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Usage Rejected—See [Experience a Hard Teacher].
Usefulness—See [Service].
USEFULNESS PLUS MORE USEFULNESS
A young man who had worked up to the position of confidential clerk, became jealous of a new clerk, to whom his employer had just given a raise in salary exceeding his own. He went to his employer and said: “Are you not satisfied with my work and my faithfulness?” “Oh, yes,” was the reply. “Why, then, do you give this new man more salary than to me?” Instead of replying to the question, the merchant, who was a grain dealer, said: “Do you see that load of grain going by? Run out, and see to whom it is going.” The confidential man returned, and said it was going to Wilson’s place. “Run out and find out what they got for the grain.” He returned and said eighty-five cents per bushel. “Run and find out if Wilson wants any more.” He returned and said: “Yes, he wants another carload.” At this moment the new clerk came in, and the grain merchant repeated to him his first instruction: “Run out and see where that load of grain is going.” In a few minutes the new clerk returned and said: “The grain is going to Wilson’s; they are paying eighty-five cents per bushel, and want another carload.” The merchant, turning to the confidential man, said: “You have your answer. It took you three trips to find out what this man learned in one.” The new clerk had wit enough to know that the merchant did not care about where the grain was going, but if there was a probability of supplying some of the demand, and upon what terms.—James T. White, “Character Lessons.”
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USEFULNESS VERSUS DISPLAY
One of these little flitting society girls, compared to a substantial Christian girl, reminds me of a butterfly compared to a honey-bee. The butterfly flits here and there with its beautiful color, and nobody ever knows what it’s for or where it goes. The honey-bee flies from flower to flower, lighting with a velvet tread upon each blossom, extracting its sweetness without marring its beauty, and lays up honey to bless the world.—“Famous Stories of Sam P. Jones.”
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USELESS LABOR