Little Journeys to the Homes of Famous Women

MP3 Audio CD. Little Journeys to the Homes of Famous Women

ELBERT HUBBARD II BERT HUBBARD

We are not sent into this world to do anything into which we can not put our hearts. We have certain work to do for our bread and that is to be done strenuously, other work to do for our delight and that is to be done heartily; neither is to be done by halves or shifts, but with a will; and what is not worth this effort is not to be done at all. —John Ruskin I am Elbert Hubbard's son, and I am entirely familiar with the proposition that "Genius never reproduces." Heretofore, it has always been necessary to sign my name, "Elbert Hubbard II"—but now there is an embarrassment in that signature, an assumption that I do not feel. There is no Second Elbert Hubbard. To five hundred Roycrofters, to the Village of East Aurora, and to a few dozen personal friends scattered over the face of the earth, I am Bert Hubbard, plain Bert Hubbard—and as Bert Hubbard I want to be known to you. I lay no claim to having inherited Elbert Hubbard's Genius, his Personality, his Insight into the Human Heart. I am another and totally different sort of man. I know my limitations. Also, I am acquainted with such ability as I possess, and I believe that it can be directed to serve you. I got my schooling in East Aurora. I have never been to College. But I have traveled across this Country several times with my Father. I have traveled abroad with him. One time we walked from Edinburgh to London to prove that we could do it. My Father has been my teacher—and I do not at all envy the College Man. For the last twenty years I have been working in the Roycroft Shops. I believe I am well grounded in Business—also, in Work. When I was twelve years old my father transferred Ali Baba to the garden—and I did the chores around the house and barn for a dollar a week. From that day forward I earned every