Many are called but few get up.

Hearken, O child of time, to the wisdom hidden in the jest of Oliver Herford, who once declared: “Many are called but few get up.” Though born in humor, this saying carries within it the marrow of truth. For every dawn summons mankind to rise, yet countless souls remain entangled in the comfort of slumber—both of body and of spirit. To be called is easy, for life calls to all; but to get up, to answer with action and with courage, is the labor of the few.

The ancients taught that destiny does not favor the idle. The trumpet of opportunity sounds for all ears, yet only those whose hearts are awake shall march toward it. The rest linger, lulled by hesitation, bound by fear, or enchanted by the sweetness of delay. Thus, the difference between the dreamer who speaks and the doer who acts is measured by a single step: the rising from stillness to motion, from desire to deed.

Behold the story of George Washington Carver, born in chains of poverty, frail and unassuming. The call to greatness was faint, muffled by hardship and ignorance. Many around him heard the same call but remained where they were, chained not by iron but by despair. Yet Carver rose up, walked miles through the night to reach schools that would not yet welcome him, and persisted until knowledge opened its gates. He became the servant of nature, finding in the lowly peanut and sweet potato treasures to feed nations and enrich the poor. He was one of the few who “got up,” and thus he transformed his calling into a crown.

The humor of Herford cloaks a sober truth: the world is filled with voices that say, I wish, I hope, I intend. But the harvest belongs not to those who wish, but to those who rise before the sun, whose feet tread the soil, whose hands grasp the plow. To be called is to dream; to get up is to awaken. And history remembers not the sleepers, but the awakeners.

O listener, do not be deceived by the ease of the call. The call is but the knocking upon your door. To get up requires the discipline to leave the comfort of your resting place, to step into the uncertainty of the day, to endure the trials that others avoid. This is why so few are counted among the great. Not because the heavens did not call them, but because they did not rise when the heavens beckoned.

The lesson is clear: greatness is not reserved for a chosen few, but for those who choose to rise. It is not destiny that is scarce, but courage. Therefore, when you feel the tug of inspiration, do not delay. Stand up. Begin, though your steps be trembling. For every act of rising strengthens the soul, and every delay weakens it. The secret of the strong is not that they are never weary, but that they rise even when weary.

Take this into your daily life: when the morning summons you, rise with swiftness. When opportunity calls, grasp it without delay. When duty whispers, obey with eagerness. Say not, “Tomorrow I shall begin,” for tomorrow is the song of the many. Say instead, “Today I rise,” for today is the victory of the few. And in doing so, you shall find yourself numbered among those who did not merely hear the call, but who answered it with their lives.

Thus, the teaching endures: Many are called but few get up. Be among the few. Rise from the bed of indolence, from the chains of fear, from the dust of hesitation. For the world waits not for the dreamer, but for the one who awakens and walks forth. And if you rise, others will see and follow, and together you shall make of this life a song of action, not merely an echo of intention.