CHARLES HENRY TURNER* 



AN APPRECIATION. 



It has been said that the size of a man may be meas- 

 ured in terms of his influence for good and for the better- 

 ment of liis fellow man. But just as the striving to attain 

 is more important to us than the desired thing itself, so 

 we tend to look abroad for a truly great man when, 

 forsooth, he walks in our very midst. We are very likely 

 to think of the great man as one who has acquired a vast 

 amount of money; as one who has achieved a political 

 distinction ; as one who has gained a social prominence ; 

 as one whose opinion on public questions is eagerly 

 sought. Many people mistake notoriety for fame; eon- 

 fuse the word politician and statesman ; take for granted 

 that well-known is the equivalent of great. Were 

 not the historians so overcome with the pomp and the 

 splendor of a Pilate that they quite forgot to mention 

 the humble Carpenter of Nazareth? It may be well to 

 consider some of the features which go to make up the 

 truly great man, that those of us who have sought afar 

 shall recognize a brother who perhaps at this moment is 

 touching elbows with us. 



The first essential in the great man is a devotion to 

 work. Some of us envy the well-knowTi man who toils 

 but little and therein we cater to our own ambitions of 

 lassitude. But no man is great unless he rises above the 

 petty inconveniences of his surroundings. No man is 

 strong unless he meets the competition about him. Devo- 

 tion to work means exactly what it says. It does not 



•Read at the memorial to Dr. Charles H. Turner, at Sumner High 

 School. May 25. 1923. 



