'If we are to have a rich and full life in which all are to share, our communal, spiritual and intellectual life must be distinctly higher than elsewhere!'

On Motivation, Truslow Adams and the American Dream

"Lincoln was not great because he was born in a log cabin, but because he got out of it ‑ that is, because he rose above the poverty, ignorance, lack of ambition, shiftlessness of character, contentment with mean things and low aims which kept so many thousands in the huts where they were born." - Truslow Adams

Motivation per se has been a great key to unlocking the power, the potential and the competence innate within anyone, anywhere, anytime! And that’s one reason, why teachers, professors and mentors all over the world, tell their wards to keep far far away from negative, pessimistic minds, minds who sincerely take upon themselves the task of moan, mutter and murmur, grumble, groan and growl, minds who always whine and whine, and in the process never see for themselves, the brighter, better things there are to life! These are people who will never have a word of appreciation or motivation for you anytime! And if you would observe hard, these are the very same people who would take the first stone or the first cudgel at you, or to throw eggs or rotten tomatoes at you, or to criticize you when you fumble or fall even a wee bit! That’s because, these minds are such bigoted minds, and utterly unmotivated minds, who wallow willfully in their pavapetta pessimism, and wish to remain so, all through their bitter, back-biting lives!

The vibrant, cheerful and motivated souls, on the other hand, ain’t ever bitter, but always make us feel better with their sweet lives for ensamples! And to be surrounded by positive, motivated and committed souls makes such a huge difference to our own kutty sweet lives on this planet, ain’t it?

And well, history has been host to a huge array of such motivated, positive and successful people down the ages, who have found such intense motivation in great leaders who’ve been able and noble visionaries themselves!

Benjamin Franklin (or Benji,) is one such visionary, whom I so respect, admire and adore, a visionary who is credited with having come up the ladder of success in his life, having started off on his noble path to success, with just a lone bread roll in hand, and utterly, totally penniless when he landed in Philadelphia in days past, as a poor, jobless youth!

He is also said to be one of the best exemplars to the ideals stated in the American Dream! As he himself tells us, he's lived his life according to an array of 13 rock-solid virtues that he firmly believed would lead him to great success.

Just a chosen few, among the many Virtues that he practiced are,

1. The Virtue of Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2. The Virtue of Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

3. The Virtue of Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

4. The Virtue of Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

5. The Virtue of Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6. The Virtue of Industry: Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. The Virtue of Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. The Virtue of Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. The Virtue of Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

10. Tranquillity: Be not disturbed at trifles. (if you hadn’t originally started the fire!) ;-)

What invigorating precepts and ideals to live by! To me, by far, Benji is one of the noblest human beings ever to have blessed this planet with his sweet presence, sweeter living and sweetest precepts!

And Benji’s Autobiography is such an awe-inspiring testimony not only to these virtuous ideals but also to the tenets of the American Dream!

Well, then, that takes us next to the American Dream!

James Truslow Adams, as we all know, has been originally credited with coining this famous term, American Dream in his 1931 book The Epic of America, a motivational book that seeks to highlight the philosophic vision of America in all its grandeur.

Indeed the American Dream has seeped so much into the psyche of the average American that, one could call it ubiquitous by all means!

To Truslow then, the American dream is in essence, “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”.

Although there have been huge debates on the success and the failure of the American dream over the decades, a few instances from literary mode would help us get a better glimpse of this concept in much more detail.

If one could trace the germs of the dream down the years to the 1776 Declaration of Independence, one could find that, even Thomas Jefferson, back then, had sententiously laid out the germs of the American dream with such noble forethought and foresight, which states that, all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

This was in sharp contrast to the European world view to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,’ as they were ‘strictured’ by a structured class code that bogged down their aspirations to a great extent! And Tuslow Adams makes a veiled reference to this ‘strictured’ world view of the Europeans too, in this, his endearing read!

As such, Benjamin Franklin, regarded as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, serves ample embodiment to the ideals of the American dream. In his Autobiography (that we’ve already discussed HERE on our past blogpost), Benji narrates how he had come to Philadelphia as a penniless youth, with just one bread roll in hand, and eagerly hunted and watched out all around for opportunities. Very soon, as the autobiography describes it, he goes on to become one of the most famous men of America, by virtue of his sheer motivation, tireless striving and diligent hardwork! He is credited, as we all know, with having established the first ever library and the first ever fire station in America apart from pioneering a whole lot of other interesting inventions!

In this regard, Tuslow’s vision of the American Dream, envisioned in his renowned book, The Epic of America, serves such a towering edifice to leading a richer and a fuller life in all respects!

Giving y’all memorable excerpts from the book!

Tuslow speaks –

If, as I have said, the things already listed were all we had had to contribute, America would have made no distinctive and unique gift to mankind. But there has been also the American dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.

It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.

I once had an intelligent young Frenchman as guest in New York, and after a few days I asked him what struck him most among his new impressions. Without hesitation he replied, "The way that everyone of every sort looks you right in the eye, without a thought of inequality."

Some time ago a foreigner who used to do some work for me, and who had picked up a very fair education, used occasionally to sit and chat with me in my study after had finished his work. One day he said that such a relationship was the great difference between America and his homeland. There, he said, "I would do my work and might get a pleasant word, but I could never sit and talk like this. There is a difference there between social grades which cannot be got over. I would not talk to you there as man to man, but as my employer."

No, the American dream that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of merely material plenty, though that has doubtless counted heavily. It has been much more than that.

It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as man and woman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class.

The point is that if we are to have a rich and full life in which all are to share and play their parts, if the American dream is to be a reality, our communal spiritual and intellectual life must be distinctly higher than elsewhere, where classes and groups have their separate interests, habits, markets, arts, and lives.

If the dream is not to prove possible of fulfillment, we might as well become stark realists, become once more class‑conscious, and struggle as individuals or classes against one another. If it is to come true, those on top, financially, intellectually, or otherwise have got to devote themselves to the "Great Society," and those who are below in the scale have got to strive to rise, not merely economically, but culturally.

We cannot become a great democracy by giving ourselves up as individuals to selfishness, physical comfort, and cheap amusements. The very foundation of the American dream of a better and richer life for all is that all, in varying degrees, shall be capable of wanting to share in it. It can never be wrought into a reality by cheap people or by "keeping up with the Joneses."

There is nothing whatever in a fortune merely in itself or in a man merely in himself. It all depends on what is made of each. Lincoln was not great because he was born in a log cabin, but because he got out of it ‑ that is, because he rose above the poverty, ignorance, lack of ambition, shiftlessness of character, contentment with mean things and low aims which kept so many thousands in the huts where they were born.

If we are to make the dream come true we must all work together, no longer to build bigger, but to build better. There is a time for quantity and a time for quality. There is a time when quantity may become a menace and the law of diminishing returns begins to operate, but not so with quality. By working together I do not mean another organization, of which the land is as full as was Kansas of grasshoppers. I mean a genuine individual search and striving for the abiding values of life.

How trueee! How nobleee! How lovelyyy!

Deliberations on The Dream continue…

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