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Analyzing Character by Katherine M. H. Blackford;Arthur Newcomb
page 8 of 512 (01%)
discovered his discoverer." The man who waits for his Pericles usually
waits in vain. There has been only one Pericles in all history. Great
geniuses in the discovery, development, and management of men are rare.
Most men never meet them. And yet every man can discover his discoverer.

Self-knowledge is the first step to self-development. Through an
understanding of his own aptitudes and talents one may find fullest
expression for the highest possibilities of his intellect and spirit. A
man who thus knows himself needs no other discoverer. The key to
self-knowledge is intelligent, scientific self-study.

In the year 1792, Mahmoud Effendi, a Turkish archer, hit a mark with an
arrow at 482 yards. His bow, arrows, thumb-ring and groove are still on
exhibition in London as proof of the feat. His prowess lay in his native
gift, trained by years of practice, to guess the power of his bow, the
weight and balance of his arrow, and the range and direction of his
target; also, the sweep of the wind. This he gained by observations
repeated until the information gathered from them amounted to almost exact
knowledge. Thousands of gunners to-day hit a mark miles away, with a
16-inch gun, not because they are good guessers, but because, by means of
science, they determine accurately all of the factors entering into the
flight of their projectiles. Pericles judged men by a shrewd guess--the
kind of guess called intuition. But such intuition is only a native gift
of keen observation, backed by good judgment, and trained by shrewd study
of large numbers of men until it becomes instinctively accurate.

In modern times we are learning not to depend upon mere guesses--no matter
how shrewd. Mahmoud Effendi could not pass on to others the art he had
acquired. But the science of gunnery can be taught to any man of average
intelligence and natural aptitudes. Pericles left posterity not one hint
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