{"collection":"nth","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/nth/tsoa/tsoa02.htm","path":"nth/tsoa/tsoa02.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/nth/tsoa/tsoa02.htm","text":"The Secret of the Ages, by Robert Collier, [1926]\n| \"A fire-mist and a planet, A crystal and a cell, A jelly-fish and a saurian, cave where the cave-men dwell; Then a sense of law and order, A face upturned from the clod; Some call it Evolution, And others call it God.\" \u2014Reprinted from\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The New England Journal. | \nMine would be \"Homes\"\u2014but not for the aged or infirm. For young married couples!\nI have often thought that, if ever I got into the \"Philanthropic Billionaire\" class, I'd like to start an Endowment Fund for helping young married couples over the rough spots in those first and second years of married life\u2014especially the second year, when the real troubles come.\nTake a boy and a girl and a cozy little nest\u2014add a cunning, healthy baby\u2014and there's nothing happier on God's green footstool.\nBut instead of a healthy babe, fill in a fretful, sickly baby\u2014a wan, tired, worn-out little mother\u2014a worried, dejected, heart-sick father\u2014and there's nothing more pitiful.\nA nurse for a month, a few weeks at the shore or mountains, a \"lift\" on that heavy Doctor's bill\u2014any one of these things would spell H-E-A-V-E-N to that tiny family. But do they get it? Not often! And the reason? Because they are not poor enough for charity. They are not rich enough to afford it themselves. They belong to that great \"Middle Class\" which has to bear the burdens of both the poor and the rich\u2014and take what is left for itself.\nIt is to them that I should like to dedicate this book. If I cannot endow Libraries or Colleges for them, perhaps I can point the way to get all good gifts for themselves.\nFor men and women like them do not need \"charity\"\u2014nor even sympathy. What they do need is Inspiration\u2014and Opportunity\u2014the kind of Inspiration that makes a man go out and create his own Opportunity.\nAnd that, after all, is the greatest good one can do anyone. Few people appreciate free gifts. They are like the man whom an admiring townsfolk presented with a watch. He looked it over critically for a minute. Then\u2014\"Where's the chain?\" he asked.\nBut a way to win for themselves the full measure of success they've dreamed of but almost stopped hoping for\u2014that\nis something every young couple would welcome with open arms. And it is something that, if I can do it justice, will make the \"Eternal Triangle\" as rare as it is today common, for it will enable husband and wife to work together\u2014not merely for domestic happiness, but for business success as well.\nRobert Collier.","title":"The Secret of the Ages: Volume One: Foreword","type":"page"}