswritten her name indelibly in the pages of the historyof the great. Her entire life has served as evidencethat no one ever is defeated until defeat has beenaccepted as a reality.
Robert Burns was an illiterate country lad， he wascursed by poverty， and grew up to be a drunkardin the bargain. The world was made better for hishaving lived， because he clothed beautiful thoughtsin poetry， and thereby plucked a thorn and planted arose in its place.
Booker T. Washington was born in slavery， handicapped by race and color. Because he wastolerant， had an open mind at all times， on all subjects，and was a DREAMER， he left his impress for good onan entire race.
Beethoven was deaf， Milton was blind， but theirnames will last as long as time endures， because theydreamed and translated their dreams into organizedthought.
Before passing to the next chapter， kindle anewin your mind the fire of hope， faith， courage， andtolerance. If you have these states of mind， and aworking knowledge of the principles described， allelse that you need will come to you， when you areREADY for it. Let Emerson state the thought in thesewords， “Every proverb， every book， every bywordthat belongs to thee for aid and comfort shall surelycome home through open or winding passages.
Every friend whom not thy fantastic will， but thegreat and tender soul in thee craveth， shall lock theein his embrace.”
There is a difference between WISHING for a thingand being READY to receive it. No one is ready for athing， until he believes he can acquire it. The state ofmind must be BELIEF， not mere hope or wish. Openmindednessis essential for belief. Closed minds donot inspire faith， courage， and belief.
Remember， no more effort is required to aim highin life， to demand abundance and prosperity， than isrequired to accept misery and poverty. A great poethas correctly stated this universal truth through theselines：
“I bargained with Life for a penny，And Life would pay no more，However I begged at eveningWhen I counted my scanty store.“For Life is a just employer，He gives you what you ask，But once you have set the wages，Why， you must bear the task.“I worked for a menial’s hire，Only to learn， dismayed，That any wage I had asked of Life，Life would have willingly paid.”
DESIRE OUTWITS MOTHER NATURE
As a fitting climax to this chapter， I wish tointroduce one of the most unusual persons I haveever known. I first saw him twenty-four years ago，a few minutes after he was born. He came into theworld without any physical sign of ears， and thedoctor admitted， when pressed for an opinion， thatthe child might be deaf， and mute for life.
I challenged the doctor’s opinion. I had the rightto do so， I was the child’s father. I， too， reached adecision， and rendered an opinion， but I expressedthe opinion silently， in the secrecy of my own heart.
I decided that my son would hear and speak. Naturecould send me a child without ears， but Nature couldnot induce me to accept the reality of the affliction.
In my own mind I knew that my son would hear and speak. How？ I was sure there must be a way，and I knew I would find it. I thought of the words ofthe immortal Emerson， “The whole course of thingsgoes to teach us faith. We need only obey.
There is guidance for each of us， and by lowlylistening， we shall hear the right word.”
The right word？ DESIRE！ More than anything else，I DESIRED that my son should not be a deaf mute.
From that desire I never receded， not for a second.
Many years previously， I had written， “Our onlylimitations are those we set up in our own minds.”
For the first time， I wondered if that statementwere true. Lying on the bed in front of me was anewly born child， without the natural equipment ofhearing. Even though he might hear and speak， hewas obviously disfigured for life. Surely， this was alimitation which that child had not set up in his ownmind.
What could I do about it？ Somehow I would finda way to transplant into that child’s mind my ownBURNING DESIRE for ways and means of conveyingsound to his brain without the aid of ears.
As soon as the child was old enough to cooperate，I would fill his mind so completely with a BURNINGDESIRE to hear， that Nature would， by methods ofher own， translate it into physical reality.
All this thinking took place in my own mind， but Ispoke of it to no one. Every day I renewed the pledgeI bad made to myself， not to accept a deaf mute for ason.
As he grew older， and began to take notice ofthings around him， we observed that he had a slightdegree of hearing. When he reached the age whenchildren usually begin talking， he made no attemptto speak， but we could tell by his actions that he couldhear certain sounds slightly. That was all I wantedto know！ I was convinced that if he could hear，even slightly， he might develop still greater hearingcapacity. Then something happened which gave mehope. It came from an entirely unexpected source.