Text of the meditation
Wisdom is the highest form of skill. There is one right way of doing everything, even the smallest, and a thousand wrong ways. Skill consists in finding the one right way, and adhering to it. The inefficient bungle confusedly about among the thousand wrong ways, and do not adopt the right one when it is pointed out to them.
They do this in some cases because they think, in their ignorance, that they know best, thereby placing themselves in a position where it becomes impossible to learn, even if it is only to learn how to clean a window or sweep a floor. Thoughtlessness and inefficiency are all too common.
There is plenty of room in the world for thoughtful and efficient people. Employers of labour know how difficult it is to get the best workmanship. The good worker, whether with tools or brains, whether with speech or thought, will always find a place for the exercise of their skill.
Skill is gained by thoughtfulness and attention.
James Allen (1864–1912), Book of Meditations for Every Day in the Year (1913) – public-domain text, gently modernised.
The original 1913 text is in the public domain.
