,boy ,wanted ,nixon ,waterman ,illustration ,do not loiter or shirk1 ,do not falter or shrink2 ,but just think out your work ,and then work out your think4 ,,other ,,books ,,by ,,nixon ,,waterman ,a ,,book ,,of ,,verses ,,in ,,merry ,,mood ,a ,book of ,cheerful ,rhymes4 ,cloth1 #abmo1 each1 #a4be4 ,,forbes ,,company1 ,,chicago ,illustration3 ,,cabin ,,in ,,which ,,lincoln ,,was ,,born ,,boy ,,wanted ,a ,,book ,,of ,,cheerful ,,counsel ,,by ,,nixon ,,waterman ,,author ,,of ,,the ,,girl ,,wanted1 ,a ,,book ,,of ,,verses1 ,,etc4 ,,toronto ,mc,c,l,e,l,l,a,n,d ,,goodchild ,limited ,,copyright1 #aijf ,,by ,,nixon ,,waterman ,all ,rights ,reserved ,,to --,,the ,,boy ,,who ,,discerns ,,he ,,can ,,never ,,be ,,it ,,until ,,he ,,develops ,,some ,,git-,,up-,,and-,,git4 ,acknowledgments are hereby made to the publishers of ,life1 ,success1 ,saturday ,evening ,post1 ,woman's ,home ,companion1 ,st4 ,nicholas1 ,christian ,endeavor ,world1 ,young ,people's ,weekly1 ,youth's ,companion1 and other periodicals1 for their courteous permission to reprint the author's copyrighted poems which originally appeared in their publications4 ,,preface ,in presenting this book of cheerful counsel to his youthful friends1 and such of the seniors as are not too old to accept a bit of friendly admonition1 the author desires to offer a word of explanation regarding the history of the making of this volume4 ,so many letters have been received from people of all classes and ages requesting copies of some of the author's lines best suited for the purpose of engendering a sense of self-help in the mind of youth1 that he deems it expedient to offer a number of his verses in the present collected form4 ,while he is indebted to a great array of bright minds for the prose incidents and inspiration which constitute a large portion of this volume1 he desires to be held personally responsible for all of the rhymed lines to be found within these covers4 ,it may be especially true of advice that it is more blessed to give than to receive1 but it is hoped that in this present form of tendering friendly counsel the precepts will be accepted in the same cheerful spirit in which they are offered4 ,the author realizes that no one is more urgently in need of good advice and the intelligence to follow it than is the writer of these lines1 and none cries more earnestly the well-known truth-- ,oh1 fellow men and brothers1 ,could we but use the free ,advice we give to others1 ,how happy we should be6 ,while the title of this book and the character of its contents make it obvious that it is a volume designed primarily for the guidance of youth1 no one should pass it by merely because he has reached the years of maturity1 and presumably of discretion4 ,as a matter of fact ,time cannot remove any of us very far from the fancies and foibles1 the dreams and dangers of life's morning hours4 ,age bringeth wisdom1 so they say1 ,but lots of times we've seen ,a man long after he was gray ,keep right on being green4 ,n4 ,w4 ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i ,,the ,,awakening #aa ,the life partnership4 ,when to begin4 ,foresight4 ,boy ,wanted4 ,the power of mind4 ,couldn't and ,could4 ,selfmade men4 ,deliver the ,goods4 ,,ii ,,am ,i ,a ,,genius8 #bc ,genius defined4 ,inspiration and perspiration4 ,stick to ,it4 ,genius and patience4 ,keep ,pegging ,away4 ,examples of patience4 ,the ,secret of ,success4 ,,iii ,,opportunity #ce ,what is a fair chance8 ,abraham ,lincoln4 ,depending on self4 ,myself and ,i4 ,the importance of the present moment4 ,right ,here and ,just ,now4 ,poverty and success4 ,keep ,a-,trying4 ,,iv ,,over ,,and ,,underdoing #di ,precocity4 ,starting too soon as bad as starting too late4 ,the value of health4 ,making a man4 ,the worth of toil4 ,how to ,win ,success4 ,sharpened wits4 ,the ,steady ,worker4 ,v ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,spare ,,moments #fa ,wasting time4 ,the ',going-to-,bees6' ,the possibilities of one hour a day4 ,just ,this ,minute4 ,the vital importance of properly employing leisure moments4 ,do ,it ,now4 ,,vi ,,cheerfulness #ge ,the value of smiles4 ,to ,know ,all is to ,forgive ,all4 ,hope and strength4 ,a ,cure for ,trouble4 ,carlyle on cheerfulness4 ,the ,one ,with a ,song4 ,pessimism as a barrier to success4 ,a ,smile and a ,task4 ,a profitable virtue4 ,an ,open ,letter to the ,pessimist4 ,,vii ,,dreaming ,,and ,,doing #hi ,practicality4 ,hank ,streeter's ,brain-,wave4 ,self-esteem4 ,the ,valley of ,never4 ,opportunity and application4 ,yender ,grass4 ,,viii ,,trifles #aja ,the value of little things4 ,sowing and reaping4 ,the power of habit4 ',i ,wish' and ',i ,will4' ,jenny ,lind's humble beginning4 ,canova's genius4 ,present opportunities4 ',now' and ',waitawhile4' ,,ix ,,the ,,worth ,,of ,,advice #aae ,heeding the sign-post4 ,the value of guide-books4 ,the ,world's ,victors4 ,good books a boy's best friend4 ,the danger of knowing too much4 ,my ,boyhood ,dreams4 ,reading and reflecting4 ,x ,,real ,,success #abi ,are you the boy wanted8 ,money and success4 ,on ,getting ,rich4 ,thinking and doing4 ,life's true purpose4 ,the ,mother's ,dream4 ,,illustrations ,,lincoln',s ,,birthplace ,frontispiece ,,patrick ,,henry ,,delivering ,,his ,,celebrated ,,speech ,facing page #bc ,,whittier',s ,,birthplace #ce ,,watt ,,discovering ,,the ,,condensation ,,of ,,steam #di ,,longfellow',s ,,birthplace #fa ,,garfield ,,as ,a ,,canal ,,boy #ge ,,birthplace ,,of ,,benjamin ,,franklin #hi ,,washington ,,and ,,lafayette ,,at ,,mount ,,vernon #aja ,,boy ,,wanted ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,awakening ,sidenote3 ,nothing is impossible to the man who can will4--,,mirabeau4 ,ho1 my brave youth6 ,there's a ,boy ,wanted1 and--how fortunate6--you are the very boy6 ,who wants you8 ,sidenote3 ,you will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some with you4--,,joubert4 ,the big1 busy1 beautiful world wants you1 and ,i really do not see how it is going to get on well without you4 ,it has awaited your coming so long1 and has kept in store so many golden opportunities for you to improve1 it will be disappointed if1 when the proper time arrives1 you do not smilingly lay hold and do something worth while4 ,when are you to begin8 ,sidenote3 ,things don't turn up in this world until somebody turns them up4--,,garfield4 ,oh1 ,i sincerely hope that you have already begun to begin2 that is1 that you have already begun to train your hand and head and heart for making the most of the opportunities that await you4 ,in fact1 if you are so fortunate as to own thoughtful1 intelligent parents1 the work of fitting you for the victories of life was begun before you were old enough to give the subject serious consideration4 ,sidenote3 ,work has made me what ,i am4 ,i never ate a bit of idle bread in my life4--,,daniel ,,webster4 ,when shall ,i begin to train my child8 asked a young mother of a wise physician4 ,how old is the child8 inquired the doctor4 ,two years4 ,sidenote3 ,in the blackest soils grow the fairest flowers1 and the loftiest and strongest trees spring heavenward among the rocks4--,,holland4 ,then you have already lost just two years1 was his serious response4 ,oliver ,wendell ,holmes1 when asked the same question1 said3 ,you must begin with the child's grandmother4 ,sidenote3 ,without courage there cannot be truth2 and without truth there can be no other virtue4--,,walter ,,scott4 ,but no matter what has or has not been done for you up to the present time1 you and ,i know that from now on your future welfare will be largely of your own making and in your own keeping4 ,if you will thoughtfully plan your purpose as definitely as conditions will permit and then learn to stick to it through thick and thin1 your success in life is quite well assured1 and you need not fear that at the end of the journey you will have to say1 as does many a man while retrospectively viewing his years3 ,sidenote3 ,vigilance in watching opportunity2 tact and daring in seizing upon opportunity2 force and persistence in crowding opportunity to its utmost of possible achievement--these are the martial virtues which must command success4--,,phelps4 ,o'er life's long and winding pathway1 ,looking backward1 ,i confess ,i have not at looking forward ,been a genuine success4 ,what is there for you to do8 ,sidenote3 ,work is the inevitable condition of human life1 the true source of human welfare4--,,tolstoi4 ,everything and anything you can do or care to do4 ,you are to take your pick of all the trades1 professions1 and vocations of mankind4 ,look about you and note the thousand and one things now being done by the men of to-day4 ,it will not be so very long till all of these men will be old enough to retire from active service1 and then you and the other boys1 who in the meantime have grown to man's estate1 will be called upon to perform every one of the tasks these men are now doing4 ,doesn't it look as if there would be plenty of honest1 earnest1 wholesome toil for hand and head in store for you as soon as you are ready to undertake it8 ,you cannot wonder that the busy old world is ever and always hanging out its notice-- ,,boy ,,wanted ,sidenote3 ,people do not lack strength2 they lack will4--,,victor ,,hugo4 ,wanted--,a ,boy4 ,how often we ,this quite familiar notice see4 ,wanted--a boy for every kind ,of task that a busy world can find4 ,he is wanted--wanted now and here2 ,there are towns to build2 there are paths to clear2 ,there are seas to sail2 there are gulfs to span1 ,in the ever onward march of man4 ,sidenote3 ,you cannot dream yourself into a character2 you must hammer and forge one yourself4--,,froude4 ,wanted--the world wants boys to-day ,and it offers them all it has for pay4 ',twill grant them wealth1 position1 fame1 ,a useful life1 and an honored name4 ,boys who will guide the plow and pen2 ,boys who will shape the ways for men2 ,boys who will forward the tasks begun1 ,for the world's great work is never done4 ,sidenote3 ,the truest wisdom is a resolute determination4--,,napoleon4 ,the world is eager to employ ,not just one1 but every boy ,who1 with a purpose stanch and true1 ,will greet the work he finds to do4 ,honest1 faithful1 earnest1 kind1-- ,to good1 awake2 to evil1 blind1-- ,a heart of gold without alloy1-- ,wanted--the world wants such a boy4 ,sidenote3 ,while we are considering when to begin1 it is often too late to act4--,,quintilian4 ,no1 the world does not insist that you are to accept a position and begin work with your hands at once1 but it wishes you to begin to think right things4 ,as he thinketh in his heart1 so is he4 ,what you think will have much to do in determining what you are to become4 ,the mind is master of the man1 ,and so they can who think they can4 ,sidenote3 ,where boasting ends1 there dignity begins4--,,young4 ,sidenote3 ,impossible is a word found only in the dictionary of fools4--,,napoleon4 ,this influence of the mind in thus shaping the man is very well set forth by ,james ,allen1 who says3 ,a man's mind may be likened to a garden1 which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild2 but whether cultivated or neglected1 it must1 and will1 bring forth4 ,if no useful seeds are put into it1 then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein1 and will continue to produce their kind4 ,just as a gardener cultivates his plot1 keeping it free from weeds1 and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires1 so may a man tend the garden of his mind1 weeding out all the wrong1 useless1 and impure thoughts1 and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right1 useful1 and pure thoughts4 ,by pursuing this process1 a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul1 the director of his life4 ,he also reveals1 within himself1 the laws of thought1 and understands1 with ever-increasing accuracy1 how the thought-forces and mind-elements operate in the shaping of his character1 circumstances1 and destiny4 ,sidenote3 ,i am in earnest4 ,i will not equivocate4 ,i will not excuse4 ,i will not retreat a single inch2 and ,i will be heard4--,,garrison4 ,so it is not too early for you to begin to think bravely and resolutely and hopefully upon the life you intend to live1 and to cultivate the mental and physical strength that shall help you later on to put your good thoughts into permanent good deeds4 ,certainty of victory goes far toward winning battles before they are fought4 ,the boy who thinks ,i can is much more likely to succeed in life than is the one who thinks ,i can't4 ,,couldn',t ,,and ,,could ,sidenote3 ,while you stand deliberating which book your son shall read first1 another boy has read both4--,,dr4 ,,johnson4 ,couldn't and ,could were two promising boys ,who lived not a great while ago4 ,they had just the same playmates and just the same toys1 ,and just the same chances for winning life's joys ,and all that the years may bestow4 ,sidenote3 ,dost thou love life8 ,then do not squander time1 for that is the stuff life is made of4--,,franklin4 ,and ,could soon found out he could fashion his life ,on lines very much as he planned2 ,he could cultivate goodness and guard against strife2 ,he could have all his deeds with good cheer to be rife1 ,and build him a name that would stand4 ,sidenote3 ,when passion is on the throne1 reason is out of doors4--,,matthew ,,henry4 ,but poor little ,couldn't just couldn't pull through ,all the trials he met with a sigh2 ,when a task needed doing1 he couldn't1 he knew2 ,and hence1 when he couldn't1 how could he8 ,could you1 ,if you couldn't determine you'd try8 ,sidenote3 ,i wasted time1 and now time doth waste me4--,,shakespeare4 ,so ,could just kept building his way to success1 ,nor clouding his sky with a doubt1 ,but ,couldn't strayed into the slough of ,distress1 ,alas6 and his end it is easy to guess-- ,strayed in1 but he couldn't get out4 ,and that was the difference 'twixt ,couldn't and ,could2 ,each followed his own chosen plan2 ,and where ,couldn't just wouldn't ,could earnestly would1 ,and where one of them weakened the other made good1 ,and won with his watchword1 ,i can6 ,sidenote3 ,weak men wait for opportunities1 strong men make them4--,,marden4 ,by reading between the lines we can infer from the foregoing that what the world really wants is men--good men4 ,but the world is old enough and wise enough to know that if it does not train up some good boys1 there will be no good men1 by and by4 ,as the twig is bent the tree is inclined4 ,the child is father of the man4 ,sidenote3 ,give me insight into to-day1 and you may have the antique and future worlds4--,,emerson4 ,so the world simply wishes to inform you1 here and now1 that it will count on your assistance as soon as you have had sufficient time and opportunity to prepare properly for the many chances it has in store for you4 ,it notifies you in good season of the important use it hopes to make of you4 ,it does not wish you to be confronted suddenly with a life problem you cannot solve intelligently4 ,you must be so well equipped that you will not make life a fizzle4 ,sidenote3 ,when ,i don't know whether to fight or not1 ,i always fight4--,,nelson4 ,a fizzle1 as defined by the dictionaries1 is a bungling1 unsuccessful undertaking4 ,sidenote3 ,what is a gentleman8 ,i'll tell you3 a gentleman is one who keeps his promises made to those who cannot enforce them4--,,hubbard4 ,life is1 or ought to be1 a splendid undertaking4 ,some make a success of it2 some make a fizzle2 some make a sort of half-and-half4 ,every one who lives his or her life must make something of it4 ,what that something is depends very largely on the individual person4 ,heredity has something to do with it2 environment has something to do with it2 yet we like to think it is the individual who has most to do with the finished product4 ,all men are to some degree self-made1 although they are slow to admit it except in instances where the work has been well done4 ,sidenote3 ,when one begins to turn in bed it is time to turn out4--,,wellington4 ,the loser declares it is ,fate's hard plan1 ,but the winner--ho1 ho6--he's a self-made man4 ,it is unfair for the loser to blame others for his deficiencies and delinquencies4 ,no one's reputation is likely to suffer much lasting injury as long as he keeps his character unspotted4 ,what others may say of us is not of so much moment2 the important question is1 ,is it true8 ,sidenote3 ,when ,i found ,i was black1 ,i resolved to live as if ,i were white1 and so force men to look below my skin4--,,alexandre ,,dumas4 ,of strife others make us1 we've little to fear ,because we can surely defeat it2 ,few persons get into hot water1 'tis clear1 ,but they furnish the fuel to heat it4 ,sidenote3 ,impossible8 ,i trample upon impossibilities6--,,pitt4 ,on the other hand the winner is ungrateful when he credits to his own ability the help and good influence he has derived from his associates and his surroundings4 ,no one lives by1 to1 or for himself1 alone4 ,a great man adds to his greatness by generously praising those who have aided in his advancement4 ,we are1 most of us1 selfishly slow to confess ,how much others aid us in winning success2 ,but the ,fourth of ,july and the oyster must see ,what failures1 without any crackers1 they'd be4 ,sidenote3 ,when all is holiday1 there are no holidays4--,,lamb4 ,this timely notice telling you what the world is going to ask you to perform is as if you were told to prepare to take an extended and important journey4 ,it would require some time for you to procure a trunk and a traveling-bag and to select wearing apparel suitable for the undertaking4 ,then1 too1 you would need to study maps and time-tables so as to select the best lines of travel and to make advantageous connections with trains and steamships4 ,furthermore1 it would be for your best interests to read books describing the countries through which you were to pass1 and to learn as much as possible regarding their peoples and customs4 ,sidenote3 ,let's take the instant by the forward top4--,,shakespeare4 ,sidenote3 ,i have generally found that the man who is good at an excuse is good for nothing else4--,,franklin4 ,sidenote3 ,i feel and grieve1 but1 by the grace of ,god1 ,i fret at nothing4--,,john ,,wesley4 ,as a matter of fact you are preparing to start on an extended and important journey4 ,you are going out into the big world1 by and by1 to do business4 ,you are going into partnership with the world1 after a fashion4 ,you are to put into the business your honesty1 industry1 integrity1 and ability1 and in return for your contributions1 the world is to bestow upon you all the honor1 fame1 goodwill1 and happiness of mind that your manner of living your life shall merit4 ,the world is only too willing to bargain for the highest and noblest and best products of the human mind with any one who can ,,deliver ,,the ,,goods ,sidenote3 ,we can sing away our cares easier than we can reason them away4--,,beecher4 ,the world will buy largely of any one who ,can deliver the goods4 ,it is ready and eager to barter if you ,can deliver the goods4 ,but don't take its order and make out the bill ,unless you are sure you'll be able to fill ,your contract1 because it won't pay you until ,you deliver the goods4 ,sidenote3 ,trifles make perfection1 but perfection is no trifle4--,,michael ,,angelo4 ,the world rears its loftiest shafts to the men ,who deliver the goods4 ,with plow1 lever1 brush1 hammer1 sword1 or with pen ,they deliver the goods4 ,and while we their eloquent epitaphs scan ,that say in the world's work they stood in the van1 ,we know that the meaning is1 ,here lies a man ,who delivered the goods4 ,sidenote3 ,anxiety never yet successfully bridged over any chasm4--,,ruffini4 ,and rude or refined be your wares1 still be sure ,to deliver the goods4 ,though a king or a clown1 still remember that you're ,to deliver the goods4 ,if you find you are called to the pulpit to preach1 ,to the grain-fields to till1 to the forum to teach2 ,be you poet or porter1 remember that each ,must deliver the goods4 ,illustration3 ,,patrick ,,henry ,,delivering ,,his ,,celebrated ,,speech ,,chapter ,,ii ,,am ,i ,a ,,genius8 ,sidenote3 ,true merit is like a river1 the deeper it is the less noise it makes4--,,halifax4 ,you hope1 and perchance believe1 no doubt1 that when you have a full opportunity to show the world what sort of timber you are made of that it will look upon you as being a genius4 ,almost every boy cherishes some such aspiration4 ,and why not8 ,such a trend of thought is to be encouraged4 ,it is proper and commendable4 ,we would all be geniuses if we could4 ,sidenote3 ,we know what we are1 but not what we may be4--,,shakespeare4 ,the world admires a genius4 ,if he is the genuine article it seeks his autograph1 prints his picture in books and newspapers1 and when he passes away it is likely to build a monument over his remains4 ,sidenote3 ,vacillation is the prominent feature of weakness of character4--,,voltaire4 ,and can we all be geniuses8 ,some say we can and some say we cannot1 quite4 ,some say geniuses are born and some say they are self-made4 ,when ,mr4 ,edison1 the famous electrician and inventor1 was asked for his definition of genius he answered3 ,two per cent is genius and ninety-eight per cent is hard work4 ,on another occasion when asked3 ,mr4 ,edison1 don't you believe that genius is inspiration8 he replied1 ,no6 genius is perspiration4 ,sidenote3 ,conduct is three-fourths of life4--,,emerson4 ,this definition of genius quite agrees with that given by the ,american statesman1 ,alexander ,hamilton1 who said3 ,all the genius ,i have lies in just this3 ,when ,i have a subject in hand1 ,i study it profoundly4 ,day and night it is before me4 ,i explore it in all its bearings2 my mind becomes pervaded with it4 ,then the effort which ,i make the people are pleased to call genius4 ,it is the fruit of labor and thought4 ,sidenote3 ,we must not yield to difficulties1 but strive the harder to overcome them4--,,robert ,e4 ,,lee4 ,helvetius1 the famous ,french philosopher1 says3 ,genius is nothing but a continued attention1 and ,buffon tells us that genius is only a protracted patience4 ,sidenote3 ,through every clause and part of speech of a right book1 ,i meet the eyes of the most determined men4--,,emerson4 ,turner1 the great landscape painter1 when asked how he had achieved his great success1 replied3 ,i have no secret but hard work4 ,this is a secret that many never learn1 and they do not succeed because they do not learn it4 ,labor is the genius that changes the world from ugliness to beauty4 ,sidenote3 ,all your ,greek will never advance you from secretary to envoy1 or from envoy to ambassador2 but your address1 your air1 your manner1 if good1 may4--,,chesterfield4 ,the man who succeeds above his fellows1 says ,lord ,lytton1 is the one who early in life clearly discerns his object and toward that object habitually directs his powers4 ,even genius itself is but fine observation strengthened by fixity of purpose4 ,every man who observes vigilantly and resolves steadfastly grows unconsciously into genius4 ,am ,i a genius8 ,sidenote3 ',tis the mind that makes the body rich4--,,shakespeare4 ,now that you have asked the question1 why not carefully think it over and determine what the answer should be8 ,have you patience and determination8 ,are you cultivating the habit of sticking to it8 ,,stick ,,to ,,it ,sidenote3 ,to read without reflection is like eating without digesting4--,,burke4 ,o prim little postage-stamp1 holding your own ,in a manner so winning and gentle4 ,that you're stuck on your task--7is that slang87--you will own1 ,and yet1 you're not two-cent-imental4 ,i have noted with pride that through thick and through thin ,you cling to a thing till you do it1 ,and1 whatever your aim1 you are certain to win ,because you seem bound to stick to it4 ,sidenote3 ,i learnt that nothing can constitute good breeding that has not good nature for its foundation4--,,bulwer4 ,sometimes when ,i feel just like shirking a task ,or quitting the work ,i'm pursuing1 ,i recall your stick-to-it-ive-ness and ,i ask1 ,would a postage-stamp do as ,i'm doing8 ,then ,i turn to whatever my hands are about ,and with fortified purpose renew it1 ,and the end soon encompass1 for which ,i set out1 ,if1 only1 like you1 ,i stick to it4 ,the sages declare that true genius1 so called1 ,is simply the will to keep at it4 ,a won't-give-up purpose is never forestalled1 ,no matter what foes may combat it4 ,and most of mankind's vaunted progress is made1 ,o stamp6 if the world only knew it1 ,by noting the wisdom which you have displayed ,in sticking adhesively to it4 ,sidenote3 ,to acquire a few tongues1 says a ,french writer1 is the task of a few years2 but to be eloquent in one is the labor of a life4--,,colton4 ,genius has a twin brother whose name is ,patience4 ,the one is quite often mistaken for the other1 which is not strange since they resemble each other so closely their most intimate friends can scarcely tell them apart4 ,these two brothers usually work together1 which enables the world to tell who and what they are1 for whenever either of them is employed singly and alone he is hardly ever recognized4 ,sidenote3 ,to be proud of learning is the greatest ignorance4--,,bishop ,,taylor4 ,one of these brothers plants the tree and the other cares for it until the fruit is finally matured4 ,the tree which ,genius plants would never amount to much if ,patience were to grow tired of watering and caring for it4 ,there are weeds to be kept down1 branches to be pruned1 the soil must be looked after1 worms'-nests must be destroyed1 and many things must be done before the fruit is ready to harvest4 ,sidenote3 ,life is not so short but that there is always room enough for courtesy4--,,emerson4 ,if ,patience were to refuse to work at any time the whole undertaking would prove a failure4 ,but he does not4 ,he performs his plain1 simple duty1 day after day1 year after year1 until1 after long waiting1 there is the beautiful fruit at last4 ,it looks very pretty1 but it is not yet quite ripe4 ,pick it too soon and it will shrivel up and lack flavor4 ,but ,patience has learned to wait until the day and the hour of perfection is at hand1 and lo6 there is his great reward6 ,sidenote3 ,a man's own good breeding is the best security against other people's ill manners4--,,chesterfield4 ,the people say3 ,see this wonderful fruit that grew on the tree which ,genius planted6 ,but ,genius1 who is wiser than the multitude1 says1 ,see this wonderful fruit that grew on the tree which ,patience tended6 ,sidenote3 ,common sense bows to the inevitable and makes use of it4--,,wendell ,,phillips4 ,patience and perseverance are the qualities that enable one to work out his problems in school and his larger problems in the big university of the busy world4 ,sidenote3 ,above all things1 reverence yourself4--,,pythagoras4 ,toil holds all genius as his own1 ,for in his grasp a strength is hid ,to make of polished words or stone ,a poem or a pyramid4 ,it has been very truly said that if we will pick up a grain a day and add to our heap we shall soon learn by happy experience the power of littles as applied to intellectual processes and possessions4 ,sidenote3 ,to ,adam1 ,paradise was home2 to the good among his descendants1 home is ,paradise4--,,hare4 ,the road to success1 says one of the world's philosophers1 is not to be run upon by seven-league boots4 ,step by step1 little by little1 bit by bit2 that is the way to wealth1 that is the way to wisdom1 that is the way to glory4 ,the man who is most likely to achieve success in life is the one who when a boy learns to ,,keep ,,pegging ,,away ,sidenote3 ,to give happiness is to deserve happiness4--,,rosseau4 ,men seldom mount at a single bound ,to the ladder's very top2 ,they must slowly climb it1 round by round1 ,with many a start and stop4 ,and the winner is sure to be the man ,who labors day by day1 ,for the world has learned that the safest plan ,is to keep on pegging away4 ,sidenote3 ,self-respect1--that corner-stone of all virtues4--,,john ,,herschel4 ,you have read1 of course1 about the hare ,and the tortoise--the tale is old-- ,how they ran a race--it counts not where-- ,and the tortoise won1 we're told4 ,the hare was sure he had time to pause ,and to browse about and play1 ,so the tortoise won the race because ,he just kept pegging away4 ,a little toil and a little rest1 ,and a little more earned than spent1 ,is sure to bring to an honest breast ,a blessing of glad content4 ,and so1 though skies may frown or smile1 ,be diligent day by day2 ,reward shall greet you after while ,if you just keep pegging away4 ,sidenote3 ,this1 then1 is a proof of a well-trained mind1 to delight in what is good1 and to be annoyed at the opposite4--,,cicero4 ,the ,chinese tell of one of their countrymen1 a student1 who1 disheartened by the difficulties in his way1 threw down his book in despair1 when1 seeing a woman rubbing a crowbar on a stone1 he inquired the reason1 and was told that she wanted a needle1 and thought she would rub down the crowbar till she got it small enough4 ,provoked by this example of patience to try again1 he resumed his studies1 and became one of the foremost scholars of the empire4 ,sidenote3 ,there never was so much room for the best as there is to-day4--,,thayer4 ,after more than ten years of wandering through the unexplored depths of the primeval forests of ,america in the study of birds and animals1 ,audubon determined to publish the results of his painstaking energy4 ,he went to ,philadelphia with a portfolio of two hundred sheets1 filled with colored delineations of about one thousand birds1 drawn life-size4 ,being obliged to leave the city before making final arrangements as to their disposition1 he placed his drawings in the warehouse of a friend4 ,on his return in a few weeks he found to his utter dismay that the precious fruits of his wanderings had been utterly destroyed by rats4 ,the shock threw him into a fever of several weeks' duration1 but with returning health his native energy came back1 and taking up his gun and game-bag1 his pencils and drawing-book1 he went forward to the forests as gaily as if nothing had happened4 ,he set to work again1 pleased with the thought that he might now make better drawings than he had done before1 and in three years his portfolio was refilled4 ,sidenote3 ,a healthful hunger for a great idea is the beauty and blessedness of life4--,,jean ,,ingelow4 ,sidenote3 ,a laugh is worth a hundred groans in any market4--,,lamb4 ,sidenote3 ,there is no real life but cheerful life4--,,addison4 ,when ,carlyle had finished the first volume of his ,french ,revolution he lent the manuscript to a friend to read4 ,a maid1 finding what she supposed to be a bundle of waste paper on the parlor floor used it to light the kitchen fire4 ,without spending any time in uttering lamentations1 the author set to work and triumphantly reproduced the book in the form in which it now appears4 ,sidenote3 ,a man is rich in proportion to the things he can afford to let alone4--,,thoreau4 ,sidenote3 ,there is one thing in this world better than making a living1 and that is making a life4--,,russell4 ,how hard ,i worked at that tremendous shorthand1 and all improvement appertaining to it6 ,i will only add to what ,i have already written of perseverance at this time of my life1 and of a patient and continuous energy which then began to be matured within me1 and which ,i know to be the strong point of my character1 if it have any strength at all1 that there1 on looking back1 ,i find the source of my success4 ,such is ,charles ,dickens's testimony to the value of sticking to it4 ,sidenote3 ,a man must be one of two things2 either a reed shaken by the wind1 or a wind to shake the reeds4--,,handford4 ,one of the clever characters created by the pen of ,george ,horace ,lorimer says3 ,life isn't a spurt1 but a long1 steady climb4 ,you can't run far up hill without stopping to sit down4 ,some men do a day's work1 and then spend six lolling around admiring it4 ,they rush at a thing with a whoop and use up all their wind in that4 ,and when they've rested and got it back1 they whoop again and start off in a new direction4 ,sidenote3 ,there is nothing at all in life except what we put there4--,,madame ,,swetchine4 ,says the poet1 ,james ,whitcomb ,riley1 ,for twenty years ,i tried to get into one magazine2 back came my manuscripts eternally4 ,i kept on4 ,in the twentieth year that magazine accepted one of my articles4 ,sidenote3 ,he is1 in my opinion1 the noblest who has raised himself by his own merit to a higher station4--,,cicero4 ,the eminent essayist1 ,william ,mathews1 tells us3 ,the restless1 uneasy1 discontented spirit which sends a mechanic from the ,east to the ,south1 the ,rocky ,mountains1 or ,california1 renders continuous application anywhere irksome to him1 and so he goes wandering about the world1 a half-civilized ,arab1 getting the confidence of nobody1 and almost sure to die insolvent4 ,sidenote3 ,a page digested is better than a volume hurriedly read4--,,macaulay4 ,the boys who stick to it1 and the men who stick to it1 are the ones who achieve results4 ,it does not pay to scatter one's energies4 ,if a man cannot succeed at one thing he is even less likely to succeed at many things4 ,just here would be a good place1 ,i think1 to tell how ,johnny's father taught him ,,the ,,secret ,,of ,,success ,sidenote3 ,he that can have patience can have what he will4--,,franklin4 ,one day1 in huckleberry-time1 when little ,johnny ,wales ,and half-a-dozen other boys were starting with their pails ,to gather berries1 ,johnny's pa1 in talking with him1 said ,that he could tell him how to pick so he'd come out ahead4 ,first find your bush1 said ,johnny's pa1 and then stick to it till ,you've picked it clean4 ,let those go chasing all about who will ,in search of better bushes1 but it's picking tells1 my son2 ,to look at fifty bushes doesn't count like picking one4 ,sidenote3 ,thinking is the talking of the soul with itself4--,,plato4 ,sidenote3 ,a man who dares waste an hour of time has not discovered the value of time4--,,darwin4 ,and ,johnny did as he was told1 and1 sure enough1 he found ,by sticking to his bush while all the others chased around ,in search of better picking1 it was as his father said2 ,for while the others looked1 he worked1 and thus came out ahead4 ,and ,johnny recollected this when he became a man1 ,and first of all he laid him out a well-determined plan2 ,so1 while the brilliant triflers failed with all their brains and push1 ,wise1 steady-going ,johnny won by sticking to his bush4 ,illustration3 ,,whittier',s ,,birthplace ,,haverhill ,,mass4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,opportunity ,sidenote3 ,there is nothing impossible to him who will try4--,,alexander4 ,if you just get a chance8 ,oh1 certainly1 it would be unfair for us grown-ups to expect you1 a mere inexperienced youth1 to win without giving you a fair opportunity4 ,but what is a fair opportunity8 ,sidenote3 ,the winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators4--,,gibbon4 ,opinions regarding what is best for the making of a boy differ greatly4 ,some assert that a child born with a silver spoon in its mouth is not likely to breathe as deeply and develop as well as one that is born without any such hindrance to full respiration4 ,sidenote3 ,he that studieth revenge keepeth his own wounds green4--,,bacon4 ,kind parents1 a good home training1 a chance to go to school1 influential friends1 good health1 and some one to stand between you and the hard knocks of the world all serve to make a boy's surroundings truly enviable4 ,under such conditions any boy ought to win4 ,yet some boys have won without these advantages4 ,sidenote3 ,the two noblest things are sweetness and light4--,,swift4 ,sidenote3 ,the wise prove1 and the foolish confess1 by their conduct1 that a life of employment is the only life worth leading4--,,paley4 ,sidenote3 ,the world belongs to the energetic4--,,emerson4 ,sidenote3 ,he who hurts others injures himself2 he who helps others advances his own interests4--,,buddha4 ,sidenote3 ,he that sips of many arts drinks of none4--,,fuller4 ,sidenote3 ,there is a higher law than the constitution4--,,william ,h4 ,,seward4 ,abraham ,lincoln was born of very poor parents in a very crude cabin4 ,some years later the family passed through a long1 cold1 ,indiana winter with no shelter but a shed built of poles1 open on one side to the frosts and snows4 ,even when a cabin took the place of this rude camp it was left several years1 we are told1 without floor1 doors or windows4 ,his biographers inform us that here in the primeval forest ,abraham ,lincoln spent his boyhood4 ,his bed of leaves was raised from the ground by poles1 resting upon one side in the interstices of the logs of which the hut was built1 and upon the other in crotches of sticks driven into the earth4 ,the skins of animals afforded almost the only covering allowed this truly miserable family4 ,their food was of the simplest and coarsest variety and very scarce4 ,here ,mrs4 ,lincoln died when ,abraham was nine years old1 and her lifeless form was placed in a rude coffin which ,abraham's father made with his own hands4 ,the grave was dug in a cleared space in the forest and there ,nancy ,hanks ,lincoln was buried4 ,many months passed before it was practicable to secure a preacher who1 when he came1 gathered the family about him in the woods and spoke a few words over the mound of sod4 ,when fame had come1 ,mr4 ,lincoln used to say that he never attended school for more than six months in all his life--in no spirit of boastfulness1 however1 like many a self-made ,american1 but with a regret that was deeply felt4 ,while a boy he worked out his sums on the logs and clapboards of the little cabin1 evincing the fondness for mathematics that remained with him through life4 ,but even amid his dark isolation some light found its way to his slowly expanding mind4 ,he got hold of a copy of ,aesop's ,fables1 read ,robinson ,crusoe and borrowed ,weems's ,life of ,washington1 filling his mind with the story of that noble character4 ,one night after he had climbed up the pegs1 which served as a ladder to reach his cot1 which in the more finished condition of the cabin had been placed in the attic1 he hid the book under the rafters4 ,the rain which came in before morning soaked the leaves so that he was compelled to go to the farmer from whom he had borrowed the book and offer to make good the loss4 ,that unphilanthropic neighbor exacted as its price three days' work in the corn-field1 and at the end of that time the damaged volume came into the youthful ,abraham's absolute possession4 ,it was a long way from those rude surroundings to the presidential chair in the ,white ,house at ,washington1 but with malice toward none1 with charity for all1 with firmness in the right1 as ,god gives us to see the right1 he made the journey to the glory of himself and the ,american people4 ,sidenote3 ,he that has no cross will have no crown4--,,quarles4 ,what a fine demonstration of the power and efficacy of self-help6 ,it is quite enough to convince any boy that there is no difficulty he cannot overcome when once he has formed an invincible partnership between ,,myself ,,and ,i ,sidenote3 ,a strenuous soul hates a cheap success4--,,emerson4 ,myself and ,i close friends have been ,since 'way back where we started4 ,we two1 amid life's thick and thin1 ,have labored single-hearted4 ,in every season1 wet or dry1 ,or fair or stormy weather1 ,we've joined our hands1 myself and ,i1 ,and just worked on together4 ,sidenote3 ,all that is great in man comes through work1 and civilization is its product4--,,smiles4 ,though many friends have been as kind ,and loving as a brother1 ,myself and ,i have come to find ,our best friends in each other1 ,for while to us obscure and small ,may seem the tasks they bend to1 ,we've learned our fellow-men have all ,they and themselves can tend to4 ,sidenote3 ,ability and necessity dwell near each other4--,,pythagoras4 ,myself and ,i1 and we alone1 ,you and yourself1 good neighbor1 ,each in his self-determined zone ,must find his field of labor4 ,that prize which men have called success ,has joy nor pleasure in it ,to satisfy the soul unless ,myself and ,i shall win it4 ,sidenote3 ,the only amaranthine flower is virtue4--,,cowper4 ,dr4 ,arnold1 whose long experience with youth at ,rugby gave weight to his opinion1 declared that the difference between one boy and another consists not so much in talent as in energy4 ,the longer ,i live1 says ,sir ,thomas ,buxton1 another student of human character1 the more certain ,i am that the great difference between men1 between the great and the insignificant1 is energy1 invincible determination1 an honest purpose once fixed1 and then death or victory4 ,this quality will do anything in the world2 and no talents1 no circumstances1 will make a two-legged creature a man without it4 ,sidenote3 ,the secret of success is constancy to purpose4--,,beaconsfield4 ,says an old ,latin proverb3 ,opportunity has hair in front1 but is bald behind4 ,seize him by the forelock4 ,sidenote3 ,the only knowledge that a man has is the knowledge he can use4--,,macaulay4 ,sidenote3 ,what sculpture is to a block of marble1 education is to a human soul4--,,addison4 ,sidenote3 ,there is a sufficient recompense in the very consciousness of a noble deed4--,,cicero4 ,when ,thomas ,a4 ,edison went out into the world to make his way1 he had received only two months' regular schooling1 but his mother had early impressed upon his mind the thought that he must atone for his lack of school training by developing a taste for reading4 ,his biographers tell us that the ,penny ,encyclopedia and ,ure's ,history of the ,sciences were in his hands at a time when most boys1 having become acquainted with stories of adventure1 look for mystery in every bush and resolve to become pirates and ,indian fighters4 ,there are many stories of his early acuteness4 ,one relates how when a boy of twelve or fourteen he was employed in selling papers on a railroad train in ,michigan1 and upon receiving advance news of a battle of the ,rebellion fought at that time he secured fifteen hundred papers on credit1 telegraphed the headlines to the stations along the route1 and sold his wares at a premium4 ,it was after this exploit that he conceived the idea of starting a daily paper of his own4 ,securing some old type from the ,detroit ,free ,press1 he set up his establishment in a car and began the publication of the ,grand ,trunk ,herald1 the first newspaper ever published on a train4 ,he also installed in the car a laboratory for making experiments in chemistry1 and both his newspaper and his experiments flourished until one unlucky day when he set fire to the car with phosphorus4 ,this was too much for the conductor who promptly threw the young editor and scientist with all his belongings out on the station platform1 and in addition boxed his ears so roughly as to cause him to be ever after partly deaf4 ,but misfortune could not dampen his ardor4 ,his lack of schooling was more than atoned for by his grit1 ambition and studious habits4 ,with the possession of these qualities and the disposition to make the most of spare moments1 this famous physicist1 chemist1 mechanician1 and inventor has done more for himself1 and more for humanity and the advancement of civilization than any of the college-bred workers in industrial sciences during the last half-century4 ,sidenote3 ,the only failure a man ought to fear is failure in cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best4--,,george ,,eliot4 ,sidenote3 ,the secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes4--,,disraeli4 ,sidenote3 ,he needs no tears who lived a noble life4--,,fitz ,,james ,o',,brien4 ,yesterday's successes belong to yesterday with all of yesterday's defeats and sorrows1 says a present day philosopher4 ,the day is here6 ,the time is now6 ,,right ,,here ,,and ,,just ,,now ,sidenote3 ,i don't think much of a man who is not wiser to-day than he was yesterday4--,,abraham ,,lincoln4 ,if ,i'd 'a' been born1 says ,sy ,slocum to me1 ,in some other far-away clime1 ,or if ,i could 'a' had my existence1 says he1 ,in some other long-ago time1 ,i know ,i'd 'a' flourished in pretty fine style ,and set folks a-talkin'1 ,i 'low1 ,but what troubles me is there's nothin' worth while ,a-doin' right here and just now4 ,sidenote3 ,hurry not only spoils work1 but spoils life also4--,,lubbock4 ,them folks that can dwell in a country1 says ,sy1 ,where they don't have no winter nor storm1 ,and the weather ain't ready to freeze 'em or fry1 ,by gettin' too cold or too warm1 ,have got all the time that they want to sit down ,and think out a project so great ,that it's just about certain to win 'em renown ,and bring 'em success while they wait4 ,sidenote3 ,i cannot hear what you say for listening to what you are4--,,emerson4 ,says ,sy1 ,folks a-livin' here ages ago1 ,before all the chances had flown ,for makin' a hit1 wouldn't stand any show ,to-day at a-holdin' their own4 ,good times will come back to our planet1 ,i 'low1 ,when ,i've faded out of the scene2 ,but it hurts me to think that right here and just now ,is a sorry betwixt and between4 ,at that ,i got tired a-hearin' ,sy spout1 ,and says ,i1 ,sy1 you like to enthuse ,regardin' the marvelous work you'd turn out ,if you stood in some other man's shoes2 ,but while all your 'might-'a'-been' praises you sing1 ,it's worth while recallin' as how ,that no man on earth ever does the first thing ,that he can't do right here and just now6 ,sidenote3 ,honest labor wears a lovely face4--,,decker4 ,jean ,paul ,richter1 who suffered greatly from poverty1 said that he would not have been rich for worlds4 ,i began life with a sixpence1 said ,girard1 and believe that a man's best capital is his industry4 ,sidenote3 ,i am a part of all that ,i have seen4--,,tennyson4 ,thomas ,ball1 the sculptor1 whose fine statues ornament the parks and squares of ,boston1 used as a lad to sweep out the halls of the ,boston ,museum4 ,horace ,greeley1 journalist and orator1 was the son of a poor ,new ,hampshire farmer and for years earned his living by typesetting4 ,thorwaldsen1 the great ,danish sculptor1 was the son of humble ,icelandic fisher-folk1 but by study and perseverance he became one of the greatest of modern sculptors4 ,in the ,copenhagen museum alone are six hundred examples of his art4 ,sidenote3 ,if it is not right1 do not do it2 if it is not true1 do not say it4--,,marcus ,,aurelius4 ,benjamin ,franklin1 philosopher and statesman1 was the son of a tallow-chandler1 and was the fifteenth child in a family of seventeen children4 ,this would seem to go far toward proving that it is no misfortune to be born into a home of many brothers and sisters4 ,lord ,tennyson1 too1 was the third child in a family of eleven children1 all born within a period of thirteen years4 ,they formed a joyous1 lively household1 amusements being agreeably mingled with their daily tasks4 ,they were all handsome and gifted1 with marked personal traits and imaginative temperaments4 ,they were very fond of reading and story-telling4 ,at least four of the boys--,frederick1 ,charles1 ,alfred1 and ,edward--were given to verse-writing4 ,sidenote3 ,a thing is never too often repeated which is never sufficiently learned4--,,seneca4 ,sidenote3 ,any man may commit a mistake1 but none but a fool will continue in it4--,,cicero4 ,john ,bunyan1 author of ,pilgrim's ,progress1 which is said to have obtained a larger circulation than any other book in ,english except the ,bible1 was a tinker4 ,linnaeus1 the great ,swedish botanist1 and most influential naturalist of the eighteenth century1 was a shoemaker's apprentice4 ,sidenote3 ,as a matter of fact1 a man's first duty is to mind his own business4--,,lorimer4 ,george ,stephenson1 the ,english engineer and inventor1 was in his youth a stoker in a colliery1 learning to read and write at a workingmen's evening school4 ,sir ,richard ,arkwright1 inventor of the spinning-jenny1 and founder of the great cotton industries of ,england1 never saw the inside of a school-house until after he was twenty years of age1 having long served as a barber's assistant4 ,sidenote3 ,books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time4--,,whipple4 ,john ,jacob ,astor began life as a peddler in the streets of ,new ,york1 where his descendants now own real estate worth hundreds of millions4 ,sidenote3 ,civility costs nothing and buys everything4--,,lady ,,montague4 ,shakespeare in his youth was a wool-carder4 ,sidenote3 ,cheerful looks make every dish a feast4--,,massinger4 ,thousands of other examples might be mentioned to show that lowly birth is no barrier to lofty attainment4 ,it has been truly said that genius ignores all social barriers and springs forth wherever heaven has dropped the seed4 ,the grandest characters known in art1 literature1 and the useful inventions1 have illustrated the axiom that brave deeds are the ancestors of brave men1 and1 as ,ballou has told us1 it would almost appear that an element of hardship is necessary to the effective development of true genius4 ,indeed1 when we come to the highest achievements of the greatest minds1 it seems that they were not limited by race1 condition of life1 or the circumstances of their age4 ,sidenote3 ,character1 good or bad1 has a tendency to perpetuate itself4--,,hodge4 ,so we see that it is something within the boy rather than conditions about him that is to determine what he is to become4 ,a boy with a good mind with which to think and a determination to do1 is pretty sure of doing something worth while4 ,the whole world knows that so much depends on whether or not the boy cultivates a determination to ,,keep ,a-,,trying ,sidenote3 ,do not hang a dismal picture on your wall1 and do not deal with sables and glooms in your conversations4--,,emerson4 ,say ,i will6 and then stick to it-- ,that's the only way to do it4 ,don't build up a while and then ,tear the whole thing down again4 ,fix the goal you wish to gain1 ,then go at it heart and brain1 ,and1 though clouds shut out the blue1 ,do not dim your purpose true ,with your sighing4 ,stand erect1 and1 like a man1 ,know ,they can who think they can6 ,keep a-trying4 ,sidenote3 ,pray for a short memory as to all unkindnesses--,,spurgeon4 ,sidenote3 ,do to-day thy nearest duty4--,,goethe4 ,had ,columbus1 half seas o'er1 ,turned back to his native shore1 ,men would not1 to-day1 proclaim ,round the world his deathless name4 ,so must we sail on with him ,past horizons far and dim1 ,till at last we own the prize ,that belongs to him who tries ,with faith undying2 ,own the prize that all may win ,who1 with hope1 through thick and thin ,keep a-trying4 ,illustration3 ,,watt ,,discovering ,,the ,,condensation ,,of ,,steam ,,chapter ,,iv ,,over ,,and ,,underdoing ,sidenote3 ,if you will not hear reason1 she will surely rap your knuckles4--,,franklin4 ,learn to do1 without overdoing4 ,too much striving for success is as bad as too little4 ,bishop ,hall says3 ,moderation is the silken string running through the pearl chain of all virtues4 ,sidenote3 ,the only true conquests--those which awaken no regrets--are those obtained over our ignorance4--,,napoleon4 ,you have too much respect upon the world1 ,shakespeare tells us4 ,they lose it that do buy it with much care4 ,do not cram books into your head until you crowd pleasant thinking out of it4 ,a moderately informed man standing firmly on his two good legs is a much superior man to the wise professor who is unable to leave his bed4 ,sidenote3 ,the occasion is piled high with difficulty1 and we must rise high with the occasion4--,,abraham ,,lincoln4 ,what is a man profited1 if he shall gain the whole world1 and lose his own soul8 ,and what does it profit him if he shall become a multi-millionaire and lose his health of mind or body8 ,success that costs more than it is worth is failure4 ,sidenote3 ,if you want to be missed by your friends1 be useful4--,,robert ,e4 ,,lee4 ,make haste slowly4 ,be ambitious but not foolish4 ,learn a few things and learn them well4 ,he who grasps much holds little4 ,upon investigating the fund of information possessed by a great many young persons it has been found that the matter with it is the smatter4 ,herbert ,spencer says the brains of precocious children cease to develop after a certain age1 like a plant that fails to flower4 ,sidenote3 ,the man of grit carries in his presence a power which spares him the necessity of resenting insult4--,,whipple4 ,those unhappy children who are forced to rise too early in their classes are conceited all the forenoon of their lives and stupid all the afternoon1 says ,professor ,huxley4 ,the keenness and vitality which should have been stored up for the sharp struggle of practical existence have been washed out of them by precocious mental debauchery1 by book-gluttony and lesson-bibbing4 ,their faculties are worn out by the strain put upon their callow brains1 and they are demoralized by worthless1 childish triumphs before the real tasks of life begin4 ,sidenote3 ,if you would create something you must be something4--,,goethe4 ,carlyle's words upon this subject are worth remembering3 ,the richer a nature1 the harder and slower its development4 ,two boys were once members of a class in the ,edinburgh ,grammar ,school3 ,john1 ever trim1 precise1 and a dux2 ,walter1 ever slovenly1 confused1 and a dolt4 ,in due time ,john became ,baillie ,john1 of ,hunter ,square1 and ,walter became ,sir ,walter ,scott1 of the universe4 ,the quickest and completest of all vegetables is the cabbage4 ,sidenote3 ,manners must adorn knowledge and smooth its way through the world4--,,chesterfield4 ,sidenote3 ,many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties4--,,spurgeon4 ,we all know that there is a happy medium between too much preciseness and slovenliness2 between laziness and an unwarranted degree of mental activity2 between ignorance and an intellect ground to an edge too fine to carve its way through a hard world4 ,sidenote3 ,the least error should humble1 but we should never permit even the greatest to discourage us4--,,bishop ,,potter4 ,it is now generally conceded on all hands1 says ,professor ,mathews1 that the mind has no right to build itself up at the expense of the body2 that it is no more justifiable in abandoning itself without restraint to its cravings1 than the body in yielding itself to sensual indulgence4 ,the acute stimulants1 the mental drams1 that produce this unnatural activity or overgrowth of the intellect1 are as contrary to nature1 and as hurtful to the man1 as the coarser stimulants that unduly excite the body4 ,the mind1 it has been well said1 should be a good1 strong1 healthy feeder1 but not a glutton4 ,when unduly stimulated1 it wears out the mechanism of the body1 like friction upon a machine not lubricated1 and the growing weakness of the physical frame nullifies the power it incloses4 ,sidenote3 ,the most manifest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness4--,,montaigne4 ,the foundations for a splendid working constitution are laid during boyhood4 ,you are laying yours now4 ,sidenote3 ,men are born with two eyes1 but with one tongue1 in order that they may see twice as much as they say4--,,colton4 ,is it to be a good1 firm1 durable foundation that will stand through all the years to come8 ,or is it being built of faulty material and in a manner so careless that in the by and by when1 at great pains and expense you have built your life structure upon it1 you will find it untenable or so unstable that it will require a great share of your time and attention to keep it patched up so that you can continue to dwell within it8 ,sidenote3 ,the important thing in life is to have a great aim1 and to possess the aptitude and perseverance to attain it4--,,goethe4 ,are you playing and working with moderation or are you so thoughtless that you sometimes1 in a single hour1 inflict wrongs upon your health and your constitution1 the sorry effects of which you cannot overcome during your lifetime8 ,it may be possible that you are studying too hard at school4 ,sidenote3 ,method is the hinge of business1 and there is no method without order and punctuality4--,,hannah ,,more4 ,i know that there are many who will smile at the suggestion that the average ,american schoolboy sticks too closely to his books1 but ,i am sure that such is frequently the case4 ,sidenote3 ,the greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it4--,,emerson4 ,sometimes the boy's parents and teachers are eager to have their boy show off to the best advantage possible4 ,they urge him1 crowd him1 compel him to develop as rapidly as he can4 ,in their eagerness to secure results they employ the formulas that require the least possible time for completing the important task of ,,making ,a ,,man ,sidenote3 ,the elect are those who will1 and the non-elect are those who won't4--,,beecher4 ,hurry the baby as fast as you can1 ,hurry him1 worry him1 make him a man4 ,off with his baby-clothes1 get him in pants1 ,feed him on brain-foods and make him advance4 ,hustle him1 soon as he's able to walk1 ,into a grammar school2 cram him with talk4 ,fill his poor head full of figures and facts1 ,keep on a-jamming them in till it cracks4 ,once boys grew up at a rational rate1 ,now we develop a man while you wait4 ,rush him through college1 compel him to grab ,of every known subject a dip and a dab4 ,get him in business and after the cash ,all by the time he can grow a mustache4 ,let him forget he was ever a boy1 ,make gold his god and its jingle his joy4 ,keep him a-hustling and clear out of breath1 ,until he wins--,nervous ,prostration and ,death6 ,sidenote3 ,much talent is often lost for want of a little courage4--,,george ,,eliot4 ,a sorry picture1 isn't it8 ,no doubt it sets forth1 in an extreme manner1 the evils that arise from crowding a child into boyhood1 and a boy into manhood2 still1 no one who observes carefully will doubt that such wrongs are constantly being committed by hundreds of ambitious parents and well-meaning teachers4 ,sidenote3 ,the crowning fortune of a man is to be born with a bias to some pursuit1 which finds him in employment and happiness4--,,emerson4 ,yet1 ,i think you have little to fear along the lines of over-study4 ,you must train your mind to grapple with tasks while you are young1 for if you do not begin now you may not1 later on1 be able to summon that concentration of thought that is necessary for winning success along any line of endeavor4 ,difficulties are the best stimulant4 ,trouble is a tonic1 says one of our wise essayists4 ,sidenote3 ,no one is useless in the world who lightens the burden of it for any one else4--,,charles ,,dickens4 ,he that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves1 and sharpens our skill1 our antagonist is our helper1 says ,edmund ,burke4 ,this conflict with difficulty makes us acquainted with our object1 and compels us to consider it in all its relations4 ,it will not suffer us to be superficial4 ,sidenote3 ,the fewer the words the better the prayer4--,,luther4 ,life is a grind2 a sorry few ,are blunted in their aim1 ,and some are sharpened1 keen and true1 ,and carve their way to fame4 ,don't take too much advice--keep at the helm and steer your own ship1 says ,noah ,porter4 ,all of which is very good advice4 ,sidenote3 ,next to excellence is the appreciation of it4--,,thackeray4 ,the boy that the world wants most is the one who will think for himself at the same time he is hearing words of wisdom from others4 ,a boy who tried to follow all the advice given him would probably find himself unable to do anything at all4 ,everyone and everything seems eager to give him the short cut to fortune1 as ,i have endeavored to set forth in a bit of nonsense rhyme which ,i call the secret of ,,how ,,to ,,win ,,success ,sidenote3 ,the great are only great because we are on our knees2 let us rise up4--,,proudhon4 ,how shall ,i win success in life8 the young man asked1 whereat3 ,have push1 replied the ,button2 ,and a purr-puss said the ,cat4 ,find out the work you're sooted for1 the ,chimney-,sweeper said1 ,just as the ,match and ,pin remarked3 ,and never lose your head4 ,aspire to grater1 finer things1 the ,nutmeg cried4 ,the ,hoe ,said3 ,don't fly off the handle1 and the ,snail remarked3 ,go slow4 ,be deaf to all that's told you1 said the ,adder4 ',mid the strife ,i've found it best1 remarked the ,heart1 to beat my way through life4 ,sidenote3 ,next to acquiring good friends1 the best acquisition is that of good books4--,,colton4 ,select some proper task and then stick to it1 said the ,glue4 ,look pleasant1 said the ,camera2 ,and tied-y1 said the ,shoe4 ,have nerve6 exclaimed the ,tooth4 ,the ,hill remarked2 ,put up a bluff6 ,and keep cool1 said the ,ice1 whereat the young man cried3 ,enough6 ,sidenote3 ,never suffer youth to be an excuse for inadequacy1 nor age and fame to be an excuse for indolence4--,,haydon4 ,the right-minded boy will be thoughtful but not so much absorbed that he is unable to take in the educative1 uplifting sunshine all about him4 ,sidenote3 ,the greatest man is he who chooses with the most invincible reason4--,,seneca4 ,sharpen your wits as the woodman must sharpen his axe1 but counsel moderation4 ,the woodman who would stay at the stone and grind his axe all away in attempting to put a razor edge on it would be deemed very foolish4 ,sidenote3 ,self-conquest is the greatest of all victories4--,,plato4 ,of course you will be1 you must be thoughtful1 for as ,ruskin says3 ,in general ,i have no patience with people who talk about 'the thoughtlessness of youth' indulgently4 ,i had infinitely rather hear of the thoughtlessness of old age1 and the indulgence of that4 ,when a man has done his work1 and nothing can in any way be materially altered in his fate1 let him forget his toil1 and jest with his fate1 if he will1 but what excuse can you find for wilfulness of thought at the very time when every crisis of fortune hangs on your decision8 ,a youth thoughtless1 when all the happiness of his home forever depends on the chances or the passions of an hour6 ,a youth thoughtless1 when the career of all his days depends on the opportunity of a moment6 ,a youth thoughtless1 when his every action is a foundation-stone of future conduct1 and every imagination a fountain of life or death6 ,be thoughtless in any after years1 rather than now1 though1 indeed1 there is only one place where a man may be nobly thoughtless1 his death-bed4 ,nothing should ever be left to be done there4 ,sidenote3 ,sloth1 like rust1 consumes faster than labor wears1 while the used key is always bright4--,,franklin4 ,sidenote3 ,my liveliest delight was in having conquered myself4-,,rousseau4 ,but whatever else we may forget1 let us remember that it is not work1 but overwork that kills4 ,exercise gained through good1 wholesome work is the greatest life-preserver man has yet discovered4 ,sidenote3 ,the great hope of society is in the individual character4--,,channing4 ,i always find something to keep me busy1 said ,peter ,cooper in explaining how he had preserved so well his strength of mind and body1 and to be doing something is the best medicine one can take4 ,sidenote3 ,no thoroughly occupied man was ever yet very miserable4--,,landor4 ,the ones who live the longest and best lives are the cheerful workers1 those who find a good excuse for liking the task that comes to their hands4 ,the greatest joy and the truest success do not come to the idler1 nor the one who overworks1 nor yet to the one who does things by fits and starts1 but to ,,the ,,steady ,,worker ,sidenote3 ,the habit of looking on the bright side of things is worth more than a thousand pounds a year4--,,samuel ,,johnson4 ,whene'er the sun was shining out1 ,squire ,pettigrew would say1 ,now1 hurrah1 boys6 it's just the time to be a-making hay1 ,because1 you see1 the sun's so hot 'twill cure it right away6 ,then all the mowers kept right on a-mowing4 ,but when a cloud obscured the sun ,squire ,pettigrew would shout1 ,oh1 now's the time for working while the sun is blotted out1 ,a cooling cloud like that will make our muscles twice as stout6 ,and that's the way he kept his men a-going4 ,sidenote3 ,nothing of worth or weight can be achieved with a half mind1 with a faint heart1 and with a lame endeavor4--,,barrow4 ,hence1 little did it matter were the weather wet or dry1-- ,if sunshine filled the valleys or if clouds o'erspread the sky1 ,he'd always think of something which he deemed a reason why ',twas just the time for him to keep a-working4 ,sidenote3 ,the strong man is the man with the gift of method1 of faithfulness1 of valor4--,,carlyle4 ,but1 now and then1 or so it seemed1 the reasons he would seek ,for working on1 were quite far-fetched and faulty1 so to speak1 ,but1 oh1 they were not half so thin as are the many weak ,excuses lazy people give for shirking4 ,illustration3 ,,longfellow',s ,,birthplace ,,portland ,,me4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,spare ,,moments ,sidenote3 ,not only strike while the iron is hot1 but make it hot by striking4--,,cromwell4 ,if ,i had the time6 ,yes1 indeed6 ,time is a very necessary factor in the doing of things4 ,time is money4 ,money is capital4 ,capital is power4 ,the one who is in the possession of the most power and uses it to the best purpose has the best chance for winning success4 ,sidenote3 ,the greatest work has always gone hand in hand with the most fervent moral purpose4--,,sidney ,,lanier4 ,other things being equal1 the boy who devotes an extra half-hour every morning or evening to the study of the forthcoming day's lessons will get on better than his classmates who do not thus mentally fortify themselves4 ,sidenote3 ,no true and permanent fame can be founded except in labors which promote the happiness of mankind4--,,sumner4 ,so in the world's big life-school1 the man who finds time to think about and to study the tasks and duties that confront him will make a better showing than the ones who thoughtlessly and in an unprepared manner blunder into the work that is before them4 ,if ,i had the time6 ,sidenote3 ,the greatest men have been those who have cut their way to success through difficulties4--,,robertson4 ,that is the sorry cry coming from the lips of thousands of unhappy persons of all classes and ages4 ,but the saddest feature of it all is1 that they have the time and do not know it4 ,or1 if they do know it1 they still go on trying to deceive themselves and others by repeating the same old1 threadbare excuse the world has always offered as the reason why it has not made the progress it should have done4 ,sidenote3 ,one has only to know the twenty-six letters of the alphabet in order to learn everything else that one wishes4--,,duke ,,of ,,argyle4 ,now1 my boy1 stop a moment and honestly think it over4 ,haven't you the time8 ,isn't it the disposition to make the most of your opportunities that is lacking8 ,how much time did you waste yesterday8 ,how much time are you going to waste to-day8 ,sidenote3 ,strength is like gunpowder2 to be effective it needs concentration and aim4--,,mathews4 ,let us not lose sight of the sorry fact that in wasting an hour we suffer a double loss and commit a double wrong4 ,we not only lose that particular hour1 but we are suffering a moral weakness to impair the strength of our life purpose1 which will result in making us more likely to waste other golden hours yet to come4 ,and what is a wasted hour8 ,this is a question well worth considering4 ,moments spent in bright1 healthful1 joyous play are not wasted4 ,all work and no play makes ,jack a dull boy4 ,it should be remembered1 also1 that ,all play and no work makes ,jack a dull shirk4 ,sidenote3 ,success treads on the heels of every right effort4--,,smiles4 ,we should play with the same keen zest with which we should work4 ,we must not work all the while2 we must not play all the while4 ,good1 vigorous play prepares one for the enjoyment of work2 good1 vigorous work prepares one for the enjoyment of play4 ,those who dawdle in a listless1 half-and-half way find no joy in working or playing4 ,sidenote3 ,the creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn4--,,emerson4 ,it is an error to think that play cannot be made to serve a good and useful purpose4 ,give one boy a knife and a stick and he will produce only a lot of shavings as the result of his whittling4 ,give another boy a knife and a stick and he will carve out some object or invention of use and beauty4 ,give one man leisure and he will produce nothing or worse than nothing to show for his wasted hours4 ,give another man leisure and he will master some trade or profession or theme of study that will make him of happy worth to himself and the world4 ,sidenote3 ,that is the best government which teaches us to govern ourselves4--,,goethe4 ,it is not the lack of time1 but the lack of the will to improve our spare moments1 that keeps us from going toward success4 ,we mean to do great things some time1 but we haven't the will to begin to build just now4 ,we prefer to belong to that great host of procrastinators who are known as ,,the ,,going-,,to-,,bees ,sidenote3 ,the chains of habit are too weak to be felt till they are too strong to be broken4--,,dr4 ,,johnson4 ,suppose that some fine morn in ,may ,a honey-bee should pause and say1 ,i guess ,i will not work to-day1 ,but next week or next summer1 ,or some time in the by and by1 ,i'll be so diligent and spry ,that all the world must see that ,i ,am what they call a 'hummer'6 ,sidenote3 ,wise evolution is the sure safeguard against a revolution4--,,roosevelt ,of course you'd wish to say at once1 ,o bee6 don't be a little dunce1 ,and waste your golden days and months ,in lazily reviewing ,the things you're 'going' to do1 and how ,your hive with honey you'll endow1 ,but bear in mind1 ,o bee1 that ,,now ,is just the time for 'doing4' ,sidenote3 ,the more honesty a man has1 the less he affects the air of a saint4--,,lavater4 ,suppose a youth with idle hands ,should tell you all the splendid plans ,of which he dreams1 the while the sands ,of life are flowing1 flowing4 ,you'd wish to say to him1 ,o boy6 ,if you would reap your share of joy1 ,you must discerningly employ ,your morning hours in sowing4 ,sidenote3 ,god sows the self-same truth in every heart4--,,alicia ,k4 ,,van ,,buren4 ,he who would win must work6 ,the prize ,is for the faithful one who tries ,with loyal hand and heart2 whose skies ,with toil-crowned hopes are sunny4 ,and they who hope success to find ,this homely truth must bear in mind3 ,the 'going-to-bees' are not the kind ,that fill the hive with honey4 ,sidenote3 ,are you a shepherd1 or one of the herded8--,,edmund ,,vance ,,cooke4 ,lost1 yesterday1 somewhere between sunrise and sunset1 two golden hours1 each set with sixty diamond minutes4 ,no reward is offered1 for they are gone forever4 ,how clearly these words of ,horace ,mann set forth the experience of thousands of persons1 day by day4 ,sidenote3 ,there is a destiny that makes us brothers4--,,edwin ,,markham4 ,channing tells us1 it is astonishing how fruitful of improvement a short season becomes when eagerly and faithfully improved4 ,volumes have not only been read1 but written1 in flying journeys4 ,i have known a man of vigorous intellect1 who has enjoyed few advantages of early education1 and whose mind was almost engrossed by the details of an extensive business1 but who composed a book of much original thought1 in steamboats and on horseback1 while visiting distant customers4 ,sidenote3 ,if thou art a man1 admire those who attempt great enterprises1 even though they fail4--,,seneca4 ,the thought recorded by ,jeremy ,taylor is well worth remembering1 that he who is choice of his time will also be choice of his company1 and choice of his actions2 lest the first engage him in vanity and loss1 and the latter1 by being criminal1 be throwing his time and himself away1 and going back in the accounts of eternity4 ,sidenote3 ,no one is free who is not master of himself4--,,shakespeare4 ,the plea1 ,if ,i had the time1 is well met by ,matthew ,arnold1 who says3 ,and the plea that this or that man has no time for culture will vanish as soon as we desire culture so much that we begin to examine seriously into our present use of time4 ,sidenote3 ,a thought may touch and edge our life with light4--,,trowbridge4 ,oh1 what wonders have been performed in 'one hour a day1' says ,marden4 ,one hour a day withdrawn from frivolous pursuits1 and profitably employed1 would enable any man of ordinary capacity to master a complete science4 ,one hour a day would make an ignorant man a well-informed man in ten years4 ,one hour a day would earn enough to pay for two daily and two weekly papers1 two leading magazines1 and a dozen good books4 ,in an hour a day a boy or girl could read twenty pages thoughtfully--over seven thousand pages1 or eighteen large volumes1 in a year4 ,an hour a day might make all the difference between bare existence and useful1 happy living4 ,an hour a day might make--nay1 has made--an unknown man a famous one1 a useless man a benefactor to his race4 ,consider1 then1 the mighty possibilities of two--four--yes1 six hours a day that are1 on the average1 thrown away by young men and women in the restless desire for fun and diversion4 ,sidenote3 ,nothing is too high for a man to reach1 but he must climb with care and confidence4--,,hans ,,andersen4 ,sidenote3 ,men exist for the sake of one another4 ,teach them1 then1 or bear with them4--,,marcus ,,aurelius4 ,sidenote3 ,do good with what thou hast1 or it will do thee no good4--,,william ,,penn4 ,there is little excuse for continued ignorance these times4 ,if one's time is spent at a point remote from institutions of learning1 or his days are so occupied that he cannot avail himself of their advantages1 he can be a pupil in an ably conducted correspondence school1 that most worthy of educational means whereby the youth in the isolated rural home1 the shut-ins who by force of circumstances are prisoned within narrow walls1 the night-watchman whose leisure comes at a time when all other schools are closed1 the seeker after knowledge of any kind1 at any time and at any place reached by the great governmental postal system1 can be brought into close touch with a great fountain of learning and inspiration of which one may absorb all he will4 ,from this time forth it will ill become any man to say that he has no chance to acquire an education1 or that he has no opportunity to improve upon the mental equipment he already possesses4 ,instruction is within the reach of all4 ,the schoolmaster is abroad as he has never been before4 ,wherever the postman can deliver a letter1 in cottage or mansion1 in the closely packed tenements of the city or in the remote farm homes reached by the rural free delivery routes1 there the trained college professor makes his daily or weekly visits1 giving his heart to heart talks with each of his thousands of pupils4 ,he is with the boys as they follow the plow1 the men who go down into the mines1 the girls who serve at the loom and the lathe1 pointing out the way that leads1 through self-help1 to happiness4 ,sidenote3 ,one great cause of failure of young men in business is the lack of concentration4--,,carnegie4 ,sidenote3 ,better say nothing than not to the purpose4--,,william ,,penn4 ,sidenote3 ,diligence is the mother of good luck4--,,franklin4 ,it is more true to-day than ever before1 that they can who think they can4 ,the means are more nearly at hand if one is determined to try them4 ,nothing but the spirit of procrastination can keep man or boy from setting about it to help himself toward better things4 ,when to begin is the stumbling-block in the way of most persons4 ,there is but one time when we can do anything4 ,that time is ,,now6 ,to delay a year1 a week1 a day may prove most unfortunate4 ,indeed1 trouble lies in the way of those who are disposed to defer the doing of their duty for even ,,just ,a ,,minute ,sidenote3 ,one to-day is worth two to-morrows4--,,franklin4 ,whene'er he faced a task and knew ,he should begin it1 ,he could not start to put it through ,for just a minute4 ,and1 though the case demanded speed ,he could not move just then2 but he'd ,be ready for it1 yes1 indeed6 ,in just a minute4 ,sidenote3 ,my young friend1 do you know that there is but one person who can recommend you8 ,who is that1 sir8 ,yourself4--,,emerson4 ,his purposes were out of rhyme ,by just a minute4 ,the whole world seemed ahead of time ,by just a minute4 ,he could not learn to overhaul ,his many duties1 large and small1 ,but had to beg them1 one and all1 ,to wait a minute4 ,sidenote3 ,think before you speak4--,,washington4 ,in manhood he was still delayed ,by just a minute4 ,he might have won1 had ,fortune stayed ,for just a minute4 ,but at the end of life he railed ,at cruel ,fate1 and wept and wailed ,because he knew that he had failed ,by just a minute4 ,sidenote3 ,there are people who do not know how to waste their time alone1 and hence become the scourge of busy people4--,,de ,,bonald4 ,sidenote3 ,it is better to be alone than in bad company4--,,washington4 ,sidenote3 ,gold is good in its place2 but living1 brave1 and patriotic men are better than gold4--,,abraham ,,lincoln4 ,if we make a careful study of the lives of the world's great men and women1 we shall find that their distinction was achieved by making the most of their spare minutes4 ,the ordinary1 commonplace1 and inevitable tasks of life and the effort required to make a living are remarkably similar in the daily experience of most men and women4 ,it is what one does with the remaining leisure moments that determines his individual taste and trend1 and eventually gives him such distinction as he may attain4 ,it is in our leisure hours that we are permitted to follow our hobbies1 and it is in them that our truer selves find expression4 ,many of the greatest men in the world's history achieved their fame outside of their regular occupations in the spare moments of time which most people think are of no serious use4 ,marden wisely observes that no one is anxious about a young man while he is busy in useful work4 ,but where does he eat his lunch at noon8 ,where does he go when he leaves his boarding-house at night8 ,what does he do after supper8 ,where does he spend his ,sundays and holidays8 ,the great majority of youth who go to the bad are ruined after supper4 ,most of them who climb upward to honor and fame devote their evenings to study or work or the society of the wise and good4 ,for the right use of these leisure hours1 what we have called the waste of life1 the odd moments usually thrown away1 the author would plead with every youth4 ,sidenote3 ,politeness and civility are the best capital ever invested in business4--,p4 ,t4 ,,barnum4 ,sidenote3 ,let none falter who thinks he is right4--,,abraham ,,lincoln4 ,sidenote3 ,the truest test of civilization is not the census1 not the size of cities1 not the crops2 no1 but the kind of man the country turns out4--,,emerson4 ,watt learned chemistry and mathematics while working at his trade of a mathematical-instrument maker4 ,darwin composed most of his works by writing his thoughts on scraps of paper wherever he chanced to be4 ,henry ,kirke ,white learned ,greek while walking to and from a lawyer's office4 ,elihu ,burritt acquired a mastery of eighteen languages and twenty-two dialects by improving the fragments of time which he could steal from his occupation as a blacksmith4 ,hundreds of similar examples could be given in which men have achieved distinction by improving the odd moments which others waste4 ,sidenote3 ,inherited wealth is an unmitigated curse when divorced from culture4--,,charles ,,william ,,eliot4 ,and you1 oh1 my boy6 when you have reached the age where the world has a right to expect that you will begin to prepare yourself for the work that is before you1 lay hold1 ,i beseech you1 of these spare moments1 and weld them into a beautiful purpose that shall make your life a joy to yourself and to all who shall come within the zone of your influence4 ,do not fail to improve the moments because they are so few4 ,the fewer there are the more the need of improving them4 ,do not procrastinate1 do not put off1 do not defer the work of self-improvement till a more favorable time4 ,know that with the coming of every opportunity you have a duty to perform4 ,that you must help yourself whenever you can1 and that you must ,,do ,,it ,,now6 ,sidenote3 ,the wisdom of nations lies in their proverbs1 which are brief and pithy4 ,collect and learn them2 they are notable measures and directions for human life2 you have much in little2 they save time in speaking1 and upon occasion may be the fullest and safest answers4--,,william ,,penn4 ,if you have a task worth doing1 ,do it now6 ,in delay there's danger brewing1 ,do it now6 ,don't you be a by-and-byer ,and a sluggish patience-trier2 ,if there's aught you would acquire1 ,do it now6 ,sidenote3 ,experience keeps a dear school1 but fools will learn in no other4--,,franklin4 ,if you'd earn a prize worth owning1 ,do it now6 ,drop all waiting and postponing1 ,do it now6 ,say1 ,i will6 and then stick to it1 ,choose your purpose and pursue it1 ,there's but one right way to do it1 ,do it now6 ,sidenote3 ,don't flinch1 flounder1 fall over1 nor fiddle1 but grapple like a man4 ,a man who wills it can go anywhere1 and do what he determines to do4--,,john ,,todd4 ,sidenote3 ,do all the good you can1 and make as little fuss as possible about it4--,,dickens4 ,all we have is just this minute1 ,do it now6 ,find your duty and begin it1 ,do it now6 ,surely you're not always going ,to be a going-to-be2 and knowing ,you must some time make a showing ,do it now6 ,illustration3 ,,garfield ,,as ,a ,,canal ,,boy ,,chapter ,,vi ,,cheerfulness ,sidenote3 ,joy is not in things1 it is in us4--,,wagner4 ,let us suppose that you must go into partnership for life with some other boy1 as the world is about to go into partnership with you1 would you not wish him to have1 first of all1 a cheerful disposition8 ,sidenote3 ,money is good for nothing unless you know the value of it by experience4--,p4 ,t4 ,,barnum4 ,has it ever occurred to you that the world entertains the same thought regarding yourself8 ,it is easy to understand why a partnership1 the members of which pleasantly pull together1 is more likely to thrive than is one wherein they are always complaining of each other and sadly prophesying failure4 ,the world1 as your partner1 will be toward you what you are toward it4 ,sidenote3 ,the day is immeasurably long to him who knows not how to value and use it4--,,goethe4 ,smile1 once in a while1 ',twill make your heart seem lighter2 ,smile1 once in a while1 ',twill make your pathway brighter2 ,life's a mirror2 if we smile1 ,smiles come back to greet us2 ,if we're frowning all the while1 ,frowns forever meet us4 ,sidenote3 ,it is a maxim with me not to ask what1 under similar circumstances1 ,i would not grant4--,,washington4 ,sidenote3 ,next to virtues1 the fun in this world is what we can least spare4--,,strickland4 ,as you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you admit the air and sunshine freely into your rooms1 says ,james ,allen1 so a strong body and a bright1 happy1 or serene countenance can result only from the free admittance into the mind of thoughts of joy and good will and serenity4 ,there is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills of the body2 there is no comforter to compare with good will for dispersing the shadows of grief and sorrow4 ,to live continually in thoughts of ill will1 cynicism1 suspicion and envy1 is to be confined in a self-made prison-hole4 ,but to think well of all1 to be cheerful with all1 to patiently learn to find the good in all--such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven2 and to dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peace to the possessor of such thoughts4 ,sidenote3 ,i resolved that1 like the sun1 so long as my day lasted1 ,i would look on the bright side of everything4--,,thomas ,,hood4 ,says ,robert ,louis ,stevenson3 ,a happy man or woman is a better thing to find than a five-pound note4 ,he or she is radiating a focus of good will2 and his or her entrance into a room is as though another candle had been lighted4 ,sidenote3 ,ideas go booming through the world louder than cannon4 ,thoughts are mightier than armies4 ,principles have achieved more victories than horsemen or chariots4--,,paxton4 ,it is a fair1 even-handed1 noble adjustment of things1 that while there is infection in disease and sorrow1 there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor1 says ,dickens4 ,give but a smile to sorry men1 ,they'll give it1 bettered1 back again4 ,sidenote3 ,method is like packing things in a box2 a good packer will get in half as much again as a bad one4--,,cecil4 ,bovee very truly says1 ,the cheerful live longest in years1 and afterwards in our regards4 ,sidenote3 ,if it required no brains1 no nerve1 no energy1 no work1 there would be no glory in achievement4--,,bates4 ,i have gout1 asthma1 and seven other maladies1 said ,sydney ,smith1 but am otherwise very happy4 ,how often those with whom we meet are sorely afflicted and yet their cheerful faces do not betray their troubles4 ,they are too considerate of our happiness to sadden our minds with their woes4 ,those whom we deem fretful without sufficient excuse1 if indeed any excuse justifies the habit of fretting1 may be much more sorely afflicted than we think they are4 ,there is a world of sympathetic truth in that old saying ,,to ,,know ,,all ,,is ,,to ,,forgive ,,all ,sidenote3 ,it is not what one can get out of work1 but what he may put in1 that is the test of success4--,,lilian ,,whiting4 ,if ,i knew you and you knew me-- ,if both of us could clearly see1 ,and with an inner sight divine ,the meaning of your heart and mine1 ,i'm sure that we would differ less ,and clasp our hands in friendliness2 ,our thoughts would pleasantly agree ,if ,i knew you and you knew me4 ,if ,i knew you and you knew me1 ,as each one knows his own self1 we ,could look each other in the face ,and see therein a truer grace4 ,life has so many hidden woes1 ,so many thorns for every rose2 ,the why of things our hearts would see1 ,if ,i knew you and you knew me4 ,sidenote3 ,there is only one real failure in life possible2 and that is1 not to be true to the best one knows4--,,canon ,,farrar4 ,if a word will render a man happy1 said one of the ,french philosophers1 he must be a wretch1 indeed1 who will not give it4 ,it is like lighting another man's candle with your own1 which loses none of its brilliancy by what the other gains4 ,another wise writer says3 ,mirth is ,god's medicine2 everybody ought to bathe in it4 ,grim care1 moroseness1 anxiety--all the rust of life1 ought to be scoured off by the oil of mirth4 ,sidenote3 ,confidence imparts a wonderful inspiration to its possessor4--,,milton4 ,orison ,swett ,marden1 than whom no man's golden words have done more to make the world brighter and better1 says3 ,we should fight against every influence which tends to depress the mind1 as we would against a temptation to crime4 ,a depressed mind prevents the free action of the diaphragm and the expansion of the chest4 ,it stops the secretions of the body1 interferes with the circulation of the blood in the brain1 and deranges the entire functions of the body4 ,sidenote3 ,the most important attribute of man as a moral being is the faculty of self-control4--,,herbert ,,spencer4 ,do not anticipate trouble1 says ,franklin1 or worry about what may never happen4 ,keep in the sunlight4 ,sidenote3 ,self-control1 ,i say1 is the root virtue of all virtues4 ,it is at the very center of character4--,,king4 ,one of our present day apostles of the gospel of cheerfulness tells us that worry is a disease4 ,some people ought to be incarcerated for disturbing the family peace1 and for troubling the public welfare1 on the charge of intolerable fretfulness and touchiness4 ,sidenote3 ,in the long run a man becomes what he purposes1 and gains for himself what he really desires4--,,mabie4 ,the boy whom the world wants will be wise1 indeed1 if he includes in his preparations for meeting the years that are before him-- ,a ,,cure ,,for ,,trouble ,trouble is looking for some one to trouble6 ,who will partake of his worrisome wares8 ,where shall he tarry and whom shall he harry ,at morning and night with his burden of cares8 ,they who have hands that are idle and empty1 ,they without purpose to build and to bless2 ,they who invite him with scowls that delight him ,are they who shall dwell in the ,house of ,distress4 ,sidenote3 ,i owe all my success in life to having been always a quarter of an hour beforehand4--,,lord ,,nelson4 ,trouble is looking for some one to trouble6 ,i'll tell you how all his plans to eclipse3 ,when he draws near you be sure he shall hear you ,a-working away with a song on your lips4 ,look at him squarely and laugh at his coming2 ,say you are busy and bid him depart2 ,he will not tease you to stay if he sees you ,have tasks in your hands and a hope in your heart4 ,sidenote3 ,the period of greenness is the period of growth4 ,when we cease to be green and are entirely ripe we are ready for decay4--,,bryan4 ,trouble is looking for some one to trouble6 ,i shall not listen to aught he shall say2 ,out of life's duty shall blossom in beauty ,a grace and a glory to gladden the way4 ,i shall have faith in the gifts of the ,giver2 ,i shall be true to my purpose and plan2 ,good cheer abounding and love all-surrounding1 ,i shall keep building the best that ,i can4 ,sidenote3 ,prepare yourself for the world as the athletes used to do for their exercises2 oil your mind and your manners to give them the necessary suppleness and flexibility2 strength alone will not do4--,,chesterfield4 ,give1 ,o give us1 the man who sings at his work6 says ,thomas ,carlyle4 ,be his occupation what it may1 he is equal to any of those who follow the same pursuit in silent sullenness4 ,he will do more in the same time--he will do it better--he will persevere longer4 ,one is scarcely sensible to fatigue while he marches to music4 ,the very stars are said to make harmony as they revolve in their spheres4 ,wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness1 altogether past calculation its powers of endurance4 ,efforts to be permanently useful must be uniformly joyous--a spirit all sunshine--grateful for very gladness1 beautiful because bright4 ,sidenote3 ,poetry is simply the most beautiful1 impressive1 and widely effective mode of saying things1 and hence its importance4--,,matthew ,,arnold4 ,sidenote3 ,in all things1 to serve from the lowest station upwards is necessary4--,,goethe4 ,sidenote3 ,to do nothing by halves is the way of noble minds4--,,wieland4 ,have you a cheerful member in your circle of friends1 a cheerful neighbor in the vicinity of your home8 ,cherish him as a pearl of great price4 ,he is of real1 practical value to all with whom he comes in contact4 ,his presence in a neighborhood ought to make real estate sell for a bit more a square foot1 and life more prized by all who partake of his good cheer4 ,he greets the world with a smile and a laugh--a real laugh1 born of thought and feeling--not a superficial veneer of humor the falsity of which is detected by all who hear it4 ,how much lies in laughter1 says ,carlyle ,it is the cipher-key wherewith we decipher the whole man4 ,some men wear an everlasting simper2 in the smile of another lies the cold glitter1 as of ice2 the fewest are able to laugh what can be called laughing1 but only sniff and titter and snicker from the throat outward1 or at least produce some whiffing1 husky cachination1 as if they were laughing through wool4 ,of none such comes good4 ,sidenote3 ,whatever your occupation may be1 and however crowded your hours with affairs1 do not fail to secure at least a few minutes every day for refreshment of your inner life with a bit of poetry4--,,charles ,,eliot ,,norton4 ,do you like the boy who in a game of ball is whining all the time because he cannot be constantly at the bat8 ,isn't the real manly boy the one who can lose cheerfully when he has played the game the best he possibly could and has been honestly defeated8 ,sidenote3 ,nothing of us belongs so wholly to other people as our looks4--,,glover4 ,nothing is ever well done that is not done cheerfully4 ,the one with a growl spoils whatever joy good fortune may seek to bring him4 ,the man with whom the whole world loves to be in partnership is ,,the ,,one ,,with ,a ,,song ,sidenote3 ,our greatest glory consists1 not in never falling1 but in rising every time we fall4--,,goldsmith4 ,the cloud-maker says it is going to storm1 ,and we're sure to have awful weather1-- ,just terribly wet or cold or warm1 ,or maybe all three together6 ,but while his spirit is overcast ,with the gloom of his dull repining1 ,the one with a song comes smiling past1 ,and1 lo6 the sun is shining4 ,sidenote3 ,a noble manhood1 nobly consecrated to man1 never dies4--,,william ,,mckinley4 ,the cloud-maker tells us the world is wrong1 ,and is bound in an evil fetter1 ,but the blue-sky man comes bringing a song ,of hope that shall make it better4 ,and the toilers1 hearing his voice1 behold ,the sign of a glad to-morrow1 ,whose hands are heaped with the purest gold1 ,of which each heart may borrow4 ,sidenote3 ,it is easy finding reasons why other folks should be patient4--,,george ,,eliot4 ,the one who thinks the world is full of good people and kindly blessings is much richer than the one who thinks to the contrary4 ,some men live in a world peopled with princes of the royal blood2 some in a world of want and wrong-doers4 ,those whom we distrust are likely to distrust us4 ,to believe a man is a man helps to make him so at heart4 ,to think him a rascal is a start for him in the wrong direction4 ,the world smiles at us if we smile at it2 when we frown it frowns4 ,it is the armor of war and not that of love that invites trouble4 ,he who carries a sword is the most likely to find a cause for using it4 ,the man who remembers it was a beautiful day yesterday is a great deal happier than he who is sure it is going to storm to-morrow4 ,sidenote3 ,sympathy is two hearts tugging at one load4--,,parkhurst4 ,though life is made up of mere bubbles1 ',tis better than many aver1 ,for while we've a whole lot of troubles1 ,the most of them never occur4 ,in the thousand and one little everyday affairs of life the man who is disposed to take things by the smooth handles saves himself and those about him an endless amount of worry4 ,the pessimist is an additional sorrow in a world that holds for all of us some glints of sunshine and some shreds of song4 ,it was of one such sorry soul that ,i penned the lines-- ,sidenote3 ,what folly to tear one's hair in sorrow1 just as if grief could be assuaged by baldness4--,,cicero4 ,he growled at morning1 noon and night1 ,and trouble sought to borrow2 ,on days when all the skies were bright ,he knew 'twould storm to-morrow4 ,a thought of joy he could not stand ,and struggled to resist it2 ,though sunshine dappled all the land ,this sorry pessimist it4 ,sidenote3 ,be at war with your vices1 at peace with your neighbors1 and let every new year find you a better man4--,,franklin4 ,occasionally we meet a person well along in years who has not yet acquired sufficient wisdom to understand that without some of the elements of a storm in the sky we could never look upon that most marvelously beautiful spectacle--a rainbow4 ,sidenote3 ,give us to go blithely about our business all this day1 bring us to our resting beds weary and content and undishonored1 and grant us in the end the gift of sleep4--,,stevenson4 ,without hunger and thirst1 food and drink would be superfluous2 without cold1 warmth would lose its grateful charm2 without weariness1 rest were of no avail2 without grief1 gladness would lose its delight4 ,the thoughtful1 thankful soul will keep the lips from complaining and the hands from wrong-doing by always supplying them with ,a ,,smile ,,and ,a ,,task ,sidenote3 ,teach your child to hold his tongue1 he'll learn fast enough to speak4--,,franklin4 ,keep a smile on your lips2 it is better ,to joyfully1 hopefully try ,for the end you would gain1 than to fetter ,your life with a moan and a sigh4 ,there are clouds in the firmament ever ,the beauty of heaven to mar1 ,yet night so profound there is never ,but somewhere is shining a star4 ,sidenote3 ,there is no use arguing with the inevitable2 the only argument with the east wind is to put on your overcoat4--,,lowell4 ,keep a task in your hands2 you must labor2 ,by deeds is true happiness won2 ,for stranger and friend and for neighbor1 ,rejoice there is much to be done4 ,endeavor by crowning life's duty ,with joy-giving song and with smile1 ,to make the world fuller of beauty ,because you are in it a while4 ,sidenote3 ,a young man cannot honestly make a success in any business unless he loves his work4--,,edward ,,bok4 ,of all virtues cheerfulness is the most profitable4 ,while other virtues defer the day of recompense1 cheerfulness pays down4 ,it is a cosmetic which makes homeliness graceful and winning4 ,it promotes health and gives clearness and vigor to the mind2 it is the bright weather of the heart in contrast with the clouds and gloom of melancholy4 ,these words from the writings of one of our sunniest philosophers are worth much gold to one who will ever keep them in mind4 ,sidenote3 ,there is a great deal more to be got out of things than is generally got out of them1 whether the thing be a chapter of the ,bible or a yellow turnip4--,,macdonald4 ,sydney ,smith says that all mankind are happier for having been happy2 so that1 if you make them happy now1 you make them happy twenty years hence by the memory of it4 ,this being true we should do all in our power to turn men from gloom to gladness2 from the shadows to sunshine4 ,with this purpose in mind ,i have written ,,an ,,open ,,letter ,,to ,,the ,,pessimist ,sidenote3 ,the boy who does not go to school does not know what ,saturday is4--,,babcock4 ,brother--you with growl and frown-- ,why don't you move from ,grumbletown1 ,where everything is tumbled down ,and skies are dark and dreary8 ,move over into ,gladville where ,your face will don a happy air1 ,and lay aside your cross of care ,for smiles all bright and cheery4 ,sidenote3 ,a faithful friend is a strong defence1 and he that hath found him hath found a treasure4--,,ecclesiasticus4 ,in ,grumbletown there's not a joy ,but has a shadow of alloy ,that must its happiness destroy ,and make you to regret it4 ,in ,gladville we have not a care ,but1 somehow1 looks inviting there ,and has about it something fair ,that makes us glad to get it4 ,sidenote3 ,the three things most difficult are1 to keep a secret1 to forget an injury1 and to make a good use of leisure4--,,chilo4 ',tis strange how different these towns ,of ours are6 ,good cheer abounds ,in one1 and gruesome growls and frowns ,are always in the other4 ,if you your skies of ashen gray ,would change for sunny skies of ,may1 ,from ,grumbletown1 oh1 haste away2 ,move into ,gladville1 brother4 ,illustration3 ,,birthplace ,,of ,,benjamin ,,franklin ,,boston ,,chapter ,,vii ,,dreaming ,,and ,,doing ,sidenote3 ,the talent that is buried is not owned4 ,the napkin and the hole in the ground are far more truly the man's property4--,,babcock4 ,hitch your wagon to a star6 ,such is the advice ,emerson gave to ambitious youth4 ,he meant well1 no doubt1 and indeed1 his words are all right if taken with a pinch of salt4 ,a boy should dream great dreams1 of course1 but he ought to set his dream-gauge so as to have it indicate a line of endeavor it will be possible for him to follow4 ,sidenote3 ,that which some call idleness ,i call the sweetest part of my life1 and that is my thinking4--,,felsham4 ,hitch your wagon to a star1 ,sounds eloquent1 of course1 ,but it might prove more prudent1 far1 ,to hitch it to a motor-car1 ,or a steady-going horse4 ,sidenote3 ,we must learn to bear and to work before we can spare strength to dream4--,,phelps4 ,the type of boy the world counts on to do it the most lasting good is the youth that does not permit the wings of fancy to carry him so far into the blue empyrean that he cannot touch the solid earth with at least the tiptoes of reason4 ,as ,wingate truly says3 ,there is no use in filling young people's minds with vain hopes2 not every one can make a fortune or a national reputation1 but he who possesses health1 ordinary ability1 honesty and industry can at least earn a livelihood4 ,sidenote3 ,training is everything4 ,the peach was once a bitter almond2 cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education4--,,mark ,,twain4 ,if you are striving to be a level-headed boy you will understand that if you keep your eyes fastened on the stars all the while you are likely to overlook a thousand opportunities lying all about your pathway4 ,let's not despise just common things1 ,for here's a truth there is no dodging1 ,the bird that soars on proudest wings ,comes down to earth for board and lodging4 ,sidenote3 ,success comes only to those who lead the life of endeavour4--,,roosevelt4 ,some of the poets and others advise you to aim at the sky or the sun or something of that sort1 for by so doing you will shoot higher than you would if you aimed at the ground4 ,i would advise you to aim directly at the target you wish to hit4 ,don't shoot over it or under it2 shoot at it4 ,sidenote3 ,the most certain sign of wisdom is a continued cheerfulness4--,,montaigne4 ,dreaming great things is good but doing simple things may be better4 ,there ought to be1 and there will be more dreams than deeds1 just as there are more blossoms on the tree than can mature and ripen into perfect fruit4 ,sidenote3 ,wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar4--,,wordsworth4 ,we shall always have to divide our attention between the things we can do and the things we should like to do4 ,dreaming is an interesting pastime but we should not devote too many precious moments to ,,the ,,pleasures ,,of ,,iffing ,if this or that were thus and so1 ,oh1 wouldn't it be clever6 ,but ifs1 alas6 won't make it so ,though we should if forever4 ,yet1 while ifs cannot help a mite1 ,we'd all be less contented ,and life would hold far less delight ,if iffing were prevented4 ,sidenote3 ,our business in life is not to get ahead of other people1 but to get ahead of ourselves4--,,babcock4 ,when the time arrives for a boy to cease dreaming and to begin doing he should seize upon the highest duty that comes to his hands and waste not a moment in dilatory uncertainties4 ,thrift of time1 says ,gladstone1 will repay you in after-life with a thousandfold of profit beyond your most sanguine dreams4 ,sidenote3 ,have the courage to appear poor1 and you disarm poverty of its sharpest sting4--,,irving4 ,hopes are good1 but patiently worked-out realities are better4 ,hope is for to-morrow4 ,work is for to-day4 ,the hope that lulls one into a dreamy inactivity1 with the promise that all will be well1 whether or no1 is sometimes a hindrance in the path toward success4 ,we must not succumb too fully to ,,the ,,power ,,of ,,hope ,sidenote3 ,hope is the real riches1 as fear is the real poverty4--,,hume4 ,hope's a magical compound ,to increase our strength1 we've found1 ,it can charm our bars and barriers all away4 ,with its impulse1 which we borrow1 ,we can always do to-morrow ,lots and lots of things we never do to-day4 ,sidenote3 ,small pleasures1 depend upon it1 lie about us as thick as daisies4--,,jerrold4 ,hope is the architect but brawn is the builder4 ,an architect's most elaborate design for a mansion1 on paper1 cannot protect one from the elements as well as can the crudest little cabin actually built by hands4 ,those who spend much time in dreaming wonderful plans and waiting for a ready-made success to come and hunt them up may be interested in learning about ,,hank ,,streeter',s ,,brain-,,wave ,sidenote3 ,go after two wolves1 and you will not even catch one4--,,russian4 ,hank ,streeter used to sit around the corner grocery store1 ,a-telling of the things he'd like to do2 ,but1 pshaw6 said ,hank1 it ain't no use to tackle 'em before ,fate settles in her mind she'll help you through4 ,and 'tain't no use to waste your time on triflin' things1 said he2 ,the feller that secures the biggest plum ,is the one that thinks up something that's a winner1 so1 you see1 ,i'm waitin' for a brain-wave to come4 ,sidenote3 ,in all ,god's creation there is no place appointed for the idle man4--,,gladstone4 ,the men that make the biggest hits1 so ,hank would often say1 ,they ain't the ones1 or so ,i calculate1 ,that get their everlastin' fame a-workin' by the day2 ,no1 sir6 ,they sort o' grab it while you wait4 ,they spend their time a-thinkin' till they strike some new idee ,that's big enough to make the hull world hum4 ,and that's my plan for winnin' out1 said ,hank2 and so1 said he1 ,i'm waitin' for a brain-wave to come4 ,sidenote3 ,let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry4--,,mark ,,twain4 ,and there he sat a-waiting3 in the winter by the stove1 ,in summer-time he sat outside the store2 ,and1 while his busy neighbors all about him worked and throve1 ,he just kept on a-talking more and more2 ,kept on a-getting poorer1 and1 while time it hauled and tacked1 ,hank had to make a meal off just a crumb1 ,till death it had to take him1--caught him in the very act ,of waiting for a brain-wave to come4 ,sidenote3 ,labor is the genius that changes the world from ugliness to beauty1 and changes the great curse to a great blessing4--,,opie ,,read4 ,the man that's born a genius1--well1 ,i s'pose he's bound to win1 ,but most of us are born the other way2 ,and1 after all is said and done1 the man who pitches in ,and works1--well he's a genius1 so they say4 ,if he can't win a dollar1 why1 he tries to earn a dime2 ,if he can't have it all he'll capture some3 ,for doing just the best we can is better1 every time1 ,than waiting for a brain-wave to come4 ,sidenote3 ,i have seldom known any one who deserted truth in trifles that could be trusted in matters of importance4--,,paley4 ,sidenote3 ,there are many echoes in the world1 but few voices4--,,goethe4 ,sidenote3 ,consequences are unpitying4--,,george ,,eliot4 ,but it is to be remembered that the youth who does not think well of himself is not likely to do well4 ,ability1 learning1 accomplishment1 opportunity1 are all well1 says ,mathews1 but they do not1 of themselves1 insure success4 ,thousands have all these1 and live and die without benefiting themselves or others4 ,on the other hand1 men of mediocre talents1 often scale the dizzy steeps of excellence and fame because they have firm faith and high resolve4 ,it is this solid faith in one's mission--the rooted belief that it is the one thing to which he has been called1--this enthusiasm1 attracting an ,agassiz to the ,alps or the ,amazon1 impelling a ,pliny to explore the volcano in which he is to lose his life1 and nerving a ,vernet1 when tossing in a fierce tempest1 to sketch the waste of waters1 and even the wave that is leaping up to devour him1--that marks the heroic spirit2 and1 wherever it is found1 success1 sooner or later1 is almost inevitable4 ,sidenote3 ,they who wish to sing always find a song4--,,swedish4 ,the youth who will start out in life's morning with a well-defined idea of the goal he wishes to gain1 and who will keep going in the right direction need have little fear that his journey will finally end in ,,the ,,valley ,,of ,,never ,sidenote3 ,whoever in the darkness lighteth another with a lamp1 lighteth himself also4--,,auerbach4 ,the city of ,is sets on top of a hill ,and if you would learn of its beauty ,take ,right-,away street and keep going until ,you pass through the gateway of ,duty4 ,but some miss the way1 though the guide-board is plain1 ,and leisurely wander forever1 ,sad-hearted and weary1 down ,by-and-,by lane ,that leads to the ,valley of ,never4 ,sidenote3 ,every year of my life ,i grow more convinced that it is wisest and best to fix our attention on the beautiful and good1 and dwell as little as possible on the dark and base4--,,cecil4 ,if you start in the morning and follow the sun ,with a heart that is earnest and cheery1 ,the way is so short that your journey is done ,before you have time to be weary4 ,but wait till the day is beginning to wane ,and then1 though you rightly endeavor1 ,you are likely to wander down ,by-and-,by lane ,that leads to the ,valley of ,never4 ,sidenote3 ,a little integrity is better than any career4--,,emerson4 ,sidenote3 ,habit is habit1 and not to be flung out of the window by any man1 but coaxed downstairs a step at a time4--,,mark ,,twain4 ,sidenote3 ,sweep first before your own door1 before you sweep the doorsteps of your neighbors4--,,swedish4 ,when we come to observe life very closely we learn that the law of recompense is always in operation1 and that when all things are considered1 one man's lot does not seem so much better or another's so much worse than the fortune of those about him as a superficial glance might lead us to think4 ,says ,hamerton3 ,i used to believe a great deal more in opportunities and less in application than ,i do now4 ,time and health are needed1 but with these there are always opportunities4 ,rich people have a fancy for spending money very uselessly on their culture because it seems to them more valuable when it has been costly2 but the truth is1 that by the blessing of good and cheap literature1 intellectual light has become almost as accessible as daylight4 ,i have a rich friend who travels more1 and buys more costly things than ,i do1 but he does not really learn more or advance farther in the twelvemonth4 ,if my days are fully occupied1 what has he to set against them8 only other well-occupied days1 no more4 ,if he is getting benefit at ,st4 ,petersburg he is missing the benefit ,i am getting round my house1 and in it4 ,the sum of the year's benefit seems to be surprisingly alike in both cases4 ,so if you are reading a piece of thoroughly good literature1 ,baron ,rothschild may possibly be as well occupied as you--he is certainly not better occupied4 ,when ,i open a noble volume ,i say to myself1 ',now the only ,croesus that ,i envy is he who is reading a better book than this4' ,sidenote3 ,if you wish success in life1 make perseverance your bosom friend1 experience your wise counsellor1 caution your elder brother1 and hope your guardian genius4--,,addison4 ,there is many a boy who is quite sure the neighbor's boy has an easier time and a better prospect of success4 ,grown-ups1 too1 are frequently of the opinion that they could do so much better if they were in somebody else's shoes4 ,between the success which others attain and that which we achieve1 we can very readily distinguish ,,the ,,difference ,sidenote3 ,calmness is a great advantage4--,,herbert4 ,when the other fellow gets rich it's luck1 ,just blundering luck that brings him gains1 ,but when we win it's a case of pluck ,with intelligent effort and lots of brains4 ,sidenote3 ,man becomes greater in proportion as he learns to know himself and his faculty4 ,let him once become conscious of what he is1 and he will soon learn to be what he should4--,,schelling4 ,the country boy is sure that if he could get into the large city where there are more and greater chances for doing things he would make a great success4 ,the city boy is quite as certain that if he could get out into a country town where the competition is not so fierce and where there is more room to grow he would do something worth while4 ,in discussing this subject1 ,edward ,bok says3 ,it is the man1 not the place that counts4 ,the magnet of worth is the drawing power in business4 ,it is what you are1 not where you are4 ,if a young man has the right stuff in him1 he need not fear where he lives or does his business4 ,many a large man has expanded in a small place4 ,the idea that a small place retards a man's progress is pure nonsense4 ,if the community does not offer facilities for a growing business1 they can be brought to it4 ,proper force can do anything4 ,all that is needed is right direction4 ,the vast majority of people are like sheep1 they follow a leader4 ,sidenote3 ,men must know that in this theater of man's it remaineth only to ,god and angels to be lookers-on4--,,bacon4 ,sidenote3 ,it is no man's business whether he is a genius or not2 work he must1 whatever he is1 but quietly and steadily4--,,ruskin4 ,for the solace and enlightenment of those who think they are the victims of an unkind fortune and that conditions are better elsewhere ,i herewith offer ,deacon ,watts's remarks concerning ,,yender ,,grass ,sidenote3 ,the talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well1 without a thought of fame4--,,longfellow4 ,this world is full of 'yender grass1' says ,deacon ,watts to me2 ,when ,i'm a-mowin' in the field1 the grass close by1 says he1 ,is short and thin and full of weeds2 but over yender1 why1 ,it looks to me as if the grass is thick and smooth and high4 ,but sakes alive6 that ain't the case1 for1 when ,i mow to where ,the grass ,i saw from far away looked all so smooth and fair1 ,i find it's jest as short and thin as all the rest1 or wuss2 ,and that's the way the things of earth keep on a-foolin' us6 ,sidenote3 ,be not simply good1 be good for something4--,,thoreau4 ,sidenote3 ,progress depends upon what we are1 rather than upon what we may encounter4 ,one man is stopped by a sapling lying across the road2 another1 passing that way1 picks up the hindrance and converts it into a help in crossing the brook just ahead4--,,trumbull4 ',bout every day you'll hear some man complainin' of his lot1 ,and tellin'1 if he'd had a chance like other people1 what ,he might have been6 ,he'd like to know how he can ever win ,when all the grass that comes his way is all so short and thin4 ,but over in the neighbors' fields1 why1 he can plainly see ,that they're in clover plumb knee-deep and sweet as sweet can be6 ,at times it's hard to tell if things are made of gold or brass2 ,some men can't see them distant fields are full of 'yender grass4' ,sidenote3 ,greatness lies1 not in being strong1 but in the right using of strength4--,,beecher4 ,sidenote3 ,great is wisdom2 infinite is the value of wisdom4 ,it cannot be exaggerated2 it is the highest achievement of man4--,,carlyle4 ,i've learned one thing in makin' hay1 and that's to fill my mow ,with any grass that ,i can get to harvest here and now4 ,the 'yender grass' that 'way ahead is wavin' in its pride ,i find ain't very fillin' by the time it's cut and dried4 ,hope springs eternal1 so they say1 within the human breast3 ,man never is1 the sayin' goes1 but always to be1 blest4 ,so my advice is1 ,don't you let your present chances pass1 ,a-thinkin' by and by you'll reap your fill of 'yender grass4' ,illustration3 ,,washington ,,and ,,lafayette ,,at ,,mount ,,vernon ,,chapter ,,viii ,,trifles ,sidenote3 ,it is ours to climb and dare4--,,frederick ,,lawrence ,,knowles4 ,trifles make perfection1 but perfection is no trifle4 ,the saying is old but the truth is ever new4 ,sidenote3 ,oh1 sweet is life when youth is in the blood4--,,denis ,,mccarthy4 ,it is the little things that count1 day by day1 in the forming of character4 ,the way in which we employ our moments finally becomes the way in which we employ our years4 ,sidenote3 ,down in the busy thoroughfares are boys the world shall know some day4--,,samuel ,,ellsworth ,,kiser4 ,as a matter of course every boy will1 if he can1 do some big1 beautiful thing out there in the years to come4 ,but it is a foregone conclusion that every boy must do a vast number of little things before he shall do the larger things4 ,the trifles are always at hand waiting to be done1 day after day1 year after year4 ,and it is the way in which a boy does these little things that gives him the standing he holds in the estimation of those with whom he is intimately associated4 ,sidenote3 ,to him who presses on1 at each degree new visions rise4--,,julia ,,ward ,,howe4 ,as the twig is bent1 the tree's inclined4 ,a habit is easy to form but hard to break4 ,yet the strongest of habits are formed just a little at a time--a small strand is added each day until there is a mighty cable that cannot be broken except by a mighty effort4 ,if it is a good habit1 its strength makes it all the better6 ,if it is a bad habit1 its strength makes it so much the worse4 ,sidenote3 ,to doubt is failure1 and to dare1 success4--,,frederick ,,lawrence ,,knowles4 ,sidenote3 ,it's nothing against you to fall down flat1 but to lie there is disgrace4--,,edmund ,,vance ,,cooke4 ,where is the boy who cannot see the fallacy in such illogical reasoning as this3 ,now1 ,i will be careless while ,i am young so that ,i may be careful when ,i am older4 ,i will remain ignorant and poorly informed while ,i am a boy1 so that ,i may be wise when ,i am a man4 ,i will bend one way while ,i am a twig so that ,i shall incline in another direction when ,i become a tree4 ,i will do wrong things while my character is being formed so that ,i may do right things when my habits become fixed4 ,all such reasoning is very1 very foolish1 isn't it8 ,and yet there are some illogical youths who deem it will be easy to have one character and disposition as boys and quite a different one when they come to be men4 ,by some strange hocus-pocus they hope to be able to sow a crop of wild oats and later on reap a harvest of good wheat4 ,it cannot be done4 ,sidenote3 ,do it right now and do it well4--,,john ,,townsend ,,trowbridge4 ,any farmer's boy will tell you that as ye sow1 so shall ye reap4 ,when the farmer wishes to harvest wheat he does not sow oats4 ,when he wishes a crop of potatoes he does not plant gourds4 ,he has learned that what he plants in the spring he will harvest in the autumn4 ,it is equally as true of life4 ,that which we sow in youth we reap in our maturer years4 ,we must not try to deceive nature and our own consciences4 ,we shall get back from the years what we give to the years4 ,sidenote3 ,condemn no creed6 ,dig deep beneath the sod and at the root thou'lt find the truth of ,god4--,,alicia ,k4 ,,van ,,buren4 ,the boy who early gets into the habit of doing things right is pretty sure to go on doing them so all his life1 and without much effort on his part4 ,the will is strengthened by exercise in the same manner as are the muscles4 ,we learn to do easily that which we do often4 ,sidenote3 ,it is adversity1 not prosperity1 which breeds men2 as it is the storm1 and not the calm1 which makes the mariner4--,,melvin ,l4 ,,severy4 ,sidenote3 ,the slow long way may be the best4--,,nathan ,,haskell ,,dole4 ,sidenote3 ,he who lifts his brother man in turn is lifted by him4--,,john ,,townsend ,,trowbridge4 ,sidenote3 ,as the twig is archetypal of the tree1 so childhood builds the ladder up which manhood climbs4--,,melvin ,l4 ,,severy4 ,the youth who says ,no to little temptations will1 later on in life1 be perfectly able to say ,no to temptations of any size4 ,and how many a man's career has been made glorious simply because he learned1 while a youth1 to say ,no whenever his moral conscience told him it was the thing he should say6 ,how true are the teachings of the wise moralist who tells us3 ,a very little word is ',no4' ,it is composed of but two letters and forms only one syllable4 ,in meaning it is so definite as to defy misunderstanding4 ,your lips find its articulation easy4 ,diminutive in size1 evident in import1 easy of utterance1 frequent in use1 and necessary in ordinary speech1 it seems one of the simplest and most harmless of all words4 ,yet there are those to whom it is almost a terror4 ,its sound makes them afraid4 ,they would expurgate it from their vocabulary if they could4 ,the little monosyllable sticks in their throat4 ,their pliable and easy temper inclines them to conformity1 and frequently works their bane4 ,assailed by the solicitations of pleasure they are sure to yield1 for at once and resolutely they will not repeat ',no6' ,plied with the intoxicating cup they seldom overcome1 for their facile nature refuses to express itself in ',no6' ,encountering temptation in the hard and duteous path they are likely to falter and fall1 for they have not the boldness to speak out the decided negative ',no6' ,amid the mists of time1 and involved in the labyrinthine mazes of error1 they are liable to forget eternal verities and join in the ribald jest1 for they have not been accustomed to utter an emphatic ',no6' ,all the noble souls and heroes of history have held themselves ready1 whenever it was demanded1 to say ',no6' ,the poet said ',no6' to the sloth and indolence which was consuming his precious hours1 and wove for himself in heavenly song a garland of immortality4 ,sidenote3 ,all that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own4--,,edwin ,,markham4 ,sidenote3 ,the greatest1 strongest1 most skilled is he who knows how to wait1 and wait patiently4--,,charles ,,the ,,ninth4 ,no might seem to be but a mere trifle of a word yet the boy who learns to say it on every right occasion has already conquered many of the foes that are likely to beset him along life's pathway4 ,every boy should cultivate his will until it is strong enough for him to depend upon it at all times4 ,with the proper amount of will he is sure to have sufficient won't to resist all the temptations that wrong may offer him4 ,sidenote3 ,the man in whom others believe is a power1 but if he believes in himself he is doubly powerful4--,,willis ,,george ,,emerson4 ,in developing a strength that enables him to say ,no6 to wrong things a boy becomes strong enough to say ,yes6 to right things4 ,his ,i won't6 with which he meets wrong suggestions engenders his ,i will6 toward the wholesome and commendable undertakings in which he should be interested4 ,sidenote3 ,one forgives everything in him who forgives himself nothing4--,,chinese4 ,when a boy has learned to say1 and to feel the strength that is in the words1 ,i will6 he ceases to make use of the words1 ,i wish1 for his will is sufficient to make his wish a living reality4 ,and what a world of difference there is between the involved meanings of the words1 ,i ,,wish ,,and ,i ,,will ,sidenote3 ,not in rewards1 but in the strength to strive1 the blessing lies4--,,john ,,townsend ,,trowbridge4 ,i ,wish and ,i ,will1 so my grandmother says1 ,were two little boys in the long1 long ago1 ,and ,i ,wish used to sigh while ,i ,will used to try ,for the things he desired1 at least that's what my ,grandma tells me1 and she ought to know4 ,i ,wish was so weak1 so my grandmother says1 ,that he longed to have someone to help him about1 ,and while he'd stand still and look up at the hill ,and sigh to be there to go coasting1 ,i ,will ,would glide past him with many a shout4 ,sidenote3 ,it makes considerable difference whether a man talks bigger than he is1 or is bigger than he talks4--,,patrick ,,flynn4 ,they grew to be men1 so my grandmother says1 ,and all that ,i ,wish ever did was to dream-- ,to dream1 and to sigh that life's hill was so high1 ,while ,i ,will went to work and soon learned1 if we try1 ,hills are never so steep as they seem4 ,i ,wish lived in want1 so my grandmother says1 ,but ,i ,will had enough and a portion to spare3 ,whatever he thought was worth winning he sought ,with an earnest and patient endeavor that brought ,of blessings a bountiful share4 ,sidenote3 ,no man doth safely rule but he that hath learned gladly to obey4--,,thomas ,,kempis4 ,and whenever my grandma hears any one wish1 ,a method she seeks1 in his mind to instill1 ,for increasing his joys1 and she straightway employs ,the lesson she learned from the two little boys ,whose names were ,i ,wish and ,i ,will4 ,sidenote3 ,by varied discipline man slowly learns his part in what the ,master ,mind has planned4--,,nathan ,,haskell ,,dole4 ,trifles are the beginnings of things which finally develop into all that is worth while4 ,the acorn is a trifle1 yet within it is hidden an oak tree1 and a whole forest of oak trees4 ,the tiny little brooklet is only a trifle yet it flows on and on till it becomes a mighty river4 ,sidenote3 ,it is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness1 which indeed is possible1 but to fly from other men's badness1 which is impossible4--,,marcus ,,aurelius4 ,the first rude little pencil sketch made by the child that has an inborn love of drawing is but a trifle1 yet it may be the beginning of an art career that shall brighten the whole world4 ,sidenote3 ,yet with steadfast courage that rather would die than turn back4--,,nathan ,,haskell ,,dole4 ,the first few lines written by the embryo poet constitute but a trifle1 yet with a word of encouragement it may sometime be followed by songs that shall make all mankind happier and better4 ,sidenote3 ,one thing we must never forget1 namely3 that the infinitely most important work for us is the humane education of the millions who are soon to come on the stage of action4--,,george ,t4 ,,angell4 ,sidenote3 ,in every sincere and earnest man's heart ,god has placed a little niche where the poetic1 the spectacular1 and the legendary hold full sway4--,,willis ,,george ,,emerson4 ,it was just a trifling incident that developed one of the greatest vocalists the world has ever known4 ,we are told that ,jenny ,lind1 at the beginning of her life1 was a poor1 neglected little girl1 homely and uncouth1 living in a single room of a tumble-down house in a narrow street at ,stockholm4 ,when the humble woman who had her in charge went out to her daily labor1 she was accustomed to lock ,jenny in with her sole companion1 a cat4 ,one day the little girl1 who was always singing to herself like a canary-bird1 because1 as she said1 the song was in her and must come out1 sat with her dumb companion at the window warbling her sweet child-like notes4 ,she was overheard by a passing lady1 who paused and listened1 struck by the trill and clearness of the untutored notes4 ,she made careful inquiry about the child and became the patroness of the little ,jenny who was at once supplied with a music-teacher4 ,she loved the art of song1 and having a true genius for it she made rapid progress1 surprising both patroness and teachers1 and presently1 became the world's ,queen of ,song4 ,sidenote3 ,the generous heart should scorn a pleasure which gives others pain4--,,anonymous4 ,sidenote3 ,neither education nor riches can take the place of character1 yet we can all get as much character as we want4--,,patrick ,,flynn4 ,sidenote3 ,a teacher who can arouse a feeling for one single good action1 for one single good poem1 accomplishes more than he who fills our memory with rows on rows of natural objects1 classified with name and form4--,,goethe4 ,how trifling was the incident that brought about1 by a happy accident1 the development of the genius which slept in the soul of the sculptor ,canova6 ,a superb banquet was being prepared in the palace of the ,falieri family in ,venice4 ,the tables were already arranged1 when it was discovered that a crowning ornament of some sort was required to complete the general effect of the banqueting board4 ,canova's grandfather1 who brought him up1 was a stone-cutter1 often hewing out stone ornaments for architects2 and as he lived close at hand1 he was hastily consulted by the steward of the ,falieris4 ,canova chanced to go with his grandfather to view the tables1 and overheard the conversation4 ,though but a child his quick eye and ready genius at once suggested a suitable design for the apex of the principal dishes4 ,give me a plate of cold butter1 said the boy2 and seating himself at a side table he rapidly moulded a lion of proper proportions1 and so true to nature in its pose and detail as to astonish all present4 ,it was put in place and proved to be the most striking ornamental feature of the feast4 ,when the guests1 on being seated1 discovered the lion1 they exclaimed aloud with admiration1 and demanded to see at once the person who could perform such a miracle impromptu4 ,canova was brought before them1 and his boyish person only heightened their wonder4 ,from that hour the head of the opulent ,falieri family became his kind1 appreciative1 liberal patron4 ,canova was placed under the care of the best sculptors of ,venice and ,rome and became a grand master of his art4 ,sidenote3 ,a good conscience expects to be treated with perfect confidence4--,,victor ,,hugo4 ,sidenote3 ,build new domes of thought in your mind1 and presently you will find that instead of your finding the eternal life1 the eternal life has found you4--,,jenkin ,,lloyd ,,jones4 ,but it may be truthfully said that every boy does not possess some latent genius1 waiting to be discovered by some one who will foster and develop it4 ,then there is all the more need of making the very most of the small talents one may possess4 ,one need not be a ,canova1 or a ,shakespeare1 in order that he may become something worth while to those with whom he dwells in close association4 ,sidenote3 ,there is no power on earth that can enslave a man who is mentally free2 no power that can free a man who is mentally enslaved4--,,patrick ,,flynn4 ,every nook and corner of the world is waiting for the fine characters that are to make it a pleasant place in which to dwell4 ,blest is that household1 however humble1 in which there are bright1 manly1 truthful1 kind-hearted boys1 ever ready to make the hours brighter1 and the home dearer1 by their tender thoughtfulness of those about them4 ,sidenote3 ,he who is plenteously provided from within1 needs but little from without4--,,goethe4 ,are you going to win the admiration of the world1 by and by8 ,sidenote3 ,write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year4 ,no man has learned anything rightly1 until he knows that every day is ,doomsday4--,,emerson4 ,have you already won the admiration of that little1 all-important world that now lies just about you8 ,does the mother1 or father1 or sister1 or brother1 who knows you best1 hold you in the highest esteem8 ,if you do not win the love of those who know you so well1 how can you hope to be loved by the world which can never come into such close and tender relations with you8 ,sidenote3 ,do not sing with a too exact correctness4 ,put in personality4--,,william ,,tomlins4 ,do not wait for some big event out there in the years to come4 ,begin just here and now1 by seizing upon the trifles that lie all about you4 ,the great wall of solid masonry is not put into place all at once2 it is laid patiently and carefully1 brick by brick4 ,so manhood must be built a trifle at a time until a character is established that temptation cannot totter to the earth4 ,sidenote3 ,tyranny is always weakness4--,,james ,,russell ,,lowell4 ,sidenote3 ,if we see rightly and mean rightly1 we shall get on1 though the hand may stagger a little2 but if we mean wrongly1 or mean nothing1 it does not matter how firm the hand is4--,,ruskin4 ,and every boy ought to thank his lucky stars that he does not have to wait for some special occasion to offer itself before he can begin to develop the traits that shall waken the warmest regard of those about him1 and bring to his own sense of well-doing the reward born of all virtue4 ,this very day there are many trifles strewn in his pathway4 ,if he shall make the most of them1 larger opportunities will be vouchsafed him4 ,the one important consideration is whether he is ready to begin to build at the present moment1 and to utilize the splendid trifles all about him1 or will procrastinate till such time as he can by some great sweep of action1 establish his reputation all at once and full-born4 ,if he has decided on the latter course he should be moved to give the most earnest and serious consideration to the startling differences that exist between ,,now ,,and ,,waitawhile ,sidenote3 ,it is better to hold back a truth than to speak it ungraciously4--,,st4 ,,francis ,,de ,,sales4 ,little ,jimmie ,waitawhile and little ,johnnie ,now ,grew up in homes just side by side2 and that1 you see1 is how ,i came to know them both so well1 for almost every day ,i used to watch them in their work and also in their play4 ,sidenote3 ,it is ever true that he who does nothing for others1 does nothing for himself4--,,george ,,sand4 ,little ,jimmie ,waitawhile was bright and steady1 too1 ,but never ready to perform what he was asked to do2 ,wait just a minute1 he would say1 ,i'll do it pretty soon1 ,and tasks he should have done at morn were never done at noon4 ,he put off studying until his boyhood days were gone2 ,he put off getting him a home till age came stealing on2 ,he put off everything1 and so his life was not a joy1 ,and all because he waited just a minute when a boy4 ,sidenote3 ,the artist who can realize his ideal has missed the true gain of art1 as a man's reach should exceed his grasp1 or what's heaven for8--,,edward ,,dowden4 ,but little ,johnnie ,now would say1 when he had work to do1 ,there's no time like the present time1 and gaily put it through4 ,and when his time for play arrived he so enjoyed the fun6 ,his mind was not distressed with thoughts of duties left undone4 ,sidenote3 ,keep but ever looking1 whether with the body's eye or the mind's and you will soon find something to look on4--,,browning4 ,in boyhood he was studious and laid him out a plan ,of action to be followed when he grew to be a man2 ,and life was as he willed it1 all because he'd not allow ,his tasks to be neglected1 but would always do them now4 ,sidenote3 ,great hearts alone understand how much glory there is in being good4 ,to be and keep so is not the gift of a happy nature alone1 but it is strength and heroism4--,,jules ,,michelet4 ,and so in every neighborhood are scores of growing boys ,who1 by and by1 must work with tools when they have done with toys4 ,and you know one of them1 ,i guess1 because ,i see you smile2 ,and is he little ,johnnie ,now or ,jimmie ,waitawhile8 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,worth ,,of ,,advice ,sidenote3 ,courage is a virtue that the young cannot spare2 to lose it is to grow old before the time2 it is better to make a thousand mistakes and suffer a thousand reverses than to run away from the battle4--,,henry ,,van ,,dyke4 ,of what value is this book to you8 ,perhaps there is more involved in the answer to this question than a careless consideration of it might lead one to think4 ,shakespeare says3 ,a jest's prosperity lies in the ear of him that hears it1 never in the tongue of him that makes it4 ,so it is that the value of advice depends not so much upon the giver as it does upon the one who receives it4 ,sidenote3 ,he needs no other rosary whose thread of life is strung with beads of love and thought4--,,persian4 ,emerson has observed that he who makes a tour of ,europe brings home from that country only as much as he takes there with him4 ,this same truth holds good in the reading of books and in listening to sermons and lectures4 ,he that has not eyes with which to see1 will see nothing4 ,he that has not ears with which to hear1 can hear nothing4 ,sidenote3 ,truth is a cork2 it is bound to come to the top4--,,willis ,,george ,,emerson4 ,a sign-post indicating which road to take to reach a certain destination surely ought to be of great value to a traveler in a strange land4 ,if the traveler1 having failed to cultivate the habit of observing his surroundings1 passes by the sign-post without seeing it1 or if he reads its directions and says to himself3 ,i think ,i know better2 ,i shall reach my destination by whatever road ,i choose to travel1 then the sign-post is of no true use to him4 ,not that it is not a good sign-post4 ,no1 the sign-post is all right2 it is the traveler who is wrong4 ,he must go his own way and1 perhaps1 journey far1 and fare sadly before he arrives at the place he seeks--the destination he might have reached pleasantly and in good season4 ,franklin tells us that experience is a dear teacher but fools will learn from no other4 ,sidenote3 ,he who will not answer to the rudder must answer to the rock4--,,archbishop ,,herve4 ,now this book which you hold in your hand is only a guide-post1 or perhaps we had better call it a guide-book4 ,it is intended for the use of the boys of our land and all other persons who are not too old or too wise to learn more4 ,sidenote3 ,it is not erudition that makes the intellectual man1 but a sort of virtue which delights in vigorous and beautiful thinking1 just as moral virtue delights in vigorous and beautiful conduct4--,,hammerton4 ,every boy is starting out on a long1 interesting1 and tremendously important journey4 ,it will lie mostly through a strange country and is a journey which must1 in a very large sense1 be traveled alone by each individual person4 ,there are many partings of the ways2 many perplexing forks in the road4 ,sidenote3 ,give what you have4 ,to some one it may be better than you dare to think4--,,longfellow4 ,the thoughtful boy will ever feel called upon to ask his highest understanding3 ,which is the right road for me to take8 ,he will not carelessly pass by the sign-posts without learning what they have to tell him1 nor will he forget or refuse to be guided by their instructions and admonitions4 ,sidenote3 ,there are men who complain that roses have thorns4 ,they should be grateful to know that thorns have roses4--,,max ,o',,rell4 ,if a sign post says3 ,danger6 ,go ,slowly6 he will govern his movements accordingly4 ,if the sign-post says3 ,railroad ,crossing4 ,beware of the ,engine6 he will not blindly plunge ahead without waiting to see if his course is clear4 ,he will understand that many others have traveled the way before him and have learned by experience that it is well for all to take heed and do as the sign-post directs4 ,sidenote3 ,i think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty1 but leading or driving them out of it4--,,benjamin ,,franklin4 ,this life-long pathway upon which every boy is starting is a winding1 intricate1 interesting way1 and many there are who turn into the wrong roads that are ever leading off from the main-traveled track4 ,it is the purpose of this volume to serve as a guide-book for the boy who desires to reach ,happiness and ,helpfulness1 ,prosperity and ,splendid ,manhood in the most direct and efficient manner4 ,at every turn of life's way it will warn him from the blind paths that would bring him1 by the way of ,idleness1 ,carelessness1 ,ignorance1 and ,extravagance1 to the unfortunate land of ,failure1 of ,broken ,hopes1 and of ,life ,misspent4 ,sidenote3 ,those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves4--,,barrie4 ,sidenote3 ,there is a certain sweetness and elegance in little deeds of kindness1 and in letting our best impulses have free play on common occasions4--,,joseph ,,may4 ,a word spoken in due season1 how good is it6 ,in these pages over which your eye is passing are spoken the words of a large and distinguished company of the world's best and wisest men and women4 ,emerson says3 ,every book is a quotation2 every house is a quotation out of all forests1 and mines1 and stone-quarries1 and every man is a quotation from all his ancestors4 ,sidenote3 ,the school of the intellectual man is the place where he happens to be1 and his teachers are the people1 books1 animals1 plants1 stones1 and earth round about him4--,,hammerton4 ,in the multitude of counsellors there is safety4 ,the value of well-selected quotations to serve as finger-posts to guide us day by day is thus set forth by the great ,german poet1 ,goethe3 ,whatever may be said against such collections which present authors in a disjointed form they nevertheless bring about many excellent results4 ,we are not always so composed1 so full of wisdom1 that we are able to take in at once the whole scope of a work according to its merits4 ,do we not mark in a book passages which seem to have a direct reference to ourselves8 ,young people especially1 who have failed in acquiring a complete cultivation of the mind1 are roused in a praiseworthy way by brilliant quotations4 ,sidenote3 ,heroism is simple and yet it is rare4 ,everyone who does the best he can is a hero4--,,josh ,,billings4 ,sidenote3 ,one of the dearest thoughts to me is this--a real friend will never get away from me1 or try to1 or want to4 ,love does not have to be tethered4--,,anna ,r4 ,,brown4 ,and if it shall so happen that some word or sentence or sentiment contained in this book shall rouse in a praiseworthy way just one boy--the very boy whose thought is dwelling on these lines at this very moment--all of this labor of love shall have been abundantly rewarded4 ,for just one boy roused to his best efforts can grandly gladden his own home circle and1 perchance1 the whole wide world4 ,sidenote3 ,in all situations wherein a living man has stood or can stand1 there is actually a prize of quite infinite value placed within his reach--namely1 a ,duty for him to do4--,,carlyle4 ,why1 the world is at a boy's feet1 says ,burdette1 and power1 conquest1 and leadership slumber in his rugged arms and care-free heart4 ,a boy sets his ambition at whatever mark he will--lofty or grovelling1 as he may elect--and the boy who resolutely sets his heart on fame1 on health1 on power1 on what he will2 who consecrates every faculty of his mind and body on ambition1 courage1 industry1 and patience1 can trample on genius2 for these are better and grander than genius4 ,sidenote3 ,to have what we want is riches1 but to be able to do without is power4--,,george ,,macdonald4 ,the past is gone forever2 the present is so brief and fleeting we can scarcely call it our own2 in the future lies our larger1 better hope of a happier civilization4 ,not the men of yesterday1 not the men of to-day1 but the men of to-morrow1 the boys1 are the ones who are to make the world right4 ,they are ,,the ,,world',s ,,victors ,sidenote3 ,let every man be occupied in the highest employment of which his nature is capable1 and die with the consciousness that he has done his best4--,,sydney ,,smith4 ,hurrah for the beacon-lights of earth1-- ,the brave1 triumphant boys6 ,hurrah for their joyous shouts of mirth1 ,and their blood-bestirring noise6 ,the bliss of being shall never die1 ,nor the old world seem depressed ,while a boy's stout heart is beating high1 ,like a glad drum in his breast4 ,sidenote3 ,of course ,i know that it is better to build a cathedral than to make a boot2 but ,i think it better actually to make a boot than only to dream about building a cathedral4--,,ellen ,,thornycroft ,,fowler4 ,ye wise professors of bookish things1 ,that burden the souls of men1 ,go trade your lore for a boy's glad wings1 ,and fly to the stars again4 ,nor grope through a shrunken1 shrivelled world ,that the years have made uncouth1 ,but march 'neath the flaunting flags unfurled ,by the valiant hands of youth4 ,sidenote3 ,the most enviable of all titles is the character of an honest man4--,,abraham ,,lincoln4 ,oh1 never the lamp of age burns low ,in its cold and empty cup4 ,but youth comes by with his face aglow1 ,and a beacon-light leaps up4 ,the gloomiest skies grow bright and gay1 ,and the whispered clouds of doubt ,are swept from the brows of the world away ,by a boy's triumphant shout4 ,sidenote3 ,an act of yours is not simply the thing you do1 but it is also the way you do it4--,,phillips ,,brooks4 ,of the multitudes of boys who are to become the world's victors1 he will succeed best who earliest in life learns carefully to observe and to appreciate the character of his surroundings1 and to build into the structure of his manhood the high and abiding influences that come to his hands4 ,as one of our great thinkers given to deep introspection has so impressively said1 life1 itself1 may be compared to a building in the course of construction4 ,it rises slowly1 day by day1 through the years4 ,every new lesson we learn lays a block on the edifice which is rising silently within us4 ,every experience1 every touch of another life on ours1 every influence that impresses us1 every book we read1 every conversation we have1 every act of our commonest days adds to the invisible building4 ,sidenote3 ,always say a kind word if you can1 if only that it may come in1 perhaps1 with singular opportuneness1 entering some mournful man's darkened room like a beautiful firefly1 whose happy convolutions he cannot but watch1 forgetting his many troubles4--,,arthur ,,helps4 ,sidenote3 ,not in war1 not in wealth1 not in tyranny1 is there any happiness to be found--only in kindly peace1 fruitful and free4--,,ruskin4 ,sidenote3 ,you must help your fellow-men2 but the only way you can help them is by being the noblest and the best man that it is possible for you to be4--,,phillips ,,brooks4 ,sidenote3 ,the humblest subscriber to a mechanics' institute has easier access to sound learning than had either ,solomon or ,aristotle1 yet both ,solomon and ,aristotle lived the intellectual life4--,,hammerton4 ,plenty of good1 wholesome play and healthful recreation1 every boy needs and must have if he means to round out a fine physical and moral development1 but idleness and indifference1 evils that creep into the hours that are given up to something that is neither work nor play1 must never be tolerated4 ,the ruin of most men dates from some vacant hour1 says ,hillard4 ,occupation is the armor of the soul2 and the train of ,idleness is borne up by all the vices4 ,i remember a satirical poem1 in which the devil is represented as fishing for men and adapting his baits to the taste and temperament of his prey2 but the idler1 he said1 pleased him most1 because he bit the naked hook4 ,to a young man away from home1 friendless and forlorn in a great city1 the hours of peril are those between sunset and bedtime2 for the moon and stars see more of evil in a single hour than the sun in his whole day's circuit4 ,the poet's visions of evening are all compact of tender and soothing images4 ,they bring the wanderer to his home1 the child to his mother's arms1 the ox to his stall1 and the weary laborer to his rest4 ,but to the gentle-hearted youth who is thrown upon the rocks of a pitiless city1 'homeless amid a thousand homes1' the approaching evening brings with it an aching sense of loneliness and desolation1 which comes down upon the spirit like darkness upon the earth4 ,in this mood his best impulses become a snare to him2 and he is led astray because he is social1 affectionate1 sympathetic1 and warm-hearted4 ,if there be a young man thus circumstanced within the sound of my voice1 let me say to him1 that books are the friends of the friendless1 and that a library is the home of the homeless4 ,a taste for reading will always carry you into the best possible society1 and enable you to converse with men who will instruct you by their wisdom1 and charm you with their wit2 who will soothe you when fretted1 refresh you when weary1 counsel you when perplexed1 and sympathize with you at all times4 ,sidenote3 ,the man who tries and succeeds is one degree less of a hero than the man who tries and fails and yet goes on trying4--,,ellen ,,thornycroft ,,fowler4 ,sidenote3 ,oh1 do not pray for easy lives--pray to be stronger men4 ,do not pray for tasks equal to your powers1--pray for powers equal to your tasks4--,,phillips ,,brooks4 ,books are the voices of the dumb1 ,the tongues of brush and pen2 ,the ever-living kernels from ,the passing husks of men4 ,sidenote3 ,to know how to grow old is the master-work of wisdom1 and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living4--,,henri ,,frederic ,,amiel4 ,it is from good books as well as from living personages that boys will receive much of the good advice which they must follow in order that they may make the most of life4 ,life is too short for a boy to investigate everything for himself4 ,there is much that he must accept as being true4 ,he has not the time to follow every road to its end and ascertain if the sign-posts have all told the truth4 ,strive as we may we are still dependent for much of our information upon the hearsay of others4 ,no one person can begin to know everything4 ,sidenote3 ,if instead of a gem or even a flower1 we could cast the gift of a lovely thought into the heart of a friend1 that would be giving as the angels give4--,,george ,,macdonald4 ,sidenote3 ,what must of necessity be done you can always find out1 beyond question1 how to do4--,,ruskin4 ,sidenote3 ,when ,i hear people say that circumstances are against them1 ,i always retort3 ,you mean that your will is not with you6 ,i believe in the will--,i have faith in it4--,,elizabeth ,,barrett ,,browning4 ,every thinking boy clearly understands that he knows much more to-day than he did a year ago4 ,and he has good reason for thinking that if he shall remain among the living he will know many things a year from now that he does not know to-day4 ,to live is to learn4 ,hence it is that youth should be modest in the presence of age1 for silver hair and wisdom are more than likely to dwell together4 ,no youth should think too lightly of his own mental endowments and his fund of information1 neither should he permit his very lack of knowledge to lead him to think that he has acquired about all the secrets that nature and the great world have to divulge4 ,every boy should be cool-headed1 clear-headed1 long-headed1 level-headed1 but not big-headed4 ,should he become afflicted with a serious attack of enlargement of the brain it is more than likely that when he has reached the years of soberer manhood he will look back with a sense of good-humored humiliation to ,,my ,,boyhood ,,dreams ,sidenote3 ,if you do not scale the mountain1 you cannot view the plain4--,,chinese4 ,i remember1 ,i remember ,when ,i was seventeen2 ,i was the cleverest young man ,the world had ever seen4 ,the universe seemed simple then1 ,but now 'tis little joy ,to know ,i don't know lots of things ,i did know when a boy4 ,sidenote3 ,there is no substitute for thorough-going1 ardent1 sincere earnestness4--,,dickens4 ,i remember1 ,i remember ,this old world seemed so slow2 ,i'd teach it how to conquer things ,when once ,i got a show6 ',twas such a charming fairy tale6 ,but now 'tis sorry play ,to find how hard ,i have to work ,to get three meals a day4 ,sidenote3 ,to leave undone those things which we ought to do1 to leave unspoken the word of recognition or appreciation that we should have said1 is perhaps as positive a wrong as it is to do the thing we should not have done4--,,lillian ,,whiting4 ,i remember1 ,i remember ,the things ,i planned to do2 ,i meant to take this poor old earth ,and make it over new4 ,it was a most delightful dream2 ,but now 'tis little cheer ,to know the world when ,i am gone ,won't know that ,i was here4 ,sidenote3 ,those who can take the lead are given the lead4--,,arthur ,t4 ,,hadley4 ,sidenote3 ,when a family rises early in the morning1 conclude the house to be well governed4--,,chinese4 ,this somewhat overdrawn picture of human conceit and egotism holds a lesson for each and all of us4 ,he who knows it all can learn no more1 and he who can learn no more is likely to die ignorant4 ,there are guide-posts all along our ways which if heeded will direct us toward the very destinations we should reach4 ,and nothing else is so full of suggestion and inspiration as is a good book4 ,in it we can enter the very heart of a man without being abashed by the author's august presence4 ,sidenote3 ,duty determines destiny4 ,destiny which results from duty performed may bring anxiety and perils1 but never failure and dishonor4--,,william ,,mckinley4 ,when quite young1 the poet1 ,cowley1 happened upon a copy of ,spenser's ,faerie ,queen1 which chanced to be nearly the only book at hand1 and becoming interested he read it carefully and often1 until1 enchanted thereby1 he irrevocably determined to be a poet4 ,the effect this same poem had upon the ,earl of ,southampton when he first read it is worth remembering4 ,as soon as the book was finished ,spenser took it to this noble patron of poets and sent it up to him4 ,the earl read a few pages and said to a servant1 ,take the writer twenty pounds4 ,still he read on1 and presently he cried in rapture1 ,carry that man twenty pounds more4 ,entranced he continued to read1 but presently he shouted3 ,go turn that fellow out of the house1 for if ,i read further ,i shall be ruined6 ,sidenote3 ,laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him4--,,franklin4 ,dr4 ,franklin tells us that the chance perusal of ,de ,foe's ,essay on ,projects influenced the principal events and course of his life4 ,the reading of the ,lives of the ,saints caused ,ignatius ,loyola to form the purpose of creating a new religious order1--which purpose eventuated in the powerful society of the ,jesuits4 ,sidenote3 ,it is faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth looking at4--,,oliver ,,wendell ,,holmes4 ,dickens's earliest and best literary work1 the ,pickwick ,papers1 was begun at the suggestion of a publisher of a magazine for whom ,dickens was doing some job-work at the time4 ,he was asked to write a serial story to fit some comic pictures which chanced to be in the publisher's possession4 ,sidenote3 ,blessed is he who has found his work4 ,from the heart of the worker rises the celestial force1 awakening him to all nobleness1 to all knowledge4--,,thomas ,,carlyle4 ,while yet a mere boy ,scott chanced upon a copy of ,percy's ,reliques of ,ancient ,poetry1 which he read and re-read with great interest4 ,he purchased a copy as soon as he could get the necessary sum of money and thus was early instilled into his soul a taste for poetry in the writing of which he was destined to attain such eminence4 ,the translation of ,gtz von ,berlichingen was ,scott's first literary effort and this work1 ,carlyle says1 had a very large and lasting influence on the great novelist's future career4 ,in his opinion this translation was the prime cause of ',marmion' and the ',lady of the ,lake1' with all that has followed from the same creative hand4 ,truly a grain of seed that had lighted in the right soil4 ,for if not firmer and fairer1 it has grown to be taller and broader than any other tree2 and all nations of the earth are still yearly gathering of its fruit4 ,sidenote3 ,nothing that is excellent can be wrought suddenly4--,,jeremy ,,taylor4 ,sidenote3 ,character is centrality1 the impossibility of being displaced or overset4--,,emerson4 ,thus we see how much there is in life for those who observe their surroundings1 who read the directions on the guide-posts1 who study the guidebooks and who are wise enough to receive and to utilize the advice and suggestions that are everywhere offered them1 and which their reason tells them are good4 ,sidenote3 ,a good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life4--,,milton4 ,,chapter ,x ,,real ,,success ,sidenote3 ,resolve to cultivate a cheerful spirit1 a smiling countenance1 and a soothing voice4 ,the sweet smile1 the subdued speech1 the hopeful mind1 are earth's most potent conquerors1 and he who cultivates them becomes a very master among men4--,,hubbard4 ,boy ,wanted ,are you the boy8 ,if you have carefully read and digested the foregoing chapters you have a pretty clear understanding of the sort of boy the world prefers for a life partner4 ,you have learned that you must ,ask no favors of luck1--win your way like a man2 ,be active and earnest and plucky2 ,then your work will come out just about as you plan ,and the world will exclaim1 ,oh1 how lucky6 ,sidenote3 ,they also serve who only stand and wait4--,,milton4 ,in studying the history of the lives of successful men we are constantly being impressed with the thought that they make the most out of their surroundings1 whatever their surroundings may be4 ,they do not wait for a good chance to succeed2 they take such chances as they can get and make them good4 ,we very soon learn that ,sidenote3 ,two things fill me with awe3 the starry heavens above1 and the moral sense within4--,,kant4 ,the ones who shall win are the ones who will toil2 ,the future is all in our keeping2 ,though fortune may give us the seed and the soil1 ,we must still do the sowing and reaping4 ,sidenote3 ,the realities of to-day surpass the ideals of yesterday4--,,frothingham4 ,sidenote3 ,the person who considers everything will never decide on anything4--,,italian4 ,we learn1 also1 that one may achieve a full measure of success without accumulating much money1 and may accumulate much money without achieving success4 ,mere wealth is no more success than fools' gold is real gold1 says one of our wise essayists4 ,collaterals do not take the place of character4 ,a man obtains thousands or millions of dollars by legal or illegal thieving1 and society1 instead of sending him to prison1 receives him in its parlors4 ,men bow low when he passes1 as in the fable the people bowed to the golden idols that were strapped on the back of a donkey1 who was ass enough to swell with pride in the thought that all this reverence was for him4 ,the man who puts his trust in gold and deposits his heart in the bank1 and thinks money means success1 is like the starving traveler in the desert1 who1 seeing a bag in the distance1 found in it1 instead of food which he sought1 nothing but gold1 and flung it from him in disappointment1 and died for want of something that could save his life4 ,the soul will starve if gold alone administers to its needs4 ,better to be a man than merely a millionaire4 ,better to have a head and heart than merely houses and lands4 ,sidenote3 ,nobody can carry three watermelons under one arm4--,,spanish4 ,it is along such lines of thinking that ,i offer these thoughts ,,on ,,getting ,,rich ,sidenote3 ,when men speak ill of thee1 live so that nobody will believe them4--,,plato4 ,get riches1 my boy6 ,grow as rich as you can2 ',tis the laudable aim of each diligent man ,of life's many blessings his share to secure1 ,nor go through this world ill-conditioned and poor4 ,get riches1 my boy6 ,ah1 but hearken you1 mind6 ,get riches1 but those of the genuine kind4 ,get riches1--not dollars and acres unless ,you thoughtfully use them to brighten and bless4 ,sidenote3 ,the great high-road of human welfare lies along the old highway of steadfast well-being and well-doing1 and they who are the most persistent1 and work in the truest spirit1 will invariably be the most successful2 success treads on the heels of every right effort4--,,samuel ,,smiles4 ,get riches1 not such as with money are bought1 ,but those that with love and high thinking are wrought2 ,get rubies of righteousness1 jewels of grace1 ,whose brightness ,time's passing shall never efface4 ,get riches6 ,do not1 as the foolish will do1 ,in getting your money let money get you ,to steal life's high purpose from heart and from head ,and prison the soul in a pocket instead4 ,get riches6 ,get gold that is pure and refined2 ,get light from above2 get the love of mankind2 ,get gladness through all of life's journey2 and then ,get heaven1 forever and ever4 ,amen4 ,sidenote3 ,he overcomes a stout enemy who overcomes his own anger4--,,greek4 ,the wide-awake boy will see the advantage of carrying in his thought these words of ,lavater3 ,he who sedulously attends1 pointedly asks1 calmly speaks1 coolly answers1 and ceases when he has no more to say is in possession of some of the best requisites of man4 ,sidenote3 ,stones and sticks are flung only at fruit-bearing trees4--,,persian4 ,the man of words and not of thoughts ,is like a great long row of naughts4 ,there is a gift beyond the reach of art1 of being eloquently silent1 says ,bovee1 and ,caroline ,fox tells us that the silence which precedes words is so much grander than the grandest words because in it are created those thoughts of which words are the mere outward clothing4 ,to speak to no purpose is as idle as the clanging of tinkling cymbals4 ,sidenote3 ,let every man be occupied1 and occupied in the highest employment of which his nature is capable1 and die with the consciousness that he has done his best4--,,sydney ,,smith4 ,a thoughtful man will never set ,his tongue a-going and forget ,to stop it when his brain has quit ,a-thinking thoughts to offer it4 ,if thou thinkest twice before thou speakest once1 says ,penn1 thou wilt speak twice the better for it4 ,it is this matter of thinking1 of considering1 of weighing one's words and deeds that compels the moments1 the days and the years to bring the success that some mistakenly think is only a matter of chance4 ,sidenote3 ,it is an uncontroverted truth that no man ever made an ill figure who understood his own talents1 nor a good one who mistook them4--,,swift4 ,it is this habit of careful thinking that is going to make you remember that you owe it not only to yourself to make your life the truest success you can1 but you owe it to your family1 your friends1 your enemies--if such you have--to the whole world with which you are in partnership1 and to the stars above you4 ,sidenote3 ,the great successes of the world have been affairs of a second1 a third1 nay1 a fiftieth trial4--,,john ,,morley4 ,but above all others there is one who1 either in spirit or in her living presence1 must ever and always be near to you1 and for whose sake you will--,god helping you6--stand up in your boots and be a man6 ,,the ,,mother',s ,,dream ,sidenote3 ,be what nature intended you for1 and you will succeed2 be anything else1 and you will be ten thousand times worse than nothing4--,,sydney ,,smith4 ,boy1 your mother's dreaming2 there's a picture pure and bright ,that gladdens all her gracious tasks at morning1 noon and night2 ,a picture where is blended all the beauty born of hope1 ,a view that takes the whole of life within its loving scope4 ,sidenote3 ,choose always the way that seems the best1 however rough it may be4--,,pythagoras4 ,she's dreaming1 fondly dreaming1 of the happy future when ,her boy shall stand the equal of his grandest fellow men ,her boy1 whose heart with goodness she has labored to imbue1 ,shall be1 in her declining years1 her lover proud and true4 ,sidenote3 ,courage consists1 not in blindly overlooking danger1 but in meeting it with the eyes open4--,,jean ,,paul ,,richter4 ,she's growing old2 her cheeks have lost the blush and bloom of spring1 ,but oh6 her heart is proud because her son shall be a king2 ,shall be a king of noble deeds1 with goodness crowned1 and own ,the hearts of all his fellow men1 and she shall share his throne4 ,boy1 your mother's dreaming2 there's a picture pure and bright ,that gladdens all her gracious tasks at morning1 noon and night2 ,a view that takes the whole of life within its loving scope2 ,o ,boy1 beware6 you must not mar that mother's dream and hope4 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible4 ,some minor corrections of spelling and puctuation have been made4 ,italic text has been marked with underscores4