Take your opportunities now
Marie Snider
Saturday, November 4, 2006
For a long time, I have wanted to know more about William Arthur Ward — the man who said, “Before you spend, earn” and “Before you write, think.”
The man who said, “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.” The master of inspirational quotes.
I wondered: What was his discipline? What books did he write? What kind of a man was he? What century did he live in?
So finally, late last Saturday night, I decided to do my research.
I began by typing in “William Arthur Ward” and “biography.” To my surprise, I found lots of websites with Ward’s inspirational quotes, but not much about his life.
There was a blog from a teacher who said she was searching for quotes on education and found exactly what she wanted — a quote from Ward. “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
But when she wanted to know more about the man who created these words, the teacher came up with nothing. So she was asking for help.
It appears that William Arthur Ward is a common name, so blogger suggestions ranged from a 20th-century composer to an English novelist.
But one blogger had some hard facts — William Arthur Ward was an administrator at Texas Wesleyan College (now University), who lived from 1921 to 1994.
I did some more sleuthing and found out this was the Ward I was looking for — philosopher, scholar, teacher, motivational speaker and prolific writer. One of America’s most quoted writers of inspirational maxims.
He had more than 100 articles, poems and meditations published in such upbeat magazines as Reader’s Digest, The Upper Room and Ideals. Although most are now out-of-print, Ward also published a few books, with inspirational titles such as “ReWard Yourself,” “Up Words,” and “Brighten Your Corner.” Amazon.com even offers a four-inch magnet with Ward’s sayings.
In 1962, his alma mater, Oklahoma City University, awarded Ward an honorary doctorate in recognition of his professional achievement, literary contributions and service to others.
Dr. Ward’s recipe for success is “study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing.”
But with all that success, Ward also had many failures.
In her book “Abundant Living,” Delia Sellers described how Ward dealt with the rejection slips he received from publishers: He wrapped them around a rolling pin. Then, when a student complained about work being rejected, Ward would unwind the rolling pin to reveal the yards of rejection slips.
I can imagine that he would follow up this demonstration with one of his maxims on the topic. “Failure is not fatal. Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker.” “To try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.”
So what about you? Are you willing to risk failure in order to live more abundantly? What new growth are you missing by staying “safe”?
Next time you are tempted to pass up an opportunity remember William Arthur Ward’s advice: “Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them.”
So take your opportunities now!
F Write Marie Snider at thisside60@aol.com or visit her website at www.visit-snider.com