She knew what she wanted， not after she met thePrince of Wales， but long before that. Twice whenshe had failed to find it， she had the courage tocontinue her search. “To thine own self be true， andit must follow， as the night the day， thou canst notthen be false to any man.”
Her rise from obscurity was of the slow， progressive，PERSISTENT order， but it was SURE！ She triumphedover unbelievably long odds； and， no matter whoyou are， or what you may think of Wallis Simpson，or the king who gave up his Crown for her love， sheis an astounding example of applied PERSISTENCE，an instructor on the rules of self-determination， fromwhom the entire world might profitably take lessons.
When you think of Wallis Simpson， think of onewho knew what she wanted， and shook the greatestempire on earth to get it. Women who complain thatthis is a man’s world， that women do not have anequal chance to win， owe it to themselves to studycarefully the life of this unusual woman， who， at anage which most women consider “old，” capturedthe affections of the most desirable bachelor in theentire world.
And what of King Edward？ What lesson may we learn from his part in the world’s greatest drama ofrecent times？ Did he pay too high a price for theaffections of the woman of his choice？
Surely no one but he can give the correct answer.
The rest of us can only conjecture. This much weknow， the king came into the world without hisown consent. He was born to great riches， withoutrequesting them. He was persistently sought inmarriage； politicians and statesmen throughoutEurope tossed dowagers and princesses at hisfeet. Because he was the first born of his parents，he inherited a crown， which he did not seek， andperhaps did not desire. For more than forty yearshe was not a free agent， could not live his life in hisown way， had but little privacy， and finally assumedduties inflicted upon him when he ascended thethrone.
Some will say， “With all these blessings， King Edwardshould have found peace of mind， contentment， andjoy of living.”
The truth is that back of all the privileges of acrown， all the money， the fame， and the powerinherited by King Edward， there was an emptinesswhich could be filled only by love.
His greatest DESIRE was for love. Long beforehe met Wallis Simpson， he doubtless felt this greatuniversal emotion tugging at the strings of his heart，beating upon the door of his soul， and crying out forexpression.
And when he met a kindred spirit， crying outfor this same Holy privilege of expression， herecognized it， and without fear or apology， openedhis heart and bade it enter. All the scandal-mongersin the world cannot destroy the beauty of this internationaldrama， through which two people foundlove， and had the courage to face open criticism，renounce ALL ELSE to give it holy expression.
King Edward’s DECISION to give up the crown ofthe world’s most powerful empire， for the privilegeof going the remainder of the way through lifewith the woman of his choice， was a decision thatrequired courage. The decision also had a price， butwho has the right to say the price was too great？
Surely not He who said， “He among you who iswithout sin， let him cast the first stone.”
As a suggestion to any evil-minded person whochooses to find fault with the Duke of Windsor，because his DESIRE was for LOVE， and for openlydeclaring his love for Wallis Simpson， and givingup his throne for her， let it be remembered that theOPEN DECLARATION was not essential. He couldhave followed the custom of clandestine liaisonwhich has prevailed in Europe for centuries， withoutgiving up either his throne， or the woman of hischoice， and there would have been NO COMPLAINTFROM EITHER CHURCH OR LAITY. But this unusualman was built of sterner stuff. His love was clean.
It was deep and sincere. It represented the onething which， above ALL ELSE he truly DESIRED，therefore， he took what he wanted， and paid theprice demanded.
If Europe had been blessed with more rulers withthe human heart and the traits of honesty of exkingEdward， for the past century， that unfortunatehemisphere now seething with greed， hate， lust，political connivance， and threats of war， would havea DIFFERENT AND A BETTER STORY TO TELL. Astory in which Love and not Hate would rule.
In the words of Stuart Austin Wier we raise ourcup and drink this toast to ex-king Edward andWallis Simpson：
“Blessed is the man who has come to know thatour muted thoughts are our sweetest thoughts.
“Blessed is the man who， from the blackest
depths， can see the luminous figure of LOVE， andseeing， sing； and singing， say： ‘Sweeter far thanuttered lays are the thoughts I have of you.’”
In these words would we pay tribute to the twopeople who， more than all others of modern times，have been the victims of criticism and the recipientsof abuse， because they found Life’s greatest treasure，and claimed it. Mrs. Simpson read and approvedthis analysis.
Most of the world will applaud the Duke of Windsorand Wallis Simpson， because of their PERSISTENCEin searching until they found life’s greatest reward.
ALL OF US CAN PROFIT by following their examplein our own search for that which we demand of life.
What mystical power gives to men of PERSISTENCEthe capacity to master difficulties？ Does the qualityof PERSISTENCE set up in one’s mind some form ofspiritual， mental or chemical activity which givesone access to supernatural forces？ Does InfiniteIntelligence throw itself on the side of the personwho still fights on， after the battle has been lost， withthe whole world on the opposing side？