This gem of homely philosophy, “Difficulty,” by Henry Van Dyke to our way of thinking packs more common sense than one will find in many a day. We quote it here as a gentle reminder. Delays, obstacles and minor inconveniences annoy and perturb us. Anyway, read it over and over and if you don’t get a lift out of it we have missed our guess.
Difficulty
NO DOUBT a world in which matter never got out of place and became dirt, in which iron had no flaws and wood no cracks, in which gardens had no weeds and food grew ready cooked, in which clothes never wore out and washing was as easy as the advertisements describe it, in which the right word was not hard to find, and rules had no exceptions, and things never went wrong, would be a much easier place to live in. But for purposes of training and development it would be worth nothing at all. It is the resistance that puts us on our mettle, it is the conquest of the reluctant stuff that educates the worker. I wish you enough difficulties to keep you well and make you strong and skillful!
—Henry Van Dyke
If you would like a print of “Difficulty” suitable for framing, we shall be pleased to mail one—without charge.