I became an economist because I lacked major league baseball prowess. Midway through college (1934) I knew the athletic rainbow had faded. I recall no grief: the long vigil of the practice field was deflected to library pursuits. The Great Depression had already obsessed me, judging it first as a political machination until I apprehended the economic stroke. I read "everything," in a "random run." Family-wise, we were "moderately" well-to-do, with never the sear of deprivation-it took the army to often leave me penniless!Only my Mother's insistence drove me to college: she would not countenance my minor league baseball plans. A modern battery of guidance counselors would have cautioned against more schooling for I was obviously "unmotivated." So much for assessment by rote. I had always been a good student, challenged by any competition-this probably provoked me into athletics, smarting to beat the big fellows at their own game. I still remain dubious of the vacuous writings on "motivation," and "morale." I see these aspects as exaggerated; a pledge to do a job and a sense of duty have evoked my own discipline; the lofty banalities bore me.
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