[February 10, 2026] A couple of years ago, I picked up the book, Getting the Most Out of Life (1946) from a garage sale. The title intrigued me. I paid 50 cents for it along with a couple of other trinkets. Thinking nothing of it, the book sat on my bookshelf unread. The book is an anthology, and the second read is a chapter titled ‘Building a Personality.’
I’m always on the lookout for “rules for a good life” and this chapter by Harry Emerson Fosdick, D.D., surely attracted my attention. In a brief four pages, he lays out a great argument for how people, those with tremendous obstacles, have succeeded overwhelmingly. He searched for why.
”The most stimulating successes in history have come from person who, facing some kind of limitations and handicaps, took them as part of life’s game and played splendidly in spite of them.” — Harry Emerson Fosdick, p 7 of Getting the Most out of Life
He writes that once we accept ourselves, and have a positive outlook, only then can we see the opportunities before us. Rebelling against our problems gets us nowhere. Self-pity gets us nowhere. “One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself…”
Fosdick believes there are at least three “factors” that leads us to build a personality of success.
- Imagination: Have a vision for yourself of what you would like to be some day. Aim for it. Aim high. That is how you can move to something worthwhile. Fosdick gives several examples to illustrate his point; Florence Nightingale, Thomas Edison, John Keats. Have a picture in your mind that you are a winner, and that will vision will help you get there. “Do not picture yourself as anything and you will drift like a derelict.”
- Common Sense: People do flounder around before they discover their true direction of their lives. Study yourself and use your head in picturing your goals. With wisdom or without, pick a goal and don’t drift. Again, Fosdick uses examples: the famous painter Whistler, Sir Walter Scott, Phillip Brooks.
- Courage: “Real personalities always have the kind of faith that produces courage.” Faith is not credulity. It is creative power. It is vision plus valor. Examples: Richard Wagner, Charles Darwin, a group of American medical men in Cuba beating yellow fever.
Imagination, common sense, and courage – even a moderate amount of each – will produce remarkable results. “If a man is primarily grown in a personality,” then he can capitalize anything that life does to him.
Good book. I do recommend it, if you can find a copy.
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Please read my books:
Pay attention. Build your personality. Sage advice here.
Young folks …. pay attention to this article!! 👍 Imagination, common sense, and courage. These three will take you to new heights. I would recommend that you also buy this book, or check it out of your local library. I’m sure it is full of great gems like this one. If Gen. Satterfield would pull another article for us, that would be nice. There are many sources of sage advice out there, you just got to know where to look. I would recommend one special book by Gen. Satterfield himself, “55 Rules for a Good Life.” Now that is how to learn thousands of years of the best human advice captured in his one book.
Young folks need to read this.
Good one! More like this is okay.
I think we all can agree on that. Any time we can “see” what others deem important in thier own development as an intellect and capacity, I’m willing to read about. I like Gen. S’s short article format.
Good info, sir. And thanks for highlighting this chapter in one of the “good” books from the 20th century. I know that it’s one of those Reader Digests’ books that are thrown together to make money. The make up of those contributing to the book are mostly well known; some famous. Reasons why they are famous range from their political stance to their insights into American culture. I have ordered my personal copy and will treasure it. Gen. Satterfield, please write a few other articles based on the books contents. We will all appreciate the effort.
Here we go with Gen. Satterfield finding another gem from a simple garage sale. This book, “Getting the Most Out of Life” can be found on book sites and there are copies on Amazon too. You can get a copy for less than $15, a good price in my honest opinion. I think I’ll get my copy today. Sir, thanks for highlighting this book.
Can also read the book here for free, just to sign up:
“Getting the most out of life; an anthology from the Reader’s digest”
by The Reader’s Digest Association, inc
https://archive.org/details/gettingmostoutof00plea/mode/2up
👀
Sir, thanks for the referral.