One day, in the midst of writing a book, Dr. A.J. Cronin convinced himself that he was a failure. He told himself that his efforts were wasted, that even the thought that he could write anything worth reading was sheer futility. He took his manuscript and cast it into a trash barrel.
Later, while walking, he came upon Angus, an old farmer who approved of Cronin’s work as an author. Angus was digging in a bog, trying to rescue it from the swamp. When Cronin told him that he had given up the idea of writing, Angus looked at him in disappointment and contempt. For a moment he was silent, and then he said, “No doubt you’re the one that’s right, Doctor, and I’m the one that’s wrong. My father ditched this bog all his days and never made a pasture. I’ve dug it all my days and I’ve never made a pasture. But pasture or no pasture, I cannot help but dig; for my father knew and I know that if you dig enough, a pasture can be made here.”
Westwood, N. J.: Fleming H. Revell Company, Putting Life Together Again, by Robert V. Ozment