'Great ideas press for admission'

 

“A great idea is usually original to more than one discoverer. Great ideas come when the world needs them. Great ideas surround the world's ignorance and press for admission.” – Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

 

Born in Boston on this date in 1844, Phelps began writing as a young girl, creating stories to entertain her classmates and friends.  By age 13, she already had a story published in the national magazine Youth's Companion and from that point on through her teens her youth stories appeared in many publications.

 

After studying at Abbot Academy, she became one of America’s most popular writers, authoring dozens of short stories collected into books like The Empty House and Other Stories.   She also authored 57 volumes of fiction, poetry and essays, starting with the bestselling novel Ellen’s Idol in 1864.  Her book The Gates Ajar was the second bestselling religious novel of the 19^th century.   

 

In nearly all of her works she challenged the prevailing view that a woman's place and fulfillment resided in the home, depicting her protagonists as physicians, ministers, artists and, of course, writers. 

 

“It is not the straining for great things that is most effective,” Phelps said about writing.  “It is the doing the little things . . . a little better and better.”