the 3 qualities

In 1946, Glenn Clark wrote a book about author/sculptor Walter Russell, titled, “The Man Who Tapped the Secrets of the Universe.” It’s a small 60-page book, but it’s always been a favorite. Here is an inspiring excerpt in which Clark is interviewing Russell:
“Can you give me the secret of your life?” I asked.
He hesitated then replied. “Yes. I believe sincerely that every man has consummate genius within him. Some appear to have it more than others only because they are aware of it more than others are, and the awareness or unawareness of it is what makes each one of them into masters or holds them down to mediocrity. I believe that mediocrity is self-inflicted and that genius is self-bestowed. Every successful man I ever have known, and I have known a great many, carries with him the key which unlocks that awareness and lets in the universal power that has made him into a master.”
“What is that key?” I asked.
“That key is desire when it is released into the great eternal Energy of the universe.”
“Can you explain more fully what you mean by that?”
“I have found out that the real essentials of greatness in men are not written in books, nor can they be found in the schools. They are written into the inner consciousness of everyone who intensely searches for perfection in creative achievement and are understandable to such men only.
“Successful men of all the ages have learned to multiply themselves by gathering thought energy into a high potential and using it in the direction of the purpose intended. Every successful man or great genius has three particular qualities in common. The most conspicuous of these is that they all produce a prodigious amount of work. The second is that they never know fatigue, and the third is that their minds grow more brilliant as they grow older, instead of less brilliant. Great men’s lives begin at forty, where the mediocre man’s life ends. The genius remains an ever-flowing fountain of creative achievement until the very last breath he draws. The geniuses have learned how to gather thought energy together to use for transforming their conceptions into material forms. The thinking of creative and successful men is never exerted in any direction other than that intended. That is why great men produce a prodigious amount of work, seemingly without effort and without fatigue. The amount of work such men leave to posterity is amazing. When one considers such men of our times as Edison, Henry Ford or Theodore Roosevelt, one will find the three characteristics I have mentioned common to every one of them.”