Diving into the Details of "A message to Mrs.Garcia"

A message to Mrs.Garcia was published as an inspirational essay on March 1899.  After it was written as a paper it was turned into a pamphlet and 47 million copies were sold.  It has since been published in 37 languages.  "A Message to Garcia was made into a movie twice in 1916 and 1936.  The title " A message to Garcia" was turned into a slang which basically means to take initiative.  Here is some background on "A Letter to Garcia.  It was written during the Spanish American war.  Mr.Garcia was a revolutionary seeking Cuban independence from Spain.  In this story Rowan was a army officer who gratuated from West Point in 1881.  At the time of the note the current president was President McKinley.  Some Vocabulary words I learned was...
-perihelion, the point when a planet is closest to the sun therefore the sun shines the brightest.
-slipshod, careless, lackadaisical, remiss
-imbecility-incapability,feeblness,stupidity
-stenographer- a person who takes dictation in short hand.
-missive-a letter, especially long or official

The main message of this essay was:
The world bestows it big prizes for one thing, initiative.  Initiative is doing the right thing without being told."

Arete- Is excellence in everything you do, moral virtue, fulfillment of purpose, and the act of up to ones full potential.

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