Page 29 - My FlipBook
P. 29
A TALK WITH THE STUDENT XXIU
offered by your teacher. This is all very well, but the idea
of primarily working for a prize or reward does not always
stimulate to the best efforts. John Ruskin says: ^'A man or
woman in private or public life, whoever works only for the
sake of the reward which comes for the work will in the long
run do poor work always. I do not care where the work is,
the man or woman who does work worth doing is the man or
woman who lives, breathes, and sleeps that work, with whom
it is ever present in his or her soul; whose ambition it is to do
it well and feel rewarded by the thought of having done it well.
That man or woman puts the whole country under an obli-
gation.'^ Read the quotation again! The italics have been
placed there by myself, because that is the important clause.
Do your work well, not primarily for the sake of any pecuniary
reward or attractive prominence which it may give you, but
to satisfy your own conscience. Ralph Waldo Emerson means
practically the same thing when he says: "Work in every
hour, paid or unpaid, see that thou work and thou canst not
escape the reward; whether thy work be fine or coarse, plant-
ing corn or writing epics, so only it be honest work, done to
thine own approbation, it shall earn a reward to the senses as
well as to the thought; no matter how often defeated, you are
born to victory. The reward of a thing well done is to have
done it."
I would impress upon you the broad scope and scientific
nature of the profession which you are entering. The dentist
is constantly working on living tissues which have an inti-
mate relationship with all parts of the body. His work is
founded on a thorough knowledge of Anatomy, Physiology,
Chemistry, Materia Medica and Pathology, as well as on an
understanding of physical and mechanical laws. He should
at all times be prepared to write prescriptions for the treat-
ment of oral diseases; he should be fully competent to make a
offered by your teacher. This is all very well, but the idea
of primarily working for a prize or reward does not always
stimulate to the best efforts. John Ruskin says: ^'A man or
woman in private or public life, whoever works only for the
sake of the reward which comes for the work will in the long
run do poor work always. I do not care where the work is,
the man or woman who does work worth doing is the man or
woman who lives, breathes, and sleeps that work, with whom
it is ever present in his or her soul; whose ambition it is to do
it well and feel rewarded by the thought of having done it well.
That man or woman puts the whole country under an obli-
gation.'^ Read the quotation again! The italics have been
placed there by myself, because that is the important clause.
Do your work well, not primarily for the sake of any pecuniary
reward or attractive prominence which it may give you, but
to satisfy your own conscience. Ralph Waldo Emerson means
practically the same thing when he says: "Work in every
hour, paid or unpaid, see that thou work and thou canst not
escape the reward; whether thy work be fine or coarse, plant-
ing corn or writing epics, so only it be honest work, done to
thine own approbation, it shall earn a reward to the senses as
well as to the thought; no matter how often defeated, you are
born to victory. The reward of a thing well done is to have
done it."
I would impress upon you the broad scope and scientific
nature of the profession which you are entering. The dentist
is constantly working on living tissues which have an inti-
mate relationship with all parts of the body. His work is
founded on a thorough knowledge of Anatomy, Physiology,
Chemistry, Materia Medica and Pathology, as well as on an
understanding of physical and mechanical laws. He should
at all times be prepared to write prescriptions for the treat-
ment of oral diseases; he should be fully competent to make a
