CHAPTER TEN

SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY


Every one who has had to do with Harvey's Grammar will readily recall the
sentence, "Milo began to lift the ox when he was a calf." Aside from the
interest which this sentence aroused as to the antecedent of the pronoun,
it also enunciated a bit of philosophy which caused the pupils to wonder
about the possibility of such a feat. They were led to consider such
examples of physical strength as Samson, Hercules, and the more modern
Sandow and to wonder, perhaps, just what course of training brought these
men to their attainment of physical power. It is comparatively easy for
adults to realize that such feats as these men accomplished could only
come through a long process of training. If a man can lift a given weight
on one day, he may be able to lift a slightly heavier weight the next day,
and so on until he has achieved distinction by reason of his ability to
lift great weights. So it is in this matter of responsibility. It need
hardly be said that responsibility is the heaviest burden that men and
women are called upon to lift or carry. We need only think of the
responsibilities pertaining to the office of the chief ruler of a country
in time of war, or of the commanding general of armies, or of the
president of large industrial concerns, and so on through the list. Such
men bear burdens of responsibility that cannot be estimated in terms of
weights or measures. We can easily think of the time when the manager of a
great industrial concern was a child in school, but it is not so easy to