WEBVTT 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:05.299 A man stood at his window and watched his neighbor 00:00:05.299 --> 00:00:10.779 walk by. He walked, not as a man should, enjoying 00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:16.899 triumph, but with a slow step, sagging shoulders, 00:00:17.140 --> 00:00:23.000 like a man with a great burden on his soul. And 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:26.980 John Burroughs knew why. The man had no work 00:00:26.980 --> 00:00:30.719 that he loved. Nothing to keep him busy. Nothing 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:35.039 to make him content. To give his days purpose 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:43.100 and direction. And the man who watched said this 00:00:43.100 --> 00:00:51.520 to himself. An idle man is a wretched man. An 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:59.329 idle man is an unhappy man. And as he said those 00:00:59.329 --> 00:01:03.909 words to himself, listening to the singing of 00:01:03.909 --> 00:01:06.090 the birds, to the soft whispering of the trees, 00:01:06.329 --> 00:01:10.549 he knew that no man knew better than himself 00:01:10.549 --> 00:01:15.769 the blessedness of work, of life -giving and 00:01:15.769 --> 00:01:21.870 life -sustaining work, that work could give man 00:01:21.870 --> 00:01:28.760 real happiness and real contentment. For had 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:31.599 he not been idle himself once, and one of the 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:36.140 most utterly dejected of God's creatures, life 00:01:36.140 --> 00:01:39.060 had lost its savor for him, had become empty, 00:01:39.159 --> 00:01:41.700 stagnant. He couldn't eat, he couldn't sleep, 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:45.239 he couldn't think, he couldn't dream. He was 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:53.819 discontented. And work, hard work, had saved 00:01:53.819 --> 00:01:57.500 him. Good hard work on a farm. with his hands, 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:00.719 raking, hoeing, ploughing, planting, feeling 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:04.840 the good earth between his fingers, feeling his 00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:09.340 oneness with the universe. The plough had done 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:13.759 its perfect work on him as on his fields. The 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:17.479 bitterness, the boredom had ploughed under. The 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:21.419 stagnant pools of discontent drained off. The 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:25.689 planting, the pruning had shaped his life. as 00:02:25.689 --> 00:02:30.770 surely as they had shaped his fruit trees. For 00:02:30.770 --> 00:02:34.969 seeing the river shine, watching the birds arrive, 00:02:35.129 --> 00:02:39.050 hearing their excited laughter, looking up from 00:02:39.050 --> 00:02:41.310 his work and seeing the skies and the distant 00:02:41.310 --> 00:02:48.349 hills bathed in the magic of sudden beauty, he 00:02:48.349 --> 00:02:51.930 had found renewal. He had found inspiration. 00:02:53.229 --> 00:02:59.569 He had found his life's work. And John Burroughs 00:02:59.569 --> 00:03:05.389 turned from the window, walked slowly to his 00:03:05.389 --> 00:03:13.590 desk. And the book entitled Wake Robin had been 00:03:13.590 --> 00:03:16.810 the first of a series of books about birds, about 00:03:16.810 --> 00:03:21.979 trees, about flowers. rural scenes that had brought 00:03:21.979 --> 00:03:28.580 him worldwide recognition. If only he could make 00:03:28.580 --> 00:03:36.039 others realize that happiness was no will of 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:42.639 the wisp. That real happiness was the simplest 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:49.490 thing in the world and within the reach of everybody. 00:03:51.310 --> 00:04:00.310 Oh, sure. It seems so simple that most folk couldn't 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:05.810 believe that one could really be happy in one's 00:04:05.810 --> 00:04:11.389 work. You know, there's a condition or circumstance 00:04:11.389 --> 00:04:14.509 that has a greater bearing upon the happiness 00:04:14.509 --> 00:04:18.050 of life than any other. What is it? It's one 00:04:18.050 --> 00:04:20.550 of the simplest things in the world. It's within 00:04:20.550 --> 00:04:24.670 the reach of all. If this secret were something 00:04:24.670 --> 00:04:27.990 that I could put up for auction, there would 00:04:27.990 --> 00:04:33.269 be some mighty high bidders, believe me. Only 00:04:33.269 --> 00:04:37.550 the wise ones can guess what it is. Some might 00:04:37.550 --> 00:04:40.189 say it's in health. Others will say it's money, 00:04:40.290 --> 00:04:46.990 friends, or the possession of things. But you 00:04:46.990 --> 00:04:52.389 may have all these things and not be happy. Sometimes 00:04:52.389 --> 00:04:54.129 I think that money is the cheapest thing in the 00:04:54.129 --> 00:04:58.889 whole world. Possessions sometimes can bring 00:04:58.889 --> 00:05:02.129 you the greatest unhappiness if you only realized 00:05:02.129 --> 00:05:07.050 it. But most folk are too stupid to realize it. 00:05:07.769 --> 00:05:10.990 You may have fame, you may have power, and still 00:05:10.990 --> 00:05:13.769 be the most unhappy person in the whole world. 00:05:14.829 --> 00:05:18.670 I still maintain that there is one thing more 00:05:18.670 --> 00:05:21.990 necessary to a happy life than anything else 00:05:21.990 --> 00:05:25.949 that I know anything about. Though health and 00:05:25.949 --> 00:05:30.009 money and friends and home and possessions, all 00:05:30.009 --> 00:05:36.990 of these may lend some importance. But that one 00:05:36.990 --> 00:05:40.430 thing that I'm talking about, what is it? The 00:05:40.430 --> 00:05:43.750 sick man will say it's health. The poor man will 00:05:43.750 --> 00:05:48.779 say... is wealth. The ambitious man will say 00:05:48.779 --> 00:05:53.879 it's power. The scholar will say it's knowledge. 00:05:55.300 --> 00:06:02.160 And the overworked man will say it's rest. But 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:05.000 without the one thing that I have in mind, none 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:10.259 of these things would long help their possessors 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:15.100 to be happy. We could not long be happy without 00:06:15.100 --> 00:06:19.860 food or drink or clothes or shelter. But we may 00:06:19.860 --> 00:06:24.439 have all these things to perfection and still 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:29.680 want the prime condition of happiness. It's often 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:34.459 said that a contented mind is the first condition 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:38.480 of happiness. But what is the first condition 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:43.319 of a contented mind? You'll be disappointed when 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:46.740 I tell you what this all -important thing is. 00:06:47.540 --> 00:06:51.300 It's so common, it's so near at hand, and so 00:06:51.300 --> 00:06:54.540 many people have so much of it and yet are not 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:59.839 happy. They have too much of it, or else the 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:05.540 kind that's not best suited to them. What's the 00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:08.899 best thing for a stream? It's to keep moving 00:07:08.899 --> 00:07:15.110 if it stops. It stagnates. And so the best thing 00:07:15.110 --> 00:07:20.209 for a man is that which keeps the currents going. 00:07:20.329 --> 00:07:24.470 The physical, the moral, the intellectual currents. 00:07:24.629 --> 00:07:29.129 Keep them moving. Keep them going. Hence the 00:07:29.129 --> 00:07:35.990 secret of happiness is something to do. Work. 00:07:37.110 --> 00:07:42.170 Somebody is saying, if I thought. that everything 00:07:42.170 --> 00:07:46.490 that you were saying was going to lead up to 00:07:46.490 --> 00:07:51.110 the one word work, I wouldn't have taken the 00:07:51.110 --> 00:07:54.089 time to have listened. That's exactly what's 00:07:54.089 --> 00:07:59.290 wrong with the world today. That's one thing 00:07:59.290 --> 00:08:06.170 that people do not want to talk about. The palm 00:08:06.170 --> 00:08:16.389 is turned up. The hand is outstretched. And the 00:08:16.389 --> 00:08:25.949 mind says, give me. Give me. How much can I get 00:08:25.949 --> 00:08:33.149 without working for it? Take away the occupation 00:08:33.149 --> 00:08:38.710 of all men and what a wretched world it would 00:08:38.710 --> 00:08:45.169 be. And that's one thing that is causing so much 00:08:45.169 --> 00:08:49.529 unhappiness and distress in the world at this 00:08:49.529 --> 00:08:53.370 very hour. That's one thing that's wrong with 00:08:53.370 --> 00:08:58.909 the younger generation. They feel it is disgraceful 00:08:58.909 --> 00:09:10.600 to work. To do an honest day's work. Few persons 00:09:10.600 --> 00:09:12.779 realize how much of their happiness is dependent 00:09:12.779 --> 00:09:15.679 upon their work, upon the fact that they are 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:19.399 kept busy, and not left to feed upon themselves. 00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:28.019 Happiness comes most to people who seek her least 00:09:28.019 --> 00:09:33.799 and think least about it. It's not an object 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:40.110 to be sought. It's a state to be induced. It 00:09:40.110 --> 00:09:44.970 must follow and not lead. It must overtake you 00:09:44.970 --> 00:09:51.090 and not you overtake it. How important is health 00:09:51.090 --> 00:09:55.450 to happiness? And yet the best promoter of health 00:09:55.450 --> 00:10:03.029 is something to do. I can always remember Mama 00:10:03.029 --> 00:10:06.389 saying, if there's anybody in the family who's 00:10:06.389 --> 00:10:08.600 complaining a little bit about a... headache 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:12.539 or a stomachache. She would just smile, and in 00:10:12.539 --> 00:10:18.919 her soft, spoken way, she would say, Well, just 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:25.779 work it off. And the amazing thing is, in 5, 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:33.259 10, 15 minutes, it was soon worked off. We didn't 00:10:33.259 --> 00:10:37.350 take aspirins in those days. When there was a 00:10:37.350 --> 00:10:39.289 little headache or a little pain or something 00:10:39.289 --> 00:10:43.090 in your body, you didn't run for the aspirin 00:10:43.090 --> 00:10:48.029 bottle in those days. We didn't run for a little 00:10:48.029 --> 00:10:52.309 peel in those days. We didn't make a beeline 00:10:52.309 --> 00:10:56.570 for some strong coffee and take a coffee break 00:10:56.570 --> 00:11:00.990 in those days. Nobody thought of taking the day 00:11:00.990 --> 00:11:09.340 off from work in those days. The only thing we 00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:14.639 ever had in our house was turpentine for the 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:22.720 cuts and a bottle of castor oil. And it's just 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:26.580 like that. If it didn't feel well, you worked 00:11:26.580 --> 00:11:33.000 it off. Yeah. Few persons realize how much of 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.399 their happiness is dependent upon their work. 00:11:36.139 --> 00:11:39.559 upon the fact that they are kept busy and not 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:53.019 left to feed upon themselves. If all of our young 00:11:53.019 --> 00:11:58.899 men and women who are causing the riots and spending 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:04.940 the hours picketing were given some good manual 00:12:04.940 --> 00:12:11.480 labor to do, we'd very quickly solve some of 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:14.019 the greatest problems in America this very hour. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:21.039 And it's just like that. Blessed is a man who 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:27.139 has some work to do, some good old -fashioned 00:12:27.139 --> 00:12:31.120 congenial work. some occupation in which he can 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:34.940 put his heart which affords a complete outlet 00:12:34.940 --> 00:12:45.740 to all the forces that are in him work and thou 00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:52.799 canst not escape the reward and the reward of 00:12:52.799 --> 00:13:03.299 a thing well done is to have oh to awaken each 00:13:03.299 --> 00:13:06.980 morning with a smile brightening my face to greet 00:13:06.980 --> 00:13:09.299 the day with reverence for the opportunities 00:13:09.299 --> 00:13:12.740 that it contains to approach my work with a clean 00:13:12.740 --> 00:13:17.620 mind to hold ever before me even in doing the 00:13:17.620 --> 00:13:20.620 little things, the ultimate purpose toward which 00:13:20.620 --> 00:13:23.879 I am working, to meet men and women with laughter 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:27.399 on my lips and love in my heart, to be gentle 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:30.419 and kind and courteous through all the hours, 00:13:30.460 --> 00:13:36.500 to approach the night with weariness that ever 00:13:36.500 --> 00:13:44.360 woos sleep and the joy that comes from work well. 00:13:47.179 --> 00:13:53.980 This is how I desire to waste wisely my days. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:14:03.700 Thank God every morning when you get up that 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:07.340 you have something to do which must be done, 00:14:07.419 --> 00:14:10.360 whether you like it or not. I'm not telling you 00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:13.940 that you're always going to like what you're 00:14:13.940 --> 00:14:22.000 doing. Being forced to work and forced to do 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:28.200 your best will breed in you temperance, self 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:35.340 -control, diligence, the strength of will, content, 00:14:35.539 --> 00:14:41.279 and a hundred other virtues which the idled never 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:48.809 know. You'll learn discipline. And that's something 00:14:48.809 --> 00:14:52.730 that's so necessary today. That's something that 00:14:52.730 --> 00:14:56.789 our young people know nothing about. When you 00:14:56.789 --> 00:15:02.710 use the word self -discipline, it isn't in their 00:15:02.710 --> 00:15:06.350 vocabulary. It's one of those old -fashioned 00:15:06.350 --> 00:15:11.730 words that's outmoded and not for their generation. 00:15:13.690 --> 00:15:16.389 Talking to you right now, looking back over my 00:15:16.389 --> 00:15:22.039 own life, I thank my God that I learned self 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:29.179 -discipline at an early age. And being forced 00:15:29.179 --> 00:15:35.659 to work and forced to do your best will breed 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:43.799 self -discipline. And you'll really never know 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:49.740 real success. And you'll not... be a real person 00:15:49.740 --> 00:15:56.419 until, first of all, you have learned self -discipline. 00:15:57.580 --> 00:16:02.399 And you'll never learn it without doing something 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:14.220 you don't especially want to do. Life requires 00:16:14.220 --> 00:16:18.659 that we work. work being simply the opposite 00:16:18.659 --> 00:16:22.759 of rusting away. And nature requires that we 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:28.460 work at something. Such activity is interesting, 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:37.039 exhilarating. It begets energy, health, happiness. 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:46.240 It defeats tensions. Instead of taking all those 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:52.580 little white pills for nervous tensions. I'll 00:16:52.580 --> 00:16:55.259 tell you the best thing in the world that will 00:16:55.259 --> 00:17:04.259 defeat those tensions. Work. The hour has come 00:17:04.259 --> 00:17:09.000 when we must get rid of the extraordinary notion 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:15.650 that manual work is degrading. There is nothing 00:17:15.650 --> 00:17:21.250 more innoble than manual work and nothing better 00:17:21.250 --> 00:17:27.769 for physical and mental health than work. And 00:17:27.769 --> 00:17:33.470 God's word says, the sleep of a laboring man 00:17:33.470 --> 00:17:40.230 is sweet, whether he eat little or much, but 00:17:40.230 --> 00:17:45.599 the abundance of the rich. will not suffer him 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:54.160 to sleep. This is practical, but needed this 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:54.480 hour.