An Iron Will: With an Essay on Self Help By Russel H. Conwell

By Orison Swett Marden, Abner Bayley and Russel H. Conwell

“An Iron Will” is a 1901 self-help book by American writer Orison Swett Marden that explores the subject of will-power and its importance to attaining a happy and successful life. It looks at the power of individual desire with reference to notable historical figures, offering the reader tips on how will-power can be concentrated and fostered in order to become a better, well-rounded, and altogether more powerful person. Dr. Orison Swett Marden (1848–1924) was an American author of inspirational books. He wrote primarily on the subject of being successful and founded “SUCCESS” magazine in 1897. Marden's books deal with attaining a fruitful and well-rounded life, with many of his ideas being based on the New Thought movement. Contents include: “Training the Will”, “Mental Discipline”, “Doing Things Once”, “Centralizing Force”, Learning to Swim”, “Dr. Cuyler”, “The Big Trees”, “'I Will'”, “The Ruler of Destiny”, “'The Wills, The Won'ts, and the Can'ts'”, “A Tailor's Needle”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with an introductory essay on self-help by Russel H. Conwell.

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Press
• Release date: Oct 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528788311

Orison Swett Marden

El Dr. Orison Swett Marden (1848-1924) fue un autor inspirador estadounidense que escribió sobre cómo lograr el éxito en la vida. A menudo se le considera como el padre de los discursos y escritos inspiradores de la actualidad, y sus palabras tienen sentido incluso hasta el día de hoy. En sus libros, habló de los principios y virtudes del sentido común que contribuyen a una vida completa y exitosa. A la edad de siete años ya era huérfano. Durante su adolescencia, Marden descubrió un libro titulado Ayúdate del autor escocés Samuel Smiles. El libro marcó un punto de inflexión en su vida, inspirándolo a superarse a sí mismo y a sus circunstancias. A los treinta años, había obtenido sus títulos académicos en ciencias, artes, medicina y derecho. Durante sus años universitarios se mantuvo trabajando en un hotel y luego convirtiéndose en propietario de varios hoteles. Luego, a los 44 años, Marden cambió su carrera a la autoría profesional. Su primer libro, Siempre Adelante (1894), se convirtió instantáneamente en un éxito de ventas en muchos idiomas. Más tarde publicó cincuenta o más libros y folletos, con un promedio de dos títulos por año. Marden creía que nuestros pensamientos influyen en nuestras vidas y nuestras circunstancias de vida. Dijo: "La oportunidad de oro que estás buscando está en ti mismo. No está en tu entorno; no es la suerte o el azar, o la ayuda de otros; está solo en ti mismo".

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AN IRON WILL

With an Essay on

Self-Help

By Russell H. Conwell

By

ORISON SWETT MARDEN

With the Assistance of

ABNER BAYLEY

First published in 1901

This edition published by Read Books Ltd.

Copyright © 2019 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library

Contents

SELF-HELP

CHAPTER I.

CHAPTER II.

CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER IV.

CHAPTER V.

CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER VII.

Illustrations

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,

American Philosopher, Statesman,

Diplomatist, and Author.

b. Boston, 1706; d. Philadelphia, 1790.

CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN,

English Naturalist.

b. Shrewsbury, 1809; d. Down, 1882.

THURLOW WEED,

American Journalist and Politician.

b. Cairo, N.Y., 1797; d. New York, 1882.

BENJAMIN DISRAELI

(Earl of Beaconsfield),

English Statesman and Novelist.

b. London, 1804; d. London, 1881.

SELF-HELP

An Extract from

Increasing Personal Efficiency

By Russell H. Conwell

Although Samuel Smiles's Self-Help is the first and perhaps the best of the many inspirational books that have been written of late years, it is by far the most serviceable of all to any one who wishes and intends to stand squarely on his own feet and to fight his own battle of life from start to finish. That book is attractive because it is anecdotal of life and character, and because of the interest that all men feel in those who have achieved great things through their own labors, their trials, and their struggles. It abounds with references to men who were forced to be self-helpful, who were born lowly enough, but died among God's gentlemen, and often among the aristocracy of the land, through sheer force of character, labor, and determination. They have left their footprints on the sands of time mainly because they were self-reliant and self-helpful.

The aids to the royal life are all within, and no life is worthless unless its owner wills it; the fountain of all good is within, and it will bubble up, if we dig.

Doctor Holland used to say that there is a super-abundance of inspiration in America, but a lamentable dearth of perspiration. Aspiration plus perspiration carries men to dizzy heights of success; aspiration minus perspiration often lands them in the gutter.

Self-help is not selfishness. The duty of helping oneself in the highest sense always involves the duty of helping others. The self-helpful are not always the men who have achieved greatest success in what vulgarians call success. That man's life is a success which has attained the end for which he started out—the greatest failure may sometimes be the hugest success through the discipline it has afforded. They tell us that men never fail who die in a worthy cause; that it is nobler to have failed in a noble cause than to have won in a low one; that it is not failure, but low aim, that is wicked. God sows the seed and starts us all out with about the same quantity and the same quality; whether the crop shall be abundant depends upon the environment in which we grow and the way we take care of the field.

The supreme end of each man's life is to take individual care of his own garden. When this is neglected his life is wasted, and there is no immorality that is comparable to the immorality of a wasted life—and every life is wasted unless its owner has made it yield its full capacity. If it is only a ten-bushel-an-acre field, he has done worthy work who has reaped ten bushels from an acre; if it is a seventy-bushel-an-acre field it is dishonorable to have reaped sixty-nine bushels from an acre. God gives us the chance; the improvement of it we give ourselves.

The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth. Help from the outside may be convenient, but it enfeebles; all self-help invigorates. The self-helper must be self-reliant; the measure of his self-help is always proportioned to the measure of his self-reliance. The self-reliant does not consider himself