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knowledge and understanding, proficiency and efficiency, where we have gone beyond the capabilities, the mental prowess, and the mastership of our once admired and adored teachers, and we forget, in our present state, to give thanks, in our thoughts, to those teachers, and we even look back upon their lives and their knowledge as having been mediocre and perhaps unworthy of our admiration. Such is the fate that awaits every teacher, every leader. Such is the loss of esteem as a consequence of his own devotion to his pupils and his duty to mankind. There are exceptions, of course, notable and wonderful. What is true of the teachers in schools and colleges is true in the lives of the greatest of the mystics of the past and those of today. To devote one's life to the uplift, guidance and assistance of others has no other reward than the joy of doing, and he would be an unwise teacher and leader, indeed, unlearned in the laws of human nature and the tendencies of man, who did not realize that there will be those in his classes, in his school, in his circle of intimates and friends, who will some day advance beyond him in power, in knowledge and understanding, and to whom he may in turn look some day for that guidance, that help, that he is extending to others; and he would be ignorant of the greatest laws if he did not realize that no matter how wonderful his own illumination, his own grasp and understanding of the laws and principles of the universe, there must be others near him, perhaps unknown to him, who will some day excel him in the very work that he now deems his mission in life, and who will take up the reins where he must leave them go, and start on the higher path where he must stop, and carry on under a new banner, or a larger banner, the work that he now thinks is his and his alone. And so I suggest to our members that they keep in mind that not only the hours of study and the periods of devotion to our work will bring essential success and mastership in our work, but that there are those among you who have the joy of previous development, or previous attainment, and who may even now be ready to take up a greater work, greater than the writer or any of his acknowledged superiors or associates could ever possibly do. Such thoughts bring at times a note of sadness in the life of every great leader, but, on the other hand, there is this one great consolation, that if the work is worthy of doing and is truly deserving of devotion and endeavor, then the fact that it will be carried on by others more efficiently and more nobly is joyous and encouraging and proves the law that man will advance, helping man and leading while God inspires. However, in every instance where we find that a sincere and devoted pupil has excelled his master and become a great leader, we note that the new leader has never lost his appreciation of the efforts expended in his behalf by his master and has never failed to pay homage and tribute to his Alma Mater. We note, also, that the truly great leaders in all ages and all times, whether they were born to lead or trained to lead at the hands of a great teacher, were those who never expected to become leaders and certainly never planned or schemed, to the injury of any one else or to the detriment of their former associations and instructions, to bring about a high position for themselves. In every instance we find that such leaders were the most humble and were discovered by those higher than themselves, and whenever we find one posing to be a great leader, or a great teacher, by self-appointment, we generally find a lack of the real qualities essential for such work.
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