--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Richards, Claude collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 17 number: 5 published: 1914-03 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Claude Richards, "Conditions of Success—II," *Improvement Era* 17, no. 5 (March 1914): 413–416.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1705unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera1705unse start_page: 413 end_page: 416 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1914-03) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1705unse publication_year: 1914 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1914, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Conditions of Success—II Conditions of Success Letter to a Young Friend BY CLAUDE RICHARDS. OF THE GENERAL BOARD Y. M. M. I. A. II. HEALTH (CONTINUED) Cleanliness. Cleanliness was once thought to be "next to godliness." A more recent version is that "Cleanliness is a part of godliness." Certainly for its own sake it is desirable to be clean. Cleanliness is conducive both to health and strength. There is no excuse for being unclean. Lack of cleanliness retards progress and impairs a man's usefulness in the world. Who ever heard of a man performing any great mission in life who did not observe the laws of hygiene with respect to cleanliness. When did inspiration ever come to him that was in filth? On the other hand, is it not inspiring to be clean ? And does not the mind work best when the body is in this condition? Frequent bathing will be found both profitable and enjoyable. Every person should bathe and have an entire change of clothing at least twice a week. Use of the tooth brush after each meal and proper mouth washes for occasional use are recommended by dentists. Well-brushed hair and shoes, clean hands and linen, and a clean-shaven face all contribute to one's cleanliness and appearance. Exercise. Enough exercise is as necessary to health as enough sleep. The one furnishes the rest and the other the action to keep the mind and body well. Ample exercise in fresh air must be had. If this exercise is not taken, the circulation will become sluggish and bad results are likely to follow. When your daily work does not supply enough exercise, be sure you get it in some other way. Recreation. Something more than sleep, food, cleanliness and exercise are required for complete health. Recreation is essential for body and mind. Life would soon become dull without it. Even if our daily work supplied enough physical and mental activity, we would feel something lacking without recreation. Recreation adds interest to life. "Variety is the spice of life." In the routine of our daily duties things would often grow irksome without a change. This change may take the form of exercise, games, amusements and the like. Thus a man may find recreation in walking, cutting his lawn, working in the garden, in swimming and other forms of ath- 414 IMPROVEMENT ERA letics and games, in contact with nature, in visiting friends and places, attending meetings, socials, dances, lectures and theaters, or in reading and art, and in other diverse forms of pastime. Especially should a man get enjoyment and recreation in his selected avocation. III. Intellect. (a) Power to think (b) Power to reason (c) Judgment 1 1. Common sense 2. Propriety 3. Judge not (d) Memory (e) Expression (f) Training. Though the mind and body both need rest and recreation, it is their chief business to work. In preceding paragraphs, something brief has been said with reference to the conditions under which the body will work best. These same conditions are necessary for the intellect as well. Sleep, food, cleanliness, exercise and recreation are all essential to a healthy brain and should be supplied in right proportion. Of intellect itself, in this discussion, we need only say that a man's intellect is the source of his understanding. And as such it must direct his research and his operations. It must be depended upon to plan and execute his entire career. If in every effort of his life a man is to render intelligent service to his fellows, he must be directed and controlled by his intellect. There is no calling to which any ambitious young man would rightly aspire that does not require for success in its line the full power of a good and noble intellect. Pozver to Think. Power to think is a quality of the intellect to be developed. Man is too often prone to accept from others what he should think out for himself. At the present time the market is so flooded with literature, and, in the main, good literature, too, that one usually finds it more convenient to accept the thoughts and ideas of another rather than to take time to think out thoughts and ideas of one's own. To such an extreme has this habit been carried that the criticism has been made and, perhaps, justly too, that the American public are today a reading rather than a thinking public, preferring their thought pre-digested, so to speak. This tendency must be overcome, and in its place the power to think should be established. Cultivate and maintain the power of concentration of the mind by close application each day to study. This should be done after you leave school, even if you are able to study but a few minutes at a time. Successful men think for themselves. Once the habit acquired, it will be invaluable. CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS 415 Power to Reason. From the power to think comes the act of reasoning, i. c, to weighing and balancing one's thoughts. Reason is the balance-wheel of the intellect and should be kept in poise. If it gets out of adjustment our whole life may suffer. We all like to deal with a reasonable man — one that is openminded and fair. To him we like to go with our problems and our business ; and from him we usually get the most assistance and the best service. Judgment. Good judgment is the result of careful reasoning. Much depends for our welfare upon the conclusions reached by the intellect. A faulty decision may lead us many miles off in the wrong direction, while a sound one will keep us safely on the right track. Our judgment should be conservative lest we speculate too much with our time and our talents. A liberal amount of common-sense should be mixed with a man's reasoning and a strong sense of propriety should be developed and used as needed. In this paragraph on judgment we must urge that you refrain from judging others, lest, according to Bible law, you, yourself be judged. It is not within the province of man to judge other men in the sense of prescribing punishment or reward, yet it is a man's privilege, for his own benefit and dealings, to make his own estimate of men. And in so doing we strongly advise that you do not make your estimate hastily and from one thing alone. At any time, you may see only a fragment of a man's character, — possibly a ragged edge — one that is unfavorable to the man. Be fair with others as well as with yourself and with strangers as well as with your friends. Have faith in your fellows. Memory. Memory is the library of the mind in which are recorded an abstract of the transactions of the intellect. If the records are systematically arranged and well preserved they will constitute a splendid ready reference for use as long as life lasts. Like nearly all good things, a retentive memory can with effort be cultivated. Expression. Expression is the means by which we convey our thoughts and emotions to others. The two common forms are writing and talking. Both are essential to success. When written expression is called for it is a big advantage to be able to write clearly and impressively. Oral expression is demanded almost every active hour in a person's life. Conversation is the most used form. Public speaking is required at times in public work. Each is an accomplishment to be cultivated in the highest degree. Unmeasured service can be, and very much of the service to others must be, rendered through the medium of oral and written expression — since the good we do is almost wholly clone through contact with others. 416 .IMPROVEMENT ERA Training. The training of the mind in school and college, its advantage and importance, has been discussed at some length in our former letter on Higher Education. The purpose of repetition here is to have the item appear in this outline, and to emphasize (1st) that the purpose of acquiring knowledge is action, and (2nd) to encourage a full and harmonious development of all the different qualities of the intellect. (to be continued) Elder Parley Z. Hatch, Cheshire, England, October 27: "We are laboring in Hyde, Manchester Conference. We have a first-class branch, and the undivided support of Saints and friends who are many. As a result of tracting in Stalybridge a 'warning' appeared in The Daily Dispatch of October 8, 1913, which shows either the wilful ignorance or narrow-mindedness of some of the people. A writer in a magazine published in connection with St. Paul's Church, Stalybridge, warns the young women in the southeast corner of Lancashire that the emissaries of the Latter-day Saints are there. The writer goes on to say that while the unthinking 'people are disarmed by their display of truth the 'Mormon' emissaries may entice them to their meetinghouses and there inculcate the fuller teaching of their religion, which is in its very essence as contrary to the gospel of Christ as light is to darkness.' The lives of the Latter-day Saints, both in England and America, give the lie to this statement. The writer then goes on to give his warning in these words: 'Let the readers of this magazine be warned in time to shun the 'Mormon' emissaries and all their kind as they would a pestilence.' This same writer states also in the article that in the main the pamphlets which the elders circulate contain the true gospel, 'the particular exception to be taken is in the paragraph, Baptism for the Dead.' It is surpassing strange that our elders who teach the Christian truth can yet have a Christian warn people against them as this writer does. The elders are Lewis P. Mauo-han, Wellsville; front, Parley Z. Hatch, Woods Cross, Utah."