Bessie Anderson Stanley

Elisabeth-Anne "Bessie" Anderson Stanley (born before 1900) is the author of the poem "Success" ("What is success?" or "What Constitutes Success"?), which is often incorrectly misattributed [Such as in this memorial: [http://sandusky.lib.mi.us/arc/memorials/max/max.html "Max Kreger, a memorial"] , Sandusky District Library, Sandusky, Michigan] to Ralph Waldo Emerson [http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/lincoln/success.htm "What Constitutes Success": A $250 Prize Story by a Lincoln Woman"] Lincoln Sentinel, November 30, 1905 (archived by Bill and Diana Sowers on Lincoln County, Kansas Genealogy & History website)] [ [http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Sui-Generis/Emerson/success.htm "In Search of Success"] , extensive research by Dirk H. Kelder (personal website)] [ [http://www.transcendentalists.com/success.htm "Success Quote - Ralph Waldo Emerson"] , Jone Johnson Lewis on "Transcendentalists" website] or Robert Louis Stevenson). [ [http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/lincoln/stanley.htm "Reader's Digest Admits Mistake"] , Lincoln Sentinel-Republican, November 5, 1953 (archived by Bill and Diana Sowers on Lincoln County, Kansas Genealogy & History website)]

Her poem, written in 1904 for a contest held in "Brown Book Magazine", [http://www.robinsweb.com/truth_behind_success.html "The Truth behind the Poem "Success"] (email exchange between Robin Olson and Bethanne Larson, Stanley's great-granddaughter, on "Robin's Web" website)] by George Livingston Richards Co. of Boston, Massachusetts reads:

:He has achieved 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 little children;:Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;:Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;:Who has left the world better than he found it,:Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;:Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;:Whose life was an inspiration;:Whose memory a benediction.

The poem was in "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations" in the 1930s or 1940s but was mysteriously removed in the 1960s. It was again included in the seventeenth edition. However, it does appear in a 1911 book, "More Heart Throbs Volume 2" on pages 1-2. [Grosset & Dunlap of New York, ©1911 by Chapple Publishing Company Ltd. of Boston, MA (from [http://icoolspark.blogspot.com/2007/02/success-finding-gem-among-litter-in.html "Success: Finding a Gem among the Litter in the Literature"] , Chuck Anastasia, Coolspark blog, February 24, 2007)]

Ann Landers (and her sister Abby) are also said to have misattributed the poem to Emerson and her concession to a public correction is in "The Ann Landers Encyclopedia".

References

* [http://www.cas.sc.edu/engl/emerson/Ephemera/Success.html "Success"] , Mila Tasseva for The Ralph Waldo Emerson Society, April 15, 2003

ee also

* Inclusionism