- Bessie Anderson Stanley
Elisabeth-Anne "Bessie" Anderson Stanley (born before 1900) is the author of the
poem "Success" ("What issuccess ?" or "What Constitutes Success"?), which is often incorrectly misattributed [Such as in this memorial: [http://sandusky.lib.mi.us/arc/memorials/max/max.html "Max Kreger, a memorial"] ,Sandusky District Library ,Sandusky, Michigan ] toRalph Waldo Emerson [http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/lincoln/success.htm "What Constitutes Success": A $250 Prize Story by a Lincoln Woman"]Lincoln Sentinel , November 30, 1905 (archived by Bill and Diana Sowers onLincoln County, Kansas Genealogy & History website)] [ [http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Sui-Generis/Emerson/success.htm "In Search of Success"] , extensive research by Dirk H. Kelder (personal website)] [ [http://www.transcendentalists.com/success.htm "Success Quote - Ralph Waldo Emerson"] , Jone Johnson Lewis on "Transcendentalists" website] orRobert Louis Stevenson ). [ [http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/lincoln/stanley.htm "Reader's Digest Admits Mistake"] ,Lincoln Sentinel-Republican , November 5, 1953 (archived by Bill and Diana Sowers onLincoln County, Kansas Genealogy & History website)]Her poem, written in 1904 for a contest held in "
Brown Book Magazine ", [http://www.robinsweb.com/truth_behind_success.html "The Truth behind the Poem "Success"] (email exchange betweenRobin Olson andBethanne Larson , Stanley's great-granddaughter, on "Robin's Web" website)] byGeorge Livingston Richards Co. ofBoston, Massachusetts reads::He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;:Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;:Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;:Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;:Who has left the world better than he found it,:Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;:Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;:Whose life was an inspiration;:Whose memory a benediction.
The poem was in "
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations " in the 1930s or 1940s but was mysteriously removed in the 1960s. It was again included in the seventeenth edition. However, it does appear in a 1911 book, "MoreHeart Throbs Volume 2" on pages 1-2. [Grosset & Dunlap of New York, ©1911 byChapple Publishing Company Ltd. ofBoston, MA (from [http://icoolspark.blogspot.com/2007/02/success-finding-gem-among-litter-in.html "Success: Finding a Gem among the Litter in the Literature"] ,Chuck Anastasia , Coolspark blog, February 24, 2007)]Ann Landers (and her sister Abby) are also said to have misattributed the poem to Emerson and her concession to a public correction is in "The Ann Landers Encyclopedia".References
* [http://www.cas.sc.edu/engl/emerson/Ephemera/Success.html "Success"] ,
Mila Tasseva forThe Ralph Waldo Emerson Society , April 15, 2003ee also
*
Inclusionism
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