Samuel Smiles：Thrift, Excerpt 433

One of the Yorkshire actuaries of the Penny Bank tells the following anecdote as conveying a lesson of perseverance and encouragement to branch managers. "Mr. Smith was one of our first managers, but after attending two or three times he left us, saying it was 'childish work.' My answer was, 'It is with children we have to do.' A short time after, I met him, and in the course of conversation I observed that I sometimes got _down in the mouth_, and did not know whether we were doing any good, and felt disposed to give up the bank; on which he warmly replied, 'For God's sake, you must not let such an idea get into your head; you little know the good you are doing; we have not a man about our place but either himself or some members of his family are depositors.'" The actuary adds, "If Colonel Akroyd ever despairs, I give him the above answer."

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14418
Locator：Excerpt 433 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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