Bessie Stanley's Famous Poem

Bessie Anderson Stanley (1879 - 1952)

 

Lincoln Sentinel, Nov. 30, 1905

"What Constitutes Success"
A $250 Prize Story by a Lincoln Woman

A few weeks ago Mrs. A.J. Stanley at the earnest solicitation of Mr. Stanley wrote an essay on "What constitutes success" for entrance in a contest carried on by the George Livingston Richards Co. of Boston, Mass. It was required that the essay should be confined to 100 words and should be the best definition of what constituted success, neatness and several of the requirements being taken into consideration. The essay was entered in competition with hundreds of others from all parts of the country. Last Saturday when Mrs. Stanley was notified that she had won the first prize of $250 she did not credit the good news and laughing told Mr. Stanley he could have half. An accompanying draft furnished satisfactory proof. Below we give Mrs. Stanley's essay on "What Constitutes Success."

"He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; 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."

Lincoln Republican, 21 December 1905

Mrs. A.J. Stanley not only won $250 by her prize essay, "What Constitutes Success"; but has won considerable notoriety. Her name and her essay has already been published in a large proportion of the newspapers of Kansas, as well as in papers of other states, and doubtless will be published in half of, if not in every state in the Union before the incident is closed.

Success
by
Bessie Anderson Stanley

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 left the world better than he found it 
whether by an improved poppy, 
a perfect poem or a rescued soul; 

who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty 
or failed to express it; 

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. 

 

 

Bessie A. Stanley's Thanksgiving Poem

Lincoln Republican, 28 November 1907

"For All These Things"

For the dew upon the clover and the foam upon the spray;
For the lark’s clear burst of music, for the light of breaking day;
For the gladness of the springtime and the hope and joy of youth;
For the gleams of things afar off and the golden hits of truth;
For the things we hope to conquer and the hills we mean to climb;
For the shining crowns of glory that we mean to wear in time;
For youth’s path of fame and honor that our Fancy’s feet have trod;
For the hope, the joy, the promise – we thank Thee, O, our God!

For the splendor of the noonday and the glory of its sun;
For the heights of Life’s fulfillment and the wayside station won;
For the labor and the waiting – for the weary testing time;
For the love that gladdens, crowns us when our life is in its prime;
For the burden and the strength to go bearing to the end;
For the best gifts man is grasping – for lover and for friend;
For the tasks that wait us daily, for the will to win and plod;
For the promise and thy presence, we thank Thee, O, our God!

For the tenderness of evening and the deepening shades of night;
For the slopes that lie to westward when we reach and pass the height;
For the brighter hues of Autumn that with beauty veil decay;
For the kindly snows of winter that the bleakness hides away;
For life’s joys and for its sorrows; for its triumphs and its tears;
For its sunshine and its shadows, for the mountain and the cold;
For life and all that living means—we thank Thee, O, our God!

Reader's Digest Admits Mistake

Lincoln Sentinel-Republican, Nov. 5, 1953

Some weeks ago, Judge R.W. Greene called attention to the definition of "Success" which appeared in the October Readers' Digest, and which was credited to Robert Louis Stevenson.

The quotation, of course, belongs to Mrs. A.J. Stanley. Mrs. Stanley wrote it about fifty years ago, and after her death a few years ago, Mr. Stanley had it engraved on her monument in the Lincoln cemetery.

Judge Greene recently received a letter from the Readers' Digest, explaining how the mistake happened to be made. It is interesting to note that others, too, realized that a mistake in authorship had been made and wrote to the magazine.

The letter to Judge Greene follows:

Dear Mr. Greene:

Thank you for your letter prompted by the definition of success printed in our October issue and attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson. This short essay came to us on a Christmas card, which credited Stevenson with the authorship although the specific source was not mentioned.

Since the October issue appeared, however, we have heard from a number of readers who pointed out that the lines should hav been credited to the late Mrs. A.J. Stanley of Lincoln, Kan. We are sorry about this slip-up. It is quite a tribute to Mrs. Stanley's definition that so many should recall both the lines and their authorship. Clearly the little essay touches a responsive chord in many hearts.

Sincerely,