Name: A Message to Garcia
Rating: 3.9 (34 reviews)
Author: Elbert Hubbard

What’s in it for me? Dig into the ideas that helped shape American ideals.

It’s 1899, the world is about to enter the twentieth century and one man, Elbert Hubbard, is writing an essay that will have an immense impact in the next decades. Hubbard, previously a traveling soap salesman and future father of the Arts and Craft movement, is writing down his views on how to be a good person and live a good life.

His essay, with its curious title, would serve as an inspiration not only for two well-known movies in the early days of cinema, but also for many of the people who would help shape the modern-day United States. Among his admirers were industrialist John D. Rockefeller, car manufacturer Henry Ford and President Teddy Roosevelt. Within Hubbard's lifetime, A Message to Garcia was reprinted more than any other book besides the Bible.

These blinks bring Hubbard’s messages into a new light for us in the twenty-first century.

In these blinks, you’ll find out

who Garcia is and what bringing him a message means;
one simple experiment that shows how lazy some people are; and
why you shouldn’t avoid manual labor.

The phrase “a message to Garcia” refers to the story of Lieutenant Andrew Rowan, the ideal worker.

Right now, you might be asking yourself, “Who is Garcia and what does he have to do with me?” To answer that, we have to look back to a notable incident that occurred during the Spanish-American War.

When the war broke out in 1898, American President William McKinley wanted to recruit Cuban rebels to fight for the American cause. Spain still ruled Cuba at the time, so Cuban insurgents would have been a valuable military asset to the United States.

President McKinley asked military leaders to deliver a message to one rebel leader in particular: Calixto Garcia. Getting a message to him would be no easy feat, however. It would be dangerous to send an American soldier through Cuba in the midst of the war, and military leaders didn’t even know exactly where Garcia was. They had to find someone up to the task.

It was Colonel Arthur L. Wagner who found the right person: Lieutenant Andrew Rowan. Rowan successfully penetrated enemy territory and delivered the oil-skin pouch that contained the message for Garcia, all without once stopping to question the nature of the mission.

Lieutenant Rowan truly exemplifies the idea worker – it’s a shame statues of him don’t adorn university campuses! After all, swift responses and dedication to one’s assignments are often more important than learning from books, but we still tend to neglect the lessons of Rowan’s story.

As an employee, you should strive to maintain the same levels of initiative and devotion that Rowan displayed in delivering the message to Garcia. If you don’t, you’ll suffer the consequences.

Employers are always looking to weed out lazy, incompetent workers.

A great deal has been written about factory workers, sweatshop seamstresses and homeless people desperate for any kind of employment. Not all of them are victims of “the system.” They may bring their desperation upon themselves.

Incompetence and feelings of entitlement are prevalent among workers. In fact, you can do an experiment on this phenomenon on your own.

Being negative is a waste of time, so get out or get in line!

You know those people who are always complaining about work or other problems in their life? You probably think more negatively of them than they do of whatever they’re complaining about!

Complaining about or criticizing any of your superiors only reflects badly on you. For example, the author met a Yale University student who had a very bitter attitude toward the school. However, this bitterness just showed his rather unattractive tendency to focus on trivial problems, blow them out of proportion and let them get in the way of his incredible educational opportunity.

Your thoughts and actions determine your happiness and the way you live your life.

Work isn’t just about work. The way you act at work has an impact on how you live your life, how you treat others and how you treat yourself.

You’ll only achieve happiness by working hard. When you put effort into your job, you spend your energy in a productive way, gain lifelong training and skills and learn to divide your time between work, play and study in appropriate amounts.

Key ideas in A Message to Garcia

What is A Message to Garcia about?

A Message to Garcia (1899) outlines the lessons to be learned from a Spanish-American War-era lieutenant who displayed a level of dedication to his work that we should all strive to match. At its core, the book describes how working hard is the key to living well, staying virtuous, finding happiness and improving the world at large.