Ane of the almost enduring misattributions of a work to Emerson is that of an inspirational prose passage called "Success" that appears, virtually oft assigned to Emerson if to anyone, on many Spider web pages. It goes

To laugh oft and honey much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the amore of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to requite of one'southward self; to exit the earth a flake better, whether by a good for you child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to take played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier considering you have lived—this is to accept succeeded.1

Equally Joel Myerson demonstrates in "Emerson'due south 'Success'—Actually, it is not," Emerson Society Papers, 11, no. i (Spring 2000): 1, 8, this is not a piece of work by Emerson.

In her 17 November 1990 column, "Dear Abby" (Abigail Van Buren) answered a reader's question "How would you lot ascertain success?" with the quote from "my favorite American poet, essayist and philosopher" printed above. However, on 1 Feb 1992, a chastened Abby printed a letter from Arthur Stanley Harvey, who wrote that the quotation was based on something his grandmother, Bessie Anderson Stanley, had written in 1904, and that had been appropriated for many years by greeting carte du jour companies, including Authentication, which had "erroneously credited Robert Louis Stevenson equally the author." Abby then apologized, and printed what she described as the original from the 1904 Brown Book Magazine:

He has accomplished success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much; who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of niggling children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the earth better than he found it, whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has e'er looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.

But more enquiry shows some other source. In the September 1904, Joe Mitchell Chapple, publisher of the Boston National Magazine, announced he would give $10,000 for "Eye Throbs," which he divers as "those things that make us all kin; those things that endure—the classics of our ain lives." The people who sent in the ten best contributions would receive a pile of silver dollars, "one silver dollar placed flat upon the other," every bit "will measure out your exact height"; other major winners would receive twenty-v, ten, or five dollars; and v hundred lucky people (out of a total of 840 winners) would receive a dollar each. The results from this contest were published in a book, accordingly titled Heart Throbs, but it contained nil by Stanley.2 Due to the success of this book, a second volume of Heart Throbs was published in 1911, "Contributed by the People," according to the title folio. Unlike the first volume, this ane contained "the voluntary contribution of thousands," including, on the very get-go page, "What is Success?" by "Bessie A. Stanley." Significantly, Emerson'southward "Good-Bye" is also included (p. 7-eight). The proximity of Stanley's piece of work to Emerson's suggests that someone might have made the initial misattribution by copying Stanley'south work, and so returning to seek the author and mistakenly using Emerson'south name from 3 leaves later; Stanley's name appears on the 3rd line of a verso folio, Emerson'southward on the fifth of a verso page, making such an eyeskip possible.three

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NOTES

1. A popular variation of this reads "To live well, to laugh often, to love much, to gain the respect of intelligent people, to win the dear of little children. To fill i's niche and accomplish one's task, to get out the earth better than one finds information technology whether past an improved flower, a perfect verse form or another life ennobled. to never lack appreciation of globe's beauty or neglect to express information technology, to ever look for the best in others, to give the best one has. To make one'south life an inspiration and one's retention a benediction. This is success."

2. Center Throbs, [ed. Joseph Mitchell Chapple] (Boston: Chapple Publishing Company, 1905), pp. v-vi.

iii. Heart Throbs, Book Ii, [ed. Joseph Mitchell Chapple] (Boston: Chapple Publishing Visitor, 1911), pp. ii, ane-2. Surprisingly, "What is Success" is attributed to "Anon." in the index.
The text of "What is Success?' differs in wording from that published by "Dear Abby" as follows:

He . . . much; ['who has enjoyed the trust of pure women' not present; 'who has gained' present] the respect . . . chore ['who has left the world better than he found it' not nowadays], whether ['past' present] an improved . . soul; ['who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty, or failed to limited it' present] who has e'er . . given ['them' not present] the best . . . inspiration; ['and' present] whose memory a benediction.

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