#ba    ,illustration3 ,,dr4 ,,frank     
,,crane  ,we may all possess wisdom if  
we are willing to be persuaded that the 
experience of others is as useful as our
 own4 ,why give to old age alone the    
privilege of wisdom8 ,what would be     
thought of one who prided himself on    
possessing bracelets when he had lost   
his two arms in war8                    
--,yoritomo1 the ,japanese ,philosopher4
     #ba  ,,by  ,,dr4 ,,frank ,,crane   
,being the article ,if ,i ,were         
,twenty-,one which originally appeared  
in the ,american ,magazine4  ,revised by
 the author   ,,new ,,york ,,wm4 ,h4    
,,wise  ,,co4 #aicj     ,copyright1     
#aiah1 by  ,,wm4 ,h4 ,,wise  ,,co4  ,all
 rights reserved1 including that of     
translation into foreign languages1     
including the ,scandinavian4            
,,copyright1 #aiag1 ,,by ,,the ,,crowell
 ,,publishing ,,company     ,,contents  
,,chapter          ,a ,foreword         
,prelude      ,i4 ,if ,i were           
,twenty-,one ,i would do the next thing 

,,ii4 ,if ,i were ,twenty-,one ,i would 
adjust myself    ,,iii4 ,if ,i were     
,twenty-,one ,i would take care of my   
body     ,,iv4 ,if ,i were ,twenty-,one 
,i would train my mind      ,v4 ,if ,i  
were ,twenty-,one ,i would be happy     
,,vi4 ,if ,i were ,twenty-,one ,i would 
get married    ,,vii4 ,if ,i were       
,twenty-,one ,i would save money        
,,viii4 ,if ,i were ,twenty-,one ,i     
would study the art of pleasing         
,,ix4 ,if ,i were ,twenty-,one ,i would 
determine1 even if ,i could             
never be anything else in the world1    
that ,i would be         a thoroughbred 
,x4 ,if ,i were ,twenty-,one ,i would   
make some permanent1 amicable           
arrangement with my conscience     ,a   
,,foreword  ,the following note1 by the 
editor of the ,american ,magazine1      
appeared in conjunction with the        
publication of this story in that       
magazine3   ,in most of the biggest     
cities of the ,united ,states1 from ,new
 ,york and ,chicago down1 you will find 

people who1 every night of their lives1 
watch for and read in their evening     
paper an editorial by ,frank ,crane4    
,these editorials are syndicated in a   
chain of thirty-eight newspapers1 which 
reach many millions of readers4 ,the    
grip which ,crane has on these readers  
is tremendous4 ,the reason is that the  
man has plenty of sensible ideas1 which 
he presents simply and forcibly so that 
people get hold of them4  ,in reality1  
,crane is a wonderful preacher4 ,years  
ago1 in fact1 he was the pastor of a    
great church in ,chicago4 ,but he left  
the pulpit and took up writing because  
he had the ability to interest millions1
 and could reach them only by means of  
the printing press4  ,doctor ,crane     
lives in ,new ,york and does most of his
 work there4     ,,prelude  ,the voyager
 entering a new country will listen with
 attention to the traveller who is just 
returning from its exploration2 and the 
young warrior buckling on his armour may
 be benefited by the experiences of the 

old warrior who is laying his armour    
off4 ,i have climbed the ,hill of ,life1
 and am past the summit1 ,i suppose1 and
 perhaps it may help those just         
venturing the first incline to know what
 ,i think ,i would do if ,i had it to do
 over4  ,i have lived an average life4  
,i have had the same kind of follies1   
fears1 and fires my twenty-one-year-old 
reader has4 ,i have failed often and    
bitterly4 ,i have loved and hated1 lost 
and won1 done some good deeds and many  
bad ones4 ,i have had some measure of   
success and ,i have made about every    
kind of mistake there is to make4 ,in   
other words1 ,i have lived a full1      
active1 human life1 and have got thus   
far safely along4  ,i am on the shady   
side of fifty4 ,as people grow old they 
accumulate two kinds of spiritual       
supplies3 one1 a pile of doubts1        
questionings1 and mysteries2 and the    
other1 a much smaller pile of positive  
conclusions4 ,there is a great          
temptation to expatiate upon the former 

subjects1 for negative and critical     
statements have a seductive appearance  
of depth and much more of a flavour of  
wisdom than clear and succinct          
declarations4 ,but ,i will endeavour to 
resist this temptation1 and will set    
down1 as concisely as ,i can1 some of   
the positive convictions ,i have gained4
  ,for the sake of orderly thought1 ,i  
will make ,ten ,points4 ,they might of  
course just as well be six points or    
forty1 but ten seems to be the number   
most easily remembered1 since we have   
ten fingers1 first and handiest of      
counters4     #ba   ,i  ,,if ,i ,,were  
,,twenty-,,one ,i ,,would ,,do ,,the    
,,next ,,thing   ,the first duty of a   
human being in this world is to take    
himself off other people's backs4 ,i    
would go to work at something for which 
my fellow men would be willing to pay4  
,i would not wait for an ,ideal ,job4   
,the only ideal job ,i ever heard of was
 the one some other fellow had4  ,it is 
quite important to find the best thing  

to do4 ,it is much more important to    
find something to do4 ,if ,i were a     
young artist1 ,i would paint soap       
advertisements1 if that were all        
opportunity offered1 until ,i got ahead 
enough to indulge in the painting of    
madonnas and landscapes4 ,if ,i were a  
young musician1 ,i would rather play in 
a street band than not at all4 ,if ,i   
were a young writer1 ,i would do hack   
work1 if necessary1 until ,i became able
 to write the ,great ,american ,novel4  
,i would go to work4 ,nothing in all    
this world ,i have found is so good as  
work4  ,i believe in the wage system as 
the best and most practical means of    
cordinating human effort4 ,what spoils  
it is the large indigestible lumps of   
unearned money that1 because of laws    
that originated in special privilege1   
are injected into the body politic1 by  
inheritance and other legal             
artificialities4  ,if ,i were twenty-one
 ,i would resolve to take no dollar for 
which ,i had not contributed something  

in the world's work4 ,if a              
philanthropist gave me a million dollars
 ,i would decline it4 ,if a rich father 
or uncle left me a fortune1 ,i would    
hand it over to the city treasury4 ,all 
great wealth units come1 directly or    
indirectly1 from the people and should  
go to them4 ,all inheritance should be  
limited to1 say1 #ajj1jjj4 ,if          
,government would do that there would be
 no trouble with the wage system4  ,if  
,i were twenty-one ,i would keep clean  
of endowed money4 ,the happiest people  
,i have known have been those whose     
bread and butter depended upon their    
daily exertion4     ,,ii  ,,if ,i ,,were
 ,,twenty-,,one ,i ,,would ,,adjust     
,,myself   ,more people ,i have known   
have suffered because they did not know 
how to adjust themselves than for any   
other reason4 ,and the happiest-hearted 
people ,i have met have been those that 
have the knack of adapting themselves to
 whatever happens4  ,i would begin with 
my relatives4 ,while ,i might easily    

conceive a better set of uncles1 aunts1 
cousins1 brothers1 and so on1 yet       
,destiny gave me precisely the relatives
 ,i need4 ,i may not want them1 but ,i  
need them4 ,so of my friends and        
acquaintances and fellow workmen4 ,every
 man's life is a plan of ,god4 ,fate    
brings to me the very souls out of the  
unknown that ,i ought to know4 ,if ,i   
cannot get along with them1 be happy and
 appreciated1 ,i could not get along    
with another set of my own picking4 ,a  
man who is looking for ideal human      
beings to make up his circle of         
acquaintances would as well go at once  
and jump into the river4  ,the ,god of  
,things as ,they ,ought to ,be is a     
humbug4 ,there is but one ,god1 and ,he 
is the ,god of ,things as ,they ,are4   
,half of my problem is ,me2 the other   
half is ,circumstances4 ,my task is to  
bring results out of the combination of 
the two4  ,life is not a science1 to be 
learned2 it is an art1 to be practised4 
,ability comes by doing4 ,wisdom comes  

not from others2 it is a secretion of   
experience4  ,life is not like a problem
 in arithmetic1 to be solved by learning
 the rule2 it is more like a puzzle of  
blocks1 or wire rings--you just keep    
trying one way after another1 until     
finally you succeed1 maybe4  ,i think it
 was ,josh ,billings who said that in   
the ,game of ,life1 as in a game of     
cards1 we have to play the cards dealt  
to us2 and the good player is not the   
one who always wins1 but the one who    
plays a poor hand well4     ,,iii  ,,if 
,i ,,were ,,twenty-,,one ,i ,,would     
,,take ,,care ,,of ,,my ,,body   ,the   
comfort and efficiency of my days depend
 fundamentally upon the condition of    
this physical machine ,i am housed in4  
,i would look out for it as carefully as
 ,i attend to my automobile1 so that it 
might perform its functions smoothly and
 with the minimum of trouble4  ,to this 
end ,i would note the four ,x's4 ,they  
are ,examination1 ,excretion1 ,exercise1
 ,excess4  ,,examination3 ,i would have 

my body thoroughly inspected by         
intelligent scientists once a year4 ,i  
do not believe in thinking too much     
about one's health1 but ,i believe in   
finding out the facts1 and particularly 
the weaknesses1 of one's mechanism1     
before one proceeds to forget it4       
,,excretion3 ,by far the most important 
item to attend to in regard to the body 
is the waste pipes1 including the colon1
 the bladder1 and the pores4 ,most      
diseases have their origin in the colon4
 ,i would see to it that it was         
thoroughly cleaned every day4 ,in       
addition1 ,i would drink plenty of      
water1 and would take some form of      
exercise every day that would induce    
perspiration4 ,most of my sicknesses    
have come from self-poisoning1 and ,i   
would make it my main care to eliminate 
the waste4  ,,exercise3 ,i would1 if ,i 
were twenty-one1 take up some daily     
system of exercise that would bring into
 play all the voluntary muscles of the  
body1 and especially those which from my

 occupation tend to disuse4 ,i would    
devote half an hour to an hour daily to 
this purpose4  ,,excess3 ,i would take  
no stimulant of any kind whatsoever4    
,whatever whips the body up to excess   
destroys the efficiency of the organism4
 ,hence ,i would not touch alcoholic    
drinks in any form4 ,if one never begins
 with alcohol he can find much more     
physical pleasure and power without it4 
,the day of alcohol is past1 with       
intelligent people4 ,science has        
condemned it as a food4 ,business has   
banned it4 ,it remains only as the folly
 of the weak and fatuous4  ,i would     
drink no tea or coffee1 as these are    
stimulants and not foods4 ,neither would
 ,i use tobacco4 ,the healthy human body
 will furnish more of the joy of life1  
if it is not abused1 than can be given  
by any of the artificial tonics which   
the ignorance and weakness of men have  
discovered4  ,if ,i were twenty-one1 all
 this6     ,,iv  ,,if ,i ,,were         
,,twenty-,,one ,i ,,would ,,train ,,my  

,,mind   ,i would realize that my       
eventual success depends mostly upon the
 quality and power of my brain4 ,hence  
,i would train it so as to get the best 
out of it4  ,most of the failures ,i    
have seen1 especially in professional   
life1 have been due to mental laziness4 
,i was a preacher for years1 and found  
out that the greatest curse of the      
ministry is laziness4 ,it is probably   
the same among lawyers and physicians4  
,it certainly is so among actors and    
writers4 ,hence1 ,i would let no day    
pass without its period of hard1 keen1  
mental exertion so that my mind would be
 always as a steel spring1 or like a    
well-oiled engine1 ready1 resilient1 and
 powerful4  ,and in this connection ,i  
would recognize that repetition is      
better than effort4 ,mastery1           
perfection1 the doing of difficult      
things with ease and precision1 depend  
more upon doing things over and over    
than upon putting forth great effort4   
,i would especially purge myself as far 

as possible of intellectual cowardice   
and intellectual dishonesty4 ,by        
intellectual dishonesty ,i mean what is 
called expediency2 that is1 forming1 or 
adhering to1 an opinion1 not because we 
are convinced of its truth1 but because 
of the effect it will have4 ,a mind     
should1 at twenty-one1 marry ,truth1 and
 cleave only unto her1 till death do    
them part1 for better1 for worse4  ,by  
intellectual cowardice ,i mean all      
superstitions1 premonitions1 and other  
forms of mental paralysis or panic      
caused by what is vague4 ,to heed signs1
 omens1 cryptic sayings1 and all talk of
 fate and luck1 is nothing but mental   
dirt4 ,i have seen many bright minds    
sullied by it4 ,it is worthy only of the
 mind of an ignorant savage4     ,v     
,,if ,i ,,were ,,twenty-,,one ,i ,,would
 ,,be ,,happy   ,by this ,i imply that  
any one can be happy if he will4        
,happiness does not depend on           
circumstances1 but upon ,me4  ,this is  
perhaps the greatest truth in the world1

 and the one most persistently          
disbelieved4  ,happiness1 said ,carlyle1
 is as the value of a common fraction1  
which results from dividing the         
numerator by the denominator4 ,the      
numerator1 in life1 is ,what ,we ,have4 
,the denominator is ,what ,we ,think ,we
 ,ought to ,have4 ,mankind may be       
divided into two classes3 ,fools and    
,wise4 ,the fools are eternally trying  
to get happiness by multiplying the     
numerator1 the wise divide the          
denominator4 ,they both come to the     
same--only one you can do and the other 
is impossible4  ,if you have only one   
thousand dollars and think you ought to 
have two thousand dollars1 the answer is
 one thousand divided by two thousand1  
which is one half4 ,go and get another  
thousand and you have two thousand      
divided by two thousand1 which is one2  
you have doubled your contentment4 ,but 
the trouble is that in human affairs as 
you multiply your numerator you         
unconsciously multiply your denominator 

at the same time1 and you get nowhere4  
,by the time your supply reaches two    
thousand dollars your wants have risen  
to twenty-five hundred dollars4  ,how   
much easier simply to reduce your       
,notion of ,what ,you ,ought to ,have4  
,get your idea down to one thousand1    
which you can easily do if you know the 
art of self-mastery1 and you have one   
thousand divided by one thousand1 which 
is one1 and a much simpler and more     
sensible process than that of trying to 
get another one thousand dollars4  ,this
 is the most valuable secret of life4   
,nothing is of more worth to the youth  
than to awake to the truth that he can  
change his wants4  ,not only all        
happiness1 but all culture1 all         
spiritual growth1 all real1 inward      
success1 is a process of changing one's 
wants4  ,so if ,i were twenty-one ,i    
would make up my mind to be happy4 ,you 
get about what is coming to you1 in any 
event1 in this world1 and happiness and 
misery depend on how you take it2 why   

not be happy8     ,,vi  ,,if ,i ,,were  
,,twenty-,,one ,i ,,would ,,get         
,,married   ,i would not wait until ,i  
became able to support a wife4 ,i would 
marry while poor1 and marry a poor girl4
 ,i have seen all kinds of wives1 and by
 far the greatest number of successful  
ones were those that married poor4  ,any
 man of twenty-one has a better chance  
for happiness1 moral stature1 and       
earthly success1 if married than if     
unmarried4  ,i married young1 and poor  
as ,job's turkey4 ,i have been in some  
hard places1 seen poverty and trial1 and
 ,i have had more than my share of      
success1 but in not one instance1 either
 of failure or triumph1 would ,i have   
been better off single4 ,my partner in  
this task of living has doubled every   
joy and halved every defeat4  ,there's a
 deal of discussion over sex problems4  
,there is but one wholesome1 normal1    
practical1 and ,god-blessed solution to 
the sex question1 and that is the loyal 
love of one man and one woman4  ,many   

young people play the fool and marry the
 wrong person1 but my observation has   
been that there's no fool like the old  
fool1 that the longer marriage is       
postponed the greater are the chances of
 mistake1 and that those couples are the
 most successful in matrimony who begin 
in youth and grow old together4  ,in    
choosing a wife ,i would insist on three
 qualifications3  #a4 ,she should be    
healthy4 ,it is all well enough to      
admire an invalid1 respect and adore    
her1 but a healthy1 live man needs a    
healthy woman for his companion1 if he  
would save himself a thousand ills4  #b4
 ,she should have good common sense4 ,no
 matter how pretty and charming a fool  
may be1 and some of them are wonderfully
 winning1 it does not pay to marry her4 
,someone has said that pretty women with
 no sense are like a certain cheap      
automobile3 they are all right to run   
around with1 but you don't want to own  
one4  ,and #c4 ,she should be cheerful4 
,a sunny1 brave1 bright disposition is a

 wife's best dowry4  ,as to money1 or   
station in life1 or cleverness1 or good 
looks1 they should not enter at all into
 the matter4 ,if ,i could find a girl1  
healthy1 sensible1 and cheerful1 and if 
,i loved her1 ,i'd marry her1 if ,i were
 twenty-one4     ,,vii  ,,if ,i ,,were  
,,twenty-,,one ,i ,,would ,,save ,,money
   ,money has a deal to do with         
contentment in this workaday world1 and 
,i'd have some of my own4 ,there isn't a
 human being but could save a little4   
,every man1 in ,america at least1 could 
live on nine tenths of what he does live
 on1 and save the other tenth4 ,and the 
man who regularly saves no money is a   
fool1 just a plain fool1 whether he be  
an actor getting one thousand dollars a 
week or a ditch-digger getting one      
dollar a day4  ,and ,i would get my life
 insured4 ,life insurance is the most   
practical way for a young man1          
especially if he be a professional man1 
or any one not gifted with the knack of 
making money1 to achieve financial      

comfort4 ,the life insurance companies  
are as safe as any money institution can
 be4 ,you are compelled to save in order
 to pay your premiums1 and you probably 
need that sort of whip4 ,and those      
dependent upon you are protected against
 the financial distress that would be   
caused by your death4 ,i believe life   
insurance to be the best way to save    
money1 at least for one who knows little
 about money4     ,,viii  ,,if ,i ,,were
 ,,twenty-,,one ,i ,,would ,,study ,,the
 ,,art ,,of ,,pleasing   ,much of the   
content from life is due to having      
pleasant people around you4 ,hence ,i   
would form habits and cultivate manners 
that would please them4  ,for instance1 
,i would make my personal appearance as 
attractive as possible4 ,i would look   
clean1 well-dressed1 and altogether as  
engaging as the material ,i had to work 
with would allow4  ,i would be punctual4
 ,to keep people waiting is simply      
insolent egotism4  ,i would1 if my voice
 were unpleasant1 have it cultivated    

until it became agreeable in tone4 ,i   
would speak low4 ,i would not mumble1   
but learn the art of clear1 distinct    
speech4 ,it is very trying to associate 
with persons who talk so that it is a   
constant effort to understand their     
words4  ,i would learn the art of       
conversation1 of small talk4 ,i would   
equip myself to be able to entertain the
 grouchiest1 most blas people4 ,for     
there is hardly a business in the world 
in which it is not a great advantage to 
be able to converse entertainingly4     
,the secret of being a good             
conversationalist is probably a genuine1
 unselfish interest in others4 ,that and
 practice4 ,it consists more in making  
the other person talk than in talking   
yourself4  ,i would learn how to write  
so that it would not burden people to   
read it4 ,in this matter1 one hint3 ,the
 ,english language is composed of       
separate letters1 hence1 when you have  
written one letter1 if you will move    
your pen along before you write the next

 we shall be able1 probably1 to discover
 what you intend1 no matter how         
imperfectly you compose your separate   
letters4  ,i would not argue4 ,i never  
knew one person in my life that was     
convinced by argument4 ,discuss1 yes2   
but not argue4 ,the difference is this3 
in discussion you are searching for the 
truth1 and in argument you want to prove
 that you are right4 ,in discussion1    
therefore1 you are anxious to know your 
neighbour's views1 and you listen to    
him4 ,in argument1 you don't care       
anything about his opinions1 you want   
him to hear yours2 hence1 while he's    
talking you are simply thinking over    
what you are going to say as soon as you
 get a chance4  ,altogether1 ,i would   
try to make my personality pleasing1 so 
that people would in turn endeavour to  
be pleasing to me4     ,,ix  ,,if ,i    
,,were ,,twenty-,,one ,i ,,would        
,,determine1 ,,even ,,if ,i ,,could     
,,never ,,be ,,anything ,,else ,,in     
,,the ,,world1 ,,that ,i ,,would ,,be ,a

 ,,thoroughbred   ,thoroughbred1 as it  
is currently used1 is a word rather     
difficult to define1 perhaps entirely   
non-definable4 ,yet we all know what it 
means--it is like ,love4  ,but it       
implies being several things3 ,one1     
being a good sport1 by which ,i mean the
 kind of a man that does not whine when 
he fails1 but gets up smiling and       
tackles it again1 the kind of man whose 
fund of cheer and courage does not      
depend upon success1 but keeps brave and
 sweet even in failure4  ,let me quote  
what ,i have written elsewhere on this  
point3      ,in one of the plays of this
 season1 ,the ,very ,minute1 one     of 
the characters says something to this   
effect3 ,you go on     till you can go  
no further1 you reach the limit of human
     endurance1 and then--you hold on   
another minute1 and that's     the      
minute that counts4      ,the idea is a 
good one4 ,that last minute1 the other  
side of     the breaking point1 is worth
 thinking about4      ,it is that which 

marks the thoroughbred4      ,there is a
 something in the hundredth man that    
bespeaks a     finer quality4 ,it is    
unconquerableness1 heroism1             
stick-to-it-iveness1 or whatever you    
have a mind to call it4      ,we have a 
way of attributing this to breeding1    
after the     analogy of horses and     
dogs2 but while there's something in    
blood ,i doubt if it is a very          
trustworthy guaranty of     excellence4 
,so many vigorous parents have children 
that are     morally spindling1 and so  
many surprising samples of              
superiority come from common stock1 that
 heredity is far     from dependable4   
,but the quality exists1 no matter how  
you account for it--a     certain       
toughness of moral fibre1 an            
indestructibility of     purpose4       
,any mind is over matter1 but there are 
some wills so     imperial1 so dominant 
over the body1 that they keep it from   
collapse even after its strength is     
spent4      ,we see it physically in the

 prize fighter who doesn't know     when
 he is beaten1 in the race horse that   
throws an     unexpected dash into the  
last stretch even after his last        
ounce of force is gone1 in the ,spartan 
soldier who exclaimed     ,if ,i fall ,i
 fight on my knees4      ,of all human  
qualities that have lit up the          
sombreness of     this tragic earth1 ,i 
count this1 of being a thoroughbred1    
the happiest4      ,it has saved more   
souls than penance and punishment1 it   
has     rescued more business           
enterprises than shrewdness1 it has     
won more battles and more games1 and    
altogether felicitously     loosed more 
hard knots in the tangled skein of      
destiny than     any other virtue4      
,most people are quitters4 ,they reach  
the limit4 ,they are     familiar with  
the last straw4      ,but the hundredth 
man is a thoroughbred4 ,you cannot      
corner     him4 ,he will not give up4   
,he cannot find the word fail in     his
 lexicon4 ,he has never learned to      

whine4      ,what shall we do with him8 
,there's nothing to do but to hand      
him success4 ,it's just as well to      
deliver him the prize1 for     he will  
get it eventually4 ,there's no use      
trying to drown     him1 for he won't   
sink4      ,there's only one creature in
 the world better than the man     who  
is a thoroughbred4 ,it is the woman who 
is a     thoroughbred4     ,x  ,,if ,i  
,,were ,,twenty-,,one ,i ,,would ,,make 
,,some ,,permanent1 ,,amicable          
,,arrangement ,,with ,,my ,,conscience  
,god1 ,duty1 ,death1 and ,moral         
,responsibility are huge facts which no 
life can escape4 ,they are the external 
sphinxes by the road of every man's     
existence4 ,he must frame some sort of  
an answer to them4  ,it may please the  
reader to know how ,i have answered     
them4 ,it is very simple4  ,i am        
familiar1 to some extent1 with most of  
the religions1 cults1 and creeds of     
mankind4 ,there are certain points      
common to every decent religion1 for in 

every kind of church you are taught to  
be honest1 pure-minded1 unselfish1      
reverent1 brave1 loyal1 and the like4   
,these elements of religion may be      
called the ,great ,common ,divisor of   
all faiths4  ,this ,g4 ,c4 ,d4 is my    
religion4 ,it is what more than fifty   
years of thought and experience has     
winnowed out for me4 ,it is my religion4
 ,and ,i think ,i glimpse what ,emerson 
meant when he wrote that all good men   
are of one religion4  ,and the matter   
can be reduced to yet plainer terms4    
,there is but one thing needful1 and    
there's no use being careful and        
troubled about many things4 ,that one   
thing is to do right4  ,to do ,right and
 not ,wrong will save any man's soul1   
and if he believes any doctrine that    
implies doing wrong he is lost4  ,so1   
let a man of twenty-one resolve1 and    
keep his purpose1 that1 no matter what  
comes1 no matter how mixed his theology 
may be1 no matter what may be the       
rewards of wrong-doing1 or the perils   

and losses of right-doing1 he will do   
right2 then1 if there is any moral law  
in the universe1 that man must sometime1
 somewhere1 arrive at his inward        
triumph1 his spiritual victory and      
peace4  ,and the corollary of this is   
that if ,i have done wrong the best and 
only way to cure it is to quit doing    
wrong and begin to do right4 ,if any man
 will stick to this1 make it his anchor 
in times of storm1 his pole-star in     
nights of uncertainty1 he will cast out 
of his life that which is life's        
greatest enemy--,fear4 ,he need not fear
 man nor woman1 nor governments nor     
mischief-makers1 nor the devil nor ,god4
 ,he will be able to say with the accent
 of sincerity that word of ,william     
,ernest ,henley1 to me the greatest     
spiritual declaration in any language3  
,out of the night that covers me1       
,black as the pit from ,pole to ,pole1  
,i thank whatever gods may be     ,for  
my unconquerable soul4    ,in the fell  
clutch of circumstance     ,i have not  

winced nor cried aloud1   ,beneath the  
bludgeonings of chance     ,my head is  
bloody1 but unbowed4    ,it matters not 
how strait the gate1     ,how charged   
with punishments the scroll1   ,i am the
 master of my fate1     ,i am the       
captain of my soul4  ,let me repeat that
 ,i have not been telling what ,i did   
with the implication that the youth of  
twenty-one would do well to follow me4  
,i did not do all these things4 ,far    
from it6 ,i wish ,i had4 ,i only say    
that if ,i were twenty-one1 as ,i now   
see life1 ,i would do as ,i have here   
suggested4 ,but perhaps ,i would not4 ,i
 might go about barking my shins and    
burning my fingers1 making idiotic      
experiments in the endeavour to prove   
that ,i was an exception to all the     
rules1 and knew a little more than all  
the ancients4 ,so let not the young man 
be discouraged if he has committed      
follies2 for there seems to emerge a    
peculiar and vivid wisdom from error1   
from making an ass of one's self1 and   

all that1 more useful to one's own life 
than any wisdom he can get from sages or
 copybooks4  ,in what ,i have written ,i
 have not tried to indicate the art of  
getting on1 or of acquiring riches or   
position4 ,these usually are what is    
meant by success4 ,but success is of two
 kinds1 outward and inward1 or apparent 
and real4 ,outward success may depend   
somewhat upon what is in you1 but it    
depends more upon luck4 ,it is a        
gambling game4 ,and it is hardly worth a
 strong man's while4 ,inward and real   
success1 on the contrary1 is not an     
affair of chance at all1 but is as      
certain as any natural law4 ,any human  
being that will observe the laws of life
 as carefully as successful business men
 observe the laws of business will come 
to that inward poise and triumph which  
is life's happiest crown1 as certainly  
as the stars move in their courses4  ,i 
would1 therefore1 if ,i were twenty-one1
 study the art of life4 ,it is good to  
know arithmetic and geography and       

bookkeeping and all practical matters1  
but it is better to know how to live1   
how to spend your day so that at the end
 of it you shall be content1 how to     
spend your life so that you feel it has 
been worth while4     ,,the ,,end