Elbert Hubbard

A Message to Garcia Elbert Hubbard

"A Message to Garcia" is a widely distributed essay written by Elbert Hubbard in 1899, expressing the value of individual initiative and conscientiousness in work. As its primary example, the essay uses a dramatized version of a daring escapade performed by an American soldier, 1st Lt. Andrew S. Rowan, just prior to the Spanish-American War. The essay describes Rowan carrying a message from President William McKinley to "Gen. Calixto García, a leader of the Cuban insurgents somewhere in the mountain fastness of Cuba-no one knew where." The essay contrasts Rowan's self-driven effort against "the imbecility of the average man-the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it." This book includes Elbert Hubbard's A Message to Garcia as well as many of his other works dealing with Success.