Industry significance

The significant inscription found on an old key "If I rest, I rust" would be an excellent motto for those who are afflicted with the slightest taint of idleness. Even the most industrious might adopt it with advantage to serve as a reminder that, if one allows his faculties to rest, like the iron in the unused key, they will soon show signs of rust and, ultimately, cannot do the work required of them.

A profound inscription was found on an old key - If I rest, I will rust. This will be a wise saying for those who are lazy and worried. This serves as a warning to even the most industrious of people: If a man has talents but does not use them, like the iron in a discarded key, those talents will soon rust and he will eventually be unable to complete the work assigned to him.

Those who would attain the heights reached and kept by great men must keep their faculties polished by constant use, so that they may unlock the doors of knowledge, the gate that guard the entrances to the professions, to science , art, literature, agriculture --- every department of human endeavor.

If some people want to achieve and maintain the achievements that great men have achieved, they must continue to use their talents in order to Open the doors of knowledge, those doors that lead to every field of human endeavor, including every profession: science, art, literature, agriculture, etc.

Industry keeps bright the key that opens the treasury of achievement. If Hugh Miller, after toiling all day in a quarry, had devoted his evenings to rest and recreation, he would never have become a famous geologist. The celebrated mathematician, Edmund Stone, would never have published a mathematical dictionary, never have found the key to science of mathematics, if he had given his spare moments to idleness. Had the little Scotch lad, Ferguson, allowed the busy brain to go to sleep while he tended sheep on the hillside instead of calculating the position of the stars by a string of beads, he would never have become a famous astronomer.

Diligence keeps the key to the treasure house of success bright. Hugh Miller would not have gone down in history as a geologist if he had spent his evenings relaxing after a long day at the quarry. If the famous mathematician Edmond Stone had done nothing in his spare time, he would not have published a mathematical dictionary or discovered the key to mathematics.

Had the young Scotsman Sir Alex Ferguson allowed his active brain to rest while tending sheep on a hillside, instead of calculating the position of the stars with the help of a string of beads, he would not have become a famous astronomer.

Labor vanquishes all --- not inconstant, spasmodic, or ill-directed labor, but faithful, unremitting, daily effort toward a well-directed purpose. Just as truly as eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, so is eternal industry the price of noble and enduring success.

Labor conquers all. The labor referred to here is not intermittent, intermittent or misdirected labor, but firm, unremitting, and correct-directed daily labor. Just as freedom requires constant vigilance, so great and lasting success requires perseverance.