Leaders from the past prepare us for the future
The past year has brought a lot of change – and a lot to be thankful for. Here at Berntsen, we’re thankful for all of our customers - those that leave their mark on the world, by establishing boundaries, forging paths and ensuring buildings are straight and true. For more than 50 years, our mission has been to provide our customers with the best products and support possible – and we look forward to another 50 years serving you.
At the end of the year, it’s a good time to look back on those rare leaders who made a difference, not just by laying out cities and establishing boundaries, but by sharing their hard-earned wisdom. The following are selected quotes from some of the surveyors that built our country.
George Washington
Our first president, George Washington, was a surveyor and also an uncommon leader, a courageous general, a statesman, a farmer and a wise man. Here are just a few quotes from his voluminous letters.
Weidenbach, A. & Stuart, G. (ca. 1876) "George Washington" / A. Weidenbach. , ca. 1876. [1876] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
"Nothing is a greater stranger to my breast, or a sin that my soul more abhors, than that black and detestable one, ingratitude."
From a letter from Washington to Governor Dinwiddie, May 29, 1754
Note: At this point in his life, George Washington was a twenty-two year old soldier on the Virginia frontier during the early stages of the French and Indian War. His voluminous correspondence with the governor of Virginia shows him to be brash, easily insulted, and anxious to earn military renown. There were also traces, like these words, of the man into whom he would mature.
"Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness."
From Washington’s first inaugural address, January 8, 1790
Leutze, E. (ca. 1912) George Washington crossing the Delaware River. Trenton Delaware River New Jersey Delaware United States New York, ca. 1912. , C1913. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
Note: During Washington's first State of the Union Address, he implored Congress to promote science and literature within the United States.
"...a good moral character is the first essential in a man...It is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned but virtuous."
From a letter to George Steptoe Washington (Washington’s Nephew), December 5, 1790
"System in all things is the soul of business. To deliberate maturely, and execute promptly is the way to conduct it to advantage. With me, it has always been a maxim, rather to let my designs appear from my works, than by my expressions."
From a letter from Washington to James Anderson (who helped establish and run Washington’s distillery in Mount Vernon), December 21, 1797
Note: Washington believed in long-term planning and making one's daily activities targeted towards meeting a larger goal.
"It is infinitely better to have a few good Men, than many indifferent ones."
From a letter to James McHenry (a physician and Washington’s aide-de-camp), August 10, 1798
Quotes from: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/past-projects/quotes/
Thomas Jefferson
Peale, R. Th. Jefferson. , None. [Between 1890 and 1940?] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
Thomas Jefferson, our third president, was a surveyor, lawyer, scientist, writer, governor, vice-president, philosopher, author of the Declaration of Independence, and architect.
"I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give."
Thomas Jefferson to Alexander Donald, February 7, 1788
Note: Alexander Donald, son of a Scottish shipping merchant, was working in the Colonies where he became friends with Washington and Jefferson.
Highsmith, C. M., photographer. Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, Charlottesville, Virginia. United States Virginia Charlottesville, None. [Between 1980 and 2006] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
This letter will, to you be as one from the dead, the writer will be in the grave before you can weigh it’s counsels. Your affectionate and excellent father has requested that I would address to you something which might possibly have a favorable influence on the course of life you have to run, and I too, as a namesake, feel an interest in that course. Few words will be necessary with good dispositions on your part. Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence. So shall the life into which you have entered be the Portal to one of eternal and ineffable bliss. And if to the dead it is permitted to care for the things of this world, every action of your life will be under my regard.
Farewell.
A Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life.
1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do to-day.
2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3. Never spend your money before you have it.
4. Never buy a what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.
5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold.
6. We never repent of having eaten too little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened!
9. Take things always by their smooth handle.
10. When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, an hundred.
Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Jefferson Smith, (his parents were friends of Thomas Jefferson), February 21, 1825
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/98-01-02-4987
Lithograph of Lincoln the Surveyor by Lloyd Ostendorf, 1967, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites.
“I am not ashamed to confess that twenty-five years ago I was a hired laborer, mauling rails, at work on a flatboat – just what might happen to any poor man’s son. I want every man to have a chance.
From a letter to John M. Brockman (Lawyer in training) , September 25, 1860
Note: Lincoln frequently corresponded with aspiring lawyers about the best ways to train to become a lawyer. At the time, law schools existed, but weren’t required. Often, working and studying with a lawyer as an apprentice was the only path to the profession.
The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer. I am surprised, as well as delighted, when this happens, it is such a rare use he would make of me, as if he were acquainted with the tool. Commonly, if men want anything of me, it is only to know how many acres I make of their land,—since I am a surveyor,—or, at most, what trivial news I have burdened myself with.
This essay was derived from the lecture "What Shall It Profit?", which Thoreau first delivered on 6 December 1854, at Railroad Hall in Providence Rhode Island.
McBride, H. R. (ca. 1923) "And one man in his time plays many parts". , ca. 1923. Boston: Curtis and Cameron, Incorporated, publishers February 5. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
"Speak softly and carry a big stick—you will go far." If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble; and neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power. In private life there are few things more obnoxious than the man who is always loudly boasting; and if the boaster is not prepared to back up his words his position becomes absolutely contemptible. So it is with the nation. It is both foolish and undignified to indulge in undue self-glorification, and above all, in loose-tongued denunciation of other peoples.
Note: Roosevelt uttered these words at the Minnesota State Fair on September 2, 1901. He could not know that two weeks later he would be the president of the United States. The African proverb "Speak softly..." was one of his favorite utterances.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Quotes?page=130
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
From a Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
https://www.trcp.org/2011/01/18/it-is-not-the-critic-who-counts/
Conclusion
As we prepare for a new year, it’s helpful to call on the wisdom of our nation’s founders, who were thoughtful, resourceful and courageous people who fortunately were also prolific writers. At Berntsen, we work right along side you to provide the best products and service to make every job as precise and lasting as possible. It’s our pleasure to serve you, and we look forward to making your life just a little easier in the coming year.