Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to
\nburn his ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by so doing can
\none be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a BURNING
\nDESIRE TO WIN, essential to success.
\nThe morning after the great Chicago fire, a group of merchants
\nstood on State Street, looking at the smoking remains of what had
\nbeen their stores. They went into a conference to decide if they
\nwould try to rebuild, or leave Chicago and start over in a more
\npromising section of the country. They reached a decision\u2014all
\nexcept one-to leave Chicago.
\nThe merchant who decided to stay and rebuild pointed a finger
\nat the remains of his store, and said, \u201cGentlemen, on that very spot
\nI will build the world\u2019s greatest store, no matter how many times it
\nmay burn down.\u201d
\nThat was more than fifty years ago. The store was built. It
\nstands there today, a towering monument to the power of that state
\nof mind known as a BURNING DESIRE. The easy thing for Marshal
\nField to have done, would have been exactly what his fellow
\nmerchants did. When the going was hard, and the future looked
\ndismal, they pulled up and went where the going seemed easier.
\nMark well this difference between Marshal Field and the other
\nmerchants, because it is the same difference which distinguishes
\nEdwin C. Barnes from thousands of other young men who have
\nworked in the Edison organization. It is the same difference which
\ndistinguishes practically all who succeed from those who fail.
\nEvery human being who reaches the age of understanding of
\nthe purpose of money, wishes for it. Wishing will not bring riches.
\nBut desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession,
\nthen planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and
\nbacking those plans with persistence which does not recognize
\nfailure, will bring riches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"