ANCIENT& not so ancient WISDOM
offering a weekly positive perspective

April 14, 2005

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

- Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909)

Edward Everett Hale was born in Boston on April 3, 1822. He is the grandnephew of Nathan Hale the martyr spy of the American Revolution. His father was a newspaper editor and his mother an author.  After preparation in private schools, Hale entered Harvard at the age of 13 and graduated at 17 in the year 1839.

He was a voluminous contributor to the newspapers and magazines and served as editor and writer of more than sixty books -- fiction, travel, sermons, biography and history.

His famous short novel, "The Man Without a Country" (1863), which strengthened the Union cause in the North was published anonymously in the Atlantic Monthly. He included such detailed realism that his readers thought the narrative was a true story. The motto of the hero, Harry Wadsworth, in Hale's story "Ten Times One is Ten" (1870),  "Look up and not down, look forward and not back, look out and not in, and lend a hand", led to the formation of Lend-a-Hand Clubs, Look-up Legions, and Harry Wadsworth Clubs.

He was a pastor of several churches in the Boston area beginning in 1846 and became chaplain of the United States Senate in 1903 until his death. He died in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1909.

There is something peaceful in his quote. Being an 'A' type personality, I have used urgency in an attempt to do everything. On one hand, an attempt to do 'everything' has brought me experiences in my personal and professional life that I may not have had otherwise. I enjoy aligning myself with thoughts of being a 'Renaissance Man'. On the other hand, it is becoming more and more apparent that careful choices of focus on what I can do 'uniquely' is becoming the objective for today and for my future. I am looking forward to the results of this refined focus. 

What is it that you are uniquely qualified to do?

Wishing you great joy in doing the something that you can do.

Sincerely,