“Inventors Show Us How To Excel”

“Inventors Show Us How To Excel”

“Even Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamship,

was ridiculed and thought to be a fool by the people of

his day.

This excerpt appeared in Insight:”

“Here’s an extract from a notebook of Robert Fulton, who

invented the steamship, who changed ships forever from sail

to steam on the oceans of the world. He wrote, ‘As I had the

occasion daily to pass to and from the shipyard where my

boat was in progress, I often loitered near the groups of  

strangers and heard various remarks as to the object of

the new vehicle. The language was uniformly that of scorn,

sneer or ridicule. The loud laugh often rose at my expense;

the dry jest; the wise calculations of losses or expenditures; the dull repetition of “Fulton’s Folly.” Never did a single encouraging

remark, a bright hope, a warm wish cross my path.’”

“Emerson said, “To be great is to be misunderstood.”

“Do you really think it was easier to excel a hundred

or two hundred years ago or that people were easier to get

along with? I don’t think so, not after reading Fulton’s notes.

I don’t think it’s ever been easy to succeed. We have some

inventions that make our lives easier today now that we have

the computer, cell phones, Internet, and other technological

advances.

Although the technology is better today, you may still

have to work hard to succeed and to accomplish a great

goal.

Henry Ford, the pioneer of the Model T Ford, wanted his

engineers to build an eight-cylinder engine, a V-8 engine.

After studying the proposal, they thought it couldn’t be

done. Ford told them to forget about the fact that it couldn’t

be built and get to work until it was done.

After six months, the engineers came back to Ford and

told him they couldn’t do it. Ford told them to continue no

matter how long it took, but do it. After six more months,

they still could not build this engine and told Henry Ford

that it was impossible. Ford ignored the word “impossible”

and told them to get back to work on the eight cylinder

engine and don’t stop until they’ve got it working.

The engineers did as they were told and came back

with a phenomenal V-8 engine that made some of the Ford

automobiles the hottest cars of the time. The V-8 is still in

use today.

Ford could have given up because experts in the field

told him repeatedly his idea was impossible, yet Ford

believed his idea was possible. He knew it wouldn’t be easy,

yet he repeatedly told them during their failures “I want it

and I’ll have it.”

“Great works are performed not by

strength but by perseverance. He that shall

walk with vigor, three hours a day will pass,

in seven years, a space equal to the

circumference of the globe.”

--Samuel Johnson

C- 2005 John Paul Carinci