Bessie Anderson Stanley

Bessie Anderson Stanley (born Caroline Elizabeth Anderson; March 25, 1879 – October 2, 1952) was an American writer, the author of the poem "Success" ("What is success?" or "What Constitutes Success?"), which is often incorrectly attributed^[1] to Ralph Waldo Emerson^[2][3] or Robert Louis Stevenson.^[4]

She was born in Newton, Iowa, and married Arthur Jehu Stanley in 1900, living thereafter in Lincoln, Kansas. Her poem was written in 1904 for a contest held in Brown Book Magazine,^[5] by George Livingston Richards Co. of Boston, Massachusetts^[2] Mrs. Stanley submitted the words in the form of an essay, rather than as a poem. The competition was to answer the question "What is success?" in 100 words or less. Mrs. Stanley won the first prize of $250.^[6]

Written in verse form, it reads:

He achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;
Who has left the world better than he found it,
Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;*
Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;
Whose life was an inspiration;
Whose memory a benediction.

— Success

• This line is inscribed on Stanley's gravestone (source, 2004 photography found at chebucto.ns.ca subdirectory Philosophy subdirectory Sui-Generis sub directory Emerson file monument dot jpg

The poem was in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations in the 1930s or 1940s but was removed in the 1960s.^[5] It was again included in the seventeenth edition. However, it does appear in a 1911 book, More Heart Throbs, volume 2, on pages 1–2.^[7]

Misattribution

Ann Landers (and her sister Abby) are also said to have misattributed the poem to Emerson and her concession to a public correction is in The Ann Landers Encyclopedia.^[5]

Personal life

Bessie Anderson Stanley died in 1952, aged 73. The verse is inscribed on her gravestone in Lincoln Cemetery, Kansas.