Character and Conduct – 5 February – Business-like Habits

IT is very important to cultivate business-like habits.   An eminent friend of mine assured me not long ago that when he thought over the many cases he had known of men, even of good ability and high character, who had been unsuccessful in life, by far the most frequent cause of failure was that they were dilatory, unpunctual, unable to work cordially with others, obstinate in small things, and, in fact, what we call unbusiness-like.

Lord AVEBURY

A ‘BUSTLING’ man is, to a man of business, what a monkey is to a man.   He is the shadow of despatch, or, rather, the echo thereof;  for he maketh noise enough for an alarm.   The quickness of a true man of business he imitateth, imitateth excellently well, but neither his silence nor his method;  and it is to be noted that he is ever most vehement about matters of no significance.

He is always in such headlong haste to overtake the next minute, that he loses half the minute in hand;  and yet is full of indignation and impatience at other people’s slowness, and wasteth more time in reiterating his love of despatch than would suffice for doing a great deal of business.   He never giveth you his quiet attention with a mind centred on what you are saying, but hears you with a restless eye, and a perpetual shifting posture, and is so eager to show his quickness that he interrupteth you a dozen times, misunderstands you as often, and ends by making you and himself lose twice as much time as was necessary.

H. ROGERS

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These quotes are from ‘Character and Conduct’ A selection of helpful thoughts from various authors arranged for daily reading.

Collected by Constance M Whishaw and first published in 1905 as a follow up to her volume of Daily Readings for members of the Being and Doing Guild who asked for an additional volume

In her preface Whishaw writes:

‘This collection of noble thoughts expressed by men and women of past and present ages who have endeavoured to leave the world a little better than they found it.’

It is my hope in publishing the her readers may be inspired to imitate the example of the authors.