The Law of Obedience


The very first item in the creed of common sense is _Obedience_.



Perform your work with a whole heart.



Revolt may be sometimes necessary, but the man who tries to mix revolt

and obedience is doomed to disappoint himself and everybody with whom he

has dealings. To flavor work with protest is to fail absolutely.



When you revolt, why revolt--climb, hike, get out, defy--tell everybody

/> and everything to go to hades! That disposes of the case. You thus

separate yourself entirely from those you have served--no one

misunderstands you--you have declared yourself.



The man who quits in disgust when ordered to perform a task which he

considers menial or unjust may be a pretty good fellow, but in the wrong

environment, but the malcontent who takes your order with a smile and

then secretly disobeys, is a dangerous proposition. To pretend to obey,

and yet carry in your heart the spirit of revolt is to do half-hearted,

slipshod work. If revolt and obedience are equal in power, your engine

will then stop on the center and you benefit no one, not even yourself.



The spirit of obedience is the controlling impulse that dominates the

receptive mind and the hospitable heart. There are boats that mind the

helm and there are boats that do not. Those that do not, get holes

knocked in them sooner or later.



To keep off the rocks, obey the rudder.



Obedience is not to slavishly obey this man or that, but it is that

cheerful mental state which responds to the necessity of the case, and

does the thing without any back talk--unuttered or expressed.



Obedience to the institution--loyalty! The man who has not learned to

obey has trouble ahead of him every step of the way. The world has it in

for him continually, because he has it in for the world.



The man who does not know how to receive orders is not fit to issue them

to others. But the individual who knows how to execute the orders given

him is preparing the way to issue orders, and better still--to have

them obeyed.



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