Find a Way, or Make One

“A hundred times every day,” said Albert Einstein, “I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself to give in the measure as I have received, and am still receiving.” Along with dependence on Divine Providence, it is true and humbling that all or us are dependent upon other people⎯upon the explorers, the discoverers, the pioneers and patriots of the past; upon the inventors and developers and investors; upon the products that others have produced; upon the skills and services and integrity of untold people who have made possible our past and our present. Someone has to do everything: someone has to learn, to work, to save; to do research, to plan, to risk, to believe; to develop, to produce; to remain solvent, to perform profitably. We owe much to many, and there is much yet to be done everywhere in the world, and any attitude that overly emphasizes ease or idleness is shortsighted and unsafe. We need a sense of history, a re-examination of purposes and principles; of why we have what we have, with gratitude to those who gave us what we have, and the good grace to pass it on, improved upon if possible, remembering that there is no easy solution to anything, ever. When Admiral Peary was disabled with the agony of frozen feet, which threatened to defeat his heroic effort to reach the North Pole, he wrote on the wall of his miserable shelter, “I shall find a way or make one.” Earlier he had said: “I shall put into this effort everything there is in me⎯physical, mental, and moral.” This is the spirit of those who have made history. We have come by the trial and error, by the anguish and effort of others, and just waiting for history to happen is not enough. We must help it to happen, for the right principles, for the right purposes. We must “find” a way⎯or make one.