Bessie Anderson Stanley - Wikipedia

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Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia American writer (1879–1952)

Bessie Anderson Stanley (born Caroline Elizabeth Anderson; March 25, 1879 – October 2, 1952) was an American writer, the author of the poem "Success" ("What is success?" or "What Constitutes Success?"), which is often incorrectly attributed[1] to Ralph Waldo Emerson[2][3] or Robert Louis Stevenson.[4]

She was born in Newton, Iowa, and married Arthur Jehu Stanley in 1900, living thereafter in Lincoln, Kansas. Her poem was written in 1904 for a contest held in Brown Book Magazine,[5] by George Livingston Richards Co. of Boston, Massachusetts[2] Mrs. Stanley submitted the words in the form of an essay, rather than as a poem. The competition was to answer the question "What is success?" in 100 words or less. Mrs. Stanley won the first prize of $250.[6]

Written in verse form, it reads:

He 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 never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;* 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.

— Success

• This line is inscribed on Stanley's gravestone (source, 2004 photography found at chebucto.ns.ca subdirectory Philosophy subdirectory Sui-Generis sub directory Emerson file monument dot jpg

The poem was in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations in the 1930s or 1940s but was removed in the 1960s.[5] 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.[7]

Misattribution

[edit]

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.[5]

Personal life

[edit]

Bessie Anderson Stanley died in 1952, aged 73. The verse is inscribed on her gravestone in Lincoln Cemetery, Kansas.

References

[edit]

1. ^ Such as in this memorial: Max Kreger, a memorial Archived September 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Sandusky District Library, Sandusky, Michigan
2. ^ a b "What Constitutes Success": A $250 Prize Story by a Lincoln Woman Archived September 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Lincoln Sentinel, November 30, 1905 (archived by Bill and Diana Sowers on Lincoln County, Kansas Genealogy & History website)
3. ^ In Search of Success, extensive research by Dirk H. Kelder (personal website)
4. ^ Reader's Digest Admits Mistake Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Lincoln Sentinel-Republican, November 5, 1953 (archived by Bill and Diana Sowers on Lincoln County, Kansas Genealogy & History website)
5. ^ a b c The Truth behind the Poem "Success" (email exchange between Robin Olson and Bethanne Larson, Stanley's great-granddaughter, on "Robin's Web" website)
6. ^ The winning paid off the mortgage on her house. "Bessie Stanley's Famous Poem" Archived September 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ Grosset & Dunlap of New York, 1911, by Chapple Publishing Company Ltd. of Boston, MA (from Success: Finding a Gem among the Litter in the Literature, Chuck Anastasia, Coolspark blog, February 24, 2007)

• "Success", Mila Tasseva for The Ralph Waldo Emerson Society, April 15, 2003

External links

[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to Bessie Anderson Stanley.

• Works by Bessie Anderson Stanley at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Bessie Anderson Stanley at Find a Grave

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	United States

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bessie_Anderson_Stanley&oldid=1328964899" Categories:

• Poets from Kansas
• 1952 deaths
• 1879 births
• People from Newton, Iowa
• People from Lincoln Center, Kansas
• Poets from Iowa
• 20th-century American poets
• 20th-century American women poets

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