Reminiscences of Distinguished Men: With an Autobiography (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Reminiscences of Distinguished Men: With an Autobiography

Two motives conspire to induce me to offer this book to the public: The first is to acquire the means of subsistence; the second is to add something to the stock of human knowledge and thereby increase human happiness; and while I do not expect to present any new truths, for that would imply a sepa rate creation, yet the manifestations of old truths are as various as the ever varying phases of nature; and these possess the interest of new truths. Man is said to be the universe in miniature; that there is no form of which he is not the type, no tone to which his being is not the response. The proper study then of mankind is man. Observation is the first fruitful source of knowledge regarding men, because in addition to the five senses which are channels of communi cation, we are endowed with spirit or mind, which is etherial, all-pervasive, and eternal. Biography is the next best source of information. It is not only the written life of man, it is also a record of human character. In the hands of a skillful artist it is a living image. Self-knowledge is the key to unlock the hidden knowledge of others. I shall therefore commence my work with an autobiographical sketch, adorned only with simple truth, which will constitute its chief merit. I am con scious of no desire for notoriety, I have outlived the love of fame, and if I had acquired fame when young, it would have killed me, as it has killed thousands in every age of the world.

Autobiography is the highest source of personal knowledge, reminiscences next, biography third. And history last. In the first, we have the consciousness of our secret thoughts and actions; in the second, the visible form and apparent life; in the third, the record of human character; and in the fourth, a narrative of human events, the causes of whichare frequently left to conjecture. I shall endeavor to show that there are but few elementary principles in the character of man; that during the last two thousand years, but two individuals, Julius Caesar and George Washington, have pos sessed them in an eminent degree; that they are alike in all men, differing only in degree; and that there are but four such elementary principles: first, honesty of purpose second. Practical common sense; third, self-knowledge; fourth, self-government. In these elementary principles there is un varying unity; in their manifestations to the world. Under the influence of surrounding circumstances, there is endless variety.

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