,,transcriber',s ,,notes3 ,italicized text is surrounded by underscores3 italics4 ,obvious typographical errors have been corrected4 ,,ambition ,,and ,,success ,,by ,,orison ,,swett ,,marden ,author of 8,character10 8,cheerfulness10 etc4 ,,new ,,york ,,thomas ,y4 ,,crowell ,,company ,,publishers ,,copyright1 #aiai1 ,,by ,,thomas ,y4 ,,crowell ,,company ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i ,,what ,,is ,,ambition8 #a ,,ii ,,the ,,satisfied ,,man #g ,,iii ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,environment #ag ,,iv ,,unworthy ,,ambitions #bg ,v ,,ambition ,,knows ,,no ,,age ,,limit #cg ,,vi ,,make ,,your ,,life ,,count #dd ,,vii ,,visualize ,,yourself ,,in ,a ,,better ,,position #eb ,,viii ,,thwarted ,,ambition #fj ,,ix ,,why ,,don',t ,,you ,,begin8 #fh ,,ambition ,,chapter ,i ,,what ,,is ,,ambition8 8,ambition is the spur that makes man struggle with destiny3 it is heaven's own incentive to make purpose great1 and achievement greater40 ,in a factory where mariners' compasses are made1 the needles1 before they are magnetized1 will lie in any position1 wherever they are placed1 but from the moment they have been touched by the mighty magnet and have been electrified1 they are never again the same4 ,they have taken on a mysterious power and are new creatures4 ,before they are magnetized1 they do not answer the call of the ,north ,star1 the magnetic pole does not have any effect upon them1 but the moment they have been magnetized they swing to the magnetic north1 and are ever after loyal and true to their affinity4 ,multitudes of people1 like an unmagnetized needle1 lie motionless1 unresponsive to any stimulus until they are touched by that mysterious force we call ambition4 ,whence comes this overmastering impulse which pushes human beings on1 each to his individual goal8 ,where is the source of ambition1 and how and when does it gain entrance into our lives8 ,how few of us ever stop to think what ambition really means1 its cause1 or significance6 ,yet1 if we could explain just what ambition is1 we could explain the mystery of the universe4 ,the instinctive impulse to keep pushing on and up is the most curious and the most interesting thing in human life4 ,it exists in every normal human being1 and is just as pronounced and as real as the instinct of self-preservation4 ,i believe this incessant inward prompting1 call it ambition or what we will1 this something which pushes men to their goal1 is the expression in man of the universal force of evolution which is flowing ,godward1 that it is a part of the great cosmic plan of creation4 ,we do not create this urge1 we do not manufacture it4 ,every normal person feels this imperious must which is back of the flesh1 but not of it1 this internal urge which is ever pushing us on1 even at the cost of our discomfort and sacrifice4 ,it is a part of every atom1 for all atoms are alive1 and this upward impulse is in every one of them4 ,it is in the instinct of the bee1 the ant1 and in all forms of insect and animal life4 ,the same kind of urge that is in the seed buried out of sight and which is ever pushing it up and out through the soil1 prodding it to develop itself to the utmost and to give its beauty and fragrance to the world1 is in each one of us4 ,it is ever pushing us1 urging us on to fuller and completer expression1 to a larger1 more beautiful life4 ,but for this desire to get on and get up1 this ,god-urge1 everything1 even the universe itself1 would collapse4 ,inertia would bring everything to a standstill4 ,if we obey this call we expand1 blossom into beauty and develop into fruitage1 but if we neglect or dissipate it1 if we only half obey it1 we remain mere scrub plants1 without flower or fruitage4 ,that mysterious urge within us never allows us to rest but is always prodding us for our good1 because there is no limit to human growth there is no satisfying human ambition--man's higher aspiration4 ,when we reach the height which looks so attractive from below1 we find our new position as unsatisfying as the old1 and a perpetual call to go higher still rings in our ears4 ,a divine impulse constantly urges us to reach our highest ideal4 8,faith and the ideal still remain the most powerful levers of progress and of happiness10 says ,jean ,finot4 8,did you ever hear of a man who had striven all his life faithfully and singly toward an object10 asked ,thoreau1 8and in no measure obtained it8 ,if a man constantly aspires1 is he not elevated8 ,did ever a man try heroism1 magnanimity1 truth1 sincerity1 and find that there was no advantage in them1--that it was a vain endeavor80 ,aspiration finally becomes inspiration and ennobles the whole life4 ,when the general habit of always aspiring1 moving upwards and climbing to something higher and better is formed1 all the undesirable qualities and the vicious habits will fade away2 they will die from lack of nourishment4 ,only those things grow in our nature which are fed4 ,the quickest way to kill them is to cut off their nourishment4 ,the craving for something higher and better is the best possible antidote or remedy for the lower tendencies which one wishes to get rid of4 ,every faintest aspiration that springs up in our heart is a heavenly seed within us which will grow and develop into rich beauty if only it be fed1 encouraged4 ,the better things do not grow either in material or mental soil without care and nourishment4 ,only weeds1 briers1 and noxious plants thrive easily4 ,most young people seem to think that ambition is a quality that is born in one and which cannot be materially changed1 but the greatest ambition may be very materially injured in many different ways4 ,the habit of procrastination1 of postponing1 the habit of picking out the easier tasks and putting off the difficult ones1 for example1 will very seriously impair the ambition4 ,whatever affects the ideals affects the ambition4 ,ambition often begins very early to knock for recognition4 ,if we do not heed its voice1 if it gets no encouragement after appealing to us for years1 it gradually ceases to trouble us1 because1 like any other unused quality or function1 it deteriorates or disappears when unused4 ,god is whispering into the ear of all existence1 of every created thing 8,look up40 ,every sentient thing in the universe seems to be trying to get to a higher level4 ,everything is in the process of evolution1 and the evolution is always upward4 ,the butterfly does not become a grub4 ,it is not the evolutionary law4 ,the grub develops into a butterfly4 ,it is never the other way4 ,be careful how you discourage or refuse to heed that inner voice which commands you to go forward1 for if you do it will become less and less insistent until finally it will cease to prod you1 and when ambition is dead deterioration has set in4 ,that inner call to go forward1 to push on to a higher good1 is ,god's voice2 heed it4 ,it is your best friend and will lead you into light and joy4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,satisfied ,,man ,f4 ,w4 ,robertson has said1 8,whoever is satisfied with what he does has reached his culminating point--he will progress no more4 ,man's destiny is to be not dissatisfied1 but forever unsatisfied40 ,one of the saddest things in life is to see men and women who started out with high hopes and proud ambitions settle down in mediocre positions1 half satisfied just merely to get a living1 to plod along indifferently4 ,oh1 what tragedy there is in being content with mediocrity1 in getting into a state where one is indifferent to the larger1 better things of life6 ,when you are satisfied with the life you are living1 with the work you are doing1 with the thought you are thinking1 with the dreams you are dreaming1 satisfied with the character you are building1 with your ideals1 you may be sure that you are already beginning to deteriorate4 ,there is little hope for the man who feels satisfied with himself1 who does not know1 8the noble discontent that stirs the acorn to become an oak40 ,man's ambition to improve something somewhere every day to get a little further on and a little higher up than he was the day before1 an insatiable passion for bettering things all along the line1 is the secret of human progress4 ,do you realize1 my young friend1 that if the motive were big enough1 if you had a very unusual incentive1 you could materially improve upon what you now are satisfied to consider your best endeavor8 ,as an employee you may think you are doing your level best1 and are conscientious1 loyal1 true and industrious2 and yet1 if a great prize should be offered you to bring your work up to a certain higher standard for the next sixty days1 would you rest until you had succeeded in very greatly improving what you now think is your best work8 ,don't you think1 you who pride yourself that it would be impossible to better what you are now doing1 that if your name were over the door as proprietor instead of the name of the company you work for you could jack yourself up about fifty per cent2 that you would find some way of doing it8 ,don't you think you would be a little more ambitious1 make a little better use of your time1 that you would try to call out a little more ingenuity and effectiveness1 a little more resourcefulness8 ,do you think you would jog along in the same half-hearted manner1 thinking more of your salary than of your opportunity to absorb the secrets of your employer's success8 ,do you think you would stand by without protest and see the merchandise injured1 or wasted1 when you could stop it2 or that you would be so careless or make so many blunders yourself8 ,don't you think the prize to be gained would make you take a little more interest in things than you do now2 make you a little more alert1 more eager for the success of the business8 ,it is a deplorable sight to see so many young men and young women apparently so satisfied with themselves1 with what they are doing1 that they have no great yearnings1 no insatiable longing for something higher and better4 ,multitudes of capable employees are satisfied to plod along in mediocrity instead of rising to the heights1 where their ability would naturally carry them4 ,i have a friend who has a much superior brain to the man he is working for1 and yet for a great many years he has been on an ordinary salary4 ,he has never married4 ,he takes life in an easy-going way and whenever ,i have tried to encourage him to go into business for himself1 to show him how much superior he is to the man he is working for1 he always says1 8,why should ,i exert myself more or take on greater business1 responsibilities8 ,i have nobody but myself to consider4 ,i like to have a good time1 and don't want to have the worry1 the care and anxiety of running a business of my own1 although ,i know perfectly well ,i could do it if ,i wanted to40 ,of course1 the higher up in the world a man gets the greater his responsibility1 but think of the satisfaction which comes from the consciousness that he has made the most of his talents1 that he has not buried any of them in a napkin1 the satisfaction which comes from the feeling that he has made good1 that he has delivered his message to the world and delivered it like a man1 that he has fulfilled his mission1 that he has made the most possible of the material and the opportunities given him4 ,the feeling that he has no regrets1 that he has done his level best more than compensates for any additional effort and greater responsibility4 ,we tend to become like our aspirations4 ,if we constantly aspire and strive for something better and higher and nobler1 we cannot help broadening and improving4 ,the ambition that is dominant in the mind tends to work itself out in the life4 ,if this ambition is sordid and low and animal1 we shall develop these qualities1 for our lives follow our ideals4 ,civilization has made its greatest advancement under the stress of necessity1 under the leadership of a great ambition to satisfy the heart's yearnings for better things4 ,we do our best work while we are trying desperately to match our dreams with their reality4 ,the struggle of man to rise a little higher1 to get into a little more comfortable position1 to secure a little better education1 a little better home1 to gain a little more culture and refinement1 to possess that power which comes from being in a position of broader and wider influence through the acquirement of property1 is what has developed the character and the stamina of our highest types of manhood to-day4 ,this upward life-trend gives others confidence in us4 ,when we have attained a little success1 when we have gained a little public applause1 how many of us think we can relax our efforts1 and before we realize it our ambition has disappeared1 our energy evaporated4 ,a sort of lethargy comes over us and lulls us into inaction4 ,first successes1 and especially early successes1 to many act like an opiate4 ,they are overcome with inertia which only an unsatisfied and determined ambition can overcome4 ,it takes more grit and a stronger will to force ourselves to do our level best after we have demonstrated without doubt that we have the ability to do what we undertake1 than it does to achieve the actual first success itself4 ,one of the greatest enemies to ambition is personal inertia1 and it is one of the hardest things to overcome4 ,the temptation to slide along the line of the least resistance1 to get into a comfortable position and take one's ease1 is so strong that many allow it to master them4 ,the ambition is not persistent enough or strenuous enough to shame them out of their inertia1 or prod them on to greater things4 ,mediocrity is often a premium upon laziness4 ,the poet tells us1 8,he who would climb the heights sublime1 ,or breathe the purer air of life1 ,must not expect to rest in ease1 ,but brace himself for toil or strife40 ,one of the most discouraging problems in the world is that of trying to help the ambitionless1 the half-satisfied1 those who have not discontent enough in their natures to push them on1 initiative enough to begin things1 and persistency enough to keep going4 ,if a young man is apparently satisfied to drift along in a humdrum way1 half content with his accomplishments1 undisturbed by the fact that he has used but a very small part of himself1 a very small percentage of his real ability1 that his energies are running to waste in all sorts of ways1 you cannot do much with him4 ,if he lacks ambition1 life1 energy and vigor--is willing to slide along the line of the least resistance and exerts himself as little as possible1 there is nothing upon which to build4 ,it is the young man who is not satisfied with what he does1 and who is determined to better his best every day1 who struggles to express the ideal1 to make the possible in him a reality1 that wins4 ,activity is the law of growth2 effort the only means of improvement4 ,whenever men have obeyed their lower nature and ceased to struggle to better their condition1 they have deteriorated physically1 mentally and morally2 while1 just in proportion as they have striven honestly and insistently to improve their situation1 they have developed a larger and nobler human type4 ,when a man who is said to be the highest salaried official in the ,united ,states was asked to give the secret of his success1 he replied1 8,i haven't succeeded4 ,no real man ever succeeds4 ,there is always a larger goal ahead40 ,it is the small man who succeeds in his own estimation4 ,really great men never reach their goal1 because they are constantly pushing their horizon out further and further1 getting a broader vision1 a larger outlook1 and their ambition grows with their achievement4 ,if you are getting a fair salary in a mediocre position there is danger of hypnotizing yourself into the belief that there is no need to exert yourself very much to get up higher4 ,there is danger of limiting your ambition so that you will be half content to remain a perpetual clerk when you have the ability to do much better4 ,this satisfaction with the lesser when the greater is possible often results from relatives or friends telling you that you are doing well1 and that you would better let well enough alone4 ,these advisers say3 8,don't take chances with a certainty4 ,it is true you are not getting a very big salary1 but it is a sure thing1 and if you give it up with the hope of something better you may do worse40 ,don't let any one or any conditions make you think you have not the ability to match your longings4 ,wrapped up in every human being there are energies which1 if unfolded1 concentrated1 and given proper attention will develop his highest ideal4 ,our longings are creative principles1 prophecies1 indicative of potencies equal to the task of actual achievement4 ,these latent potencies are not given to mock us4 ,there are no sealed orders wrapped within the brain without the accompanying ability to execute them4 ,when you once get a glimpse of yourself as you were intended by your ,maker to be1 with all of your latent possibilities developed into realities2 when you once see yourself as the superb man it is possible for you to be1 nothing and no one but yourself can prevent you from attaining your ambition4 ,it is only the man who has stopped growing that feels satisfied with his achievements4 ,the growing man feels a great lack of wholeness1 of completeness4 ,everything in him seems to be unfinished because it is growing4 ,the expanding man is always dissatisfied with his accomplishment1 is always reaching out for something larger1 fuller1 completer4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,environment ,environment has a great deal to do with man's ambition and achievement4 ,it may make all the difference to you1 my friend1 between success and mediocrity1 whether you are in a favorable environment and keep close to people who inspire and encourage you1 who communicate to you the enthusiasm of their example1 or whether you are surrounded by discordant conditions1 and associate with people who have an opposite effect upon you4 ,we cannot associate with a really ambitious person without catching his spirit to a greater or less extent4 ,we unconsciously reflect the people with whom we mingle much4 ,their mark is left upon us4 ,we may not be able to see it ourselves1 but other people can detect it4 ,our ,indian schools sometimes publish1 side by side1 photographs of the ,indian youths as they come from the reservation and as they look when they are graduated--well dressed1 intelligent1 with the fire of ambition in their eyes4 ,we predict great things for them2 but the majority of those who go back to their tribes after struggling awhile to keep up their new standard gradually drop back to their old manner of living4 ,there are1 of course1 many notable exceptions1 but these are unusually strong characters1 able to resist the downward-dragging tendencies about them4 ,if you interview the great army of failures1 you will find that multitudes in it have failed because they never got into a stimulating1 encouraging environment1 because their ambition was never aroused1 or because they were not strong enough to rally under depressing1 discouraging1 or vicious surroundings4 ,how often we see men and women with splendid brain power1 with robust physiqe1 apparently superbly equipped for great careers1 and yet they are living very ordinary lives1 plodding along perhaps in mediocrity6 ,this may be because they have never been aroused1 and are totally ignorant of their powers4 ,they may never have looked into the mirror of others who were succeeding along their lines and caught a glimpse of their own possibilities4 ,whatever you do in life1 make any sacrifice necessary to keep in an ambition-arousing atmosphere1 an environment that will stimulate you to self-development4 ,keep close to people who understand you1 who believe in you1 who will help you to discover yourself and encourage you to make the most of your life4 ,choose companions and friends who are in sympathy with your ambition and who will give you their moral support and make you do what you are capable of doing4 ,a few such friends may make all the difference to you between a grand success and a mediocre existence4 ,we are all diamonds in the rough4 ,our environment may grind one1 two or twenty facets4 ,some people never come in contact with the wheel which grinds a facet and lets in the light to reveal the hidden wonders4 ,many are buried as rough diamonds even though there may have been locked up in them great brilliancy and enormous value4 ,comparatively few human diamonds are ever so completely ground that all the hidden treasures are revealed4 ,yet how trifling are the things which sometimes reveal the man6 ,it may be the sight of a motto1 the hearing of a sermon1 a speech1 the reading of some inspiring life history or some stirring ambition-arousing book1 the encouraging conversation of a friend1 of some one who believes in us and sees in us something which we never knew was there4 ,i know men who had apparently lost their ambition1 who had been literally down and out1 but who1 by the reading of an inspiring book1 or listening to a stimulating sermon1 were thoroughly aroused to their possibilities even in a most discouraging environment and so completely transformed in a few months that they did not seem like the same individuals4 ,the speeches of ,wendell ,phillips1 ,webster1 and ,henry ,clay1 started a fire in many an ambitious youth which never went out1 but which became a beacon light in ,american history4 ,we all know that the old-fashioned debating societies and clubs woke up the ambition of many a youth in the early days of our country1 who might never have been heard from outside of his own little community but for the arousing influence of these debates4 ,the ambition of the boy who has lived on a farm in the back country is often aroused for the first time when he goes to the city4 ,to him the metropolis is a colossal world's fair1 where everybody's achievement is on exhibition4 ,the progressive spirit which pervades the city is like an electric shock to him and arouses all of his latent energies1 calls out his reserves4 ,everything he sees seems to be a summons to him to go forward1 to push on4 ,he is constantly reminded by his city environment of what others have done4 ,he sees the tremendous engineering feats1 great factories and offices1 vast businesses1 all huge advertisers of man's achievement1 and is stirred by an ambition to do something great himself4 ,ambition is contagious4 ,when a man meets others at the restaurant or club1 or in other social ways1 and hears accounts of their great successes1 greater achievement1 he immediately says to himself1 8,why can't ,i do it80 8,why don't ,i do it80 and if he is of any account he probably says1 8,i will do it60 ,then he goes back to his business with a new determination1 perhaps with new ideas and new conceptions of the possibilities of his own success4 ,i have known young business men in the country who have not been specially successful who got tremendous impetus to their ambition by visiting larger city concerns in the same line of business4 ,the greater successes touched their pride and they went back home and began to brace up and build up4 ,the same thing is true in professional life4 ,the young country doctor visits a city hospital1 attends clinics1 sees operations by noted surgeons1 and he goes home with his ambition fired and makes a vigorous resolution to try harder to be somebody in his own profession4 ,men who are in business in small towns where they have no competition1 and where they very seldom come in contact with those who are successful in their line of trade1 are in constant danger of getting into a rut4 ,their ambition unconsciously becomes dulled1 the energy oozes out of their efforts1 and they take things easier1 jog along in the same old manner year after year1 and before they realize it dry rot gets into their business4 ,it is much easier to keep up one's interest and enthusiasm to do things worth while when we are right in touch with the ambitious1 with those who are forging ahead with all their might1 and who are perhaps working under great difficulties4 ,one of the unfortunate things about small towns and country places is the lack of stimulus to ambition4 ,many people living in remote country districts do not come in contact with standards by which they can measure and compare their own powers4 ,they live a quiet uneventful life1 and there is little in their environment to arouse the faculties which are not active in their vocation4 ,if you are ambitious to get on you will learn some splendid lessons from studying the qualities of those who have succeeded along the line of your ambition4 ,you will find that it is a characteristic of the winner1 that he is always thinking upon his life theme1 is always headed towards the goal of his ambition1 always planning along the line of his dreams4 ,he talks the things1 acts in the same direction1 his whole life is absorbed in his theme4 ,he radiates law1 medicine1 engineering1 or manufacturing4 ,by keeping his mind in a positive1 creative condition he is constantly encouraging his mental magnet to attract the thing he is studying4 ,if he is studying law he thinks law1 pictures himself pleading at court1 or giving advice in his office4 ,he becomes a law magnet to attract law4 ,i know a man who says he will not take chances of the demoralization and the deterioration which would be worked in his nature by associating with habitual failures4 ,he will have nothing to do with such people4 ,he avoids doing business with them1 for he says he finds that no matter how he may protest against it1 he is unconsciously influenced by them4 ,there is no denying that there is much truth in this4 ,we are unconsciously affected by the atmosphere surrounding us4 ,like attracts like4 ,successful people attract successful people4 ,failure attracts failure4 ,unlucky people attract unlucky people4 ,slovenly1 slipshod people attract others of the same sort4 8,birds of a feather flock together40 ,the failures get together2 the successes come together naturally4 ,on every hand we see young men who started out with brilliant prospects when they left college4 ,their friends predicted great things for them1 but somehow or other1 the enthusiasm of their school or college days soon oozed out4 ,the continual suggestion of possibility which came to them from their school environment1 the contagion from the ambitious spirit all about them1 seemed then to multiply their prospects1 to magnify their ability and to stir up their ambition until they really thought they were going to amount to something in the world1 were going to accomplish something2 but after they got away from the battery-charging institutions1 they gradually lost their enthusiasm2 their ambition dwindled4 ,their ideals changed with their environment4 ,little by little their dreams faded1 and they resigned themselves to mediocrity or hopeless failure4 ,there is no environment so unfavorable1 so discouraging1 no situation so disheartening that a youth who is made of the right kind of material cannot change it4 ,lincoln1 ,benjamin ,franklin1 ,fred ,douglas1 ,john ,wanamaker1 ,marshall ,field and thousands of other ,american boys found themselves in the midst of the most disheartening environment but made a new environment for themselves4 ,it is possible for you to do the same4 ,the great trouble with most of us is that we never get aroused1 never discover ourselves until late in life1--often too late to make much out of the remnant that is left4 ,it is very important that we become aroused to our possibilities when young1 thus we may overcome the most unfavorable environment and get the greatest possible efficiency out of our lives4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,unworthy ,,ambitions ,there are scores of people in our great cities who do not really live at all4 ,they merely exist4 ,they are the slaves of a morbid ambition and a greed that has grown to be a monster4 ,many of these people take very little comfort2 they are always on a strain to keep up appearances1 to maintain homes in portions of the city where they can ill afford to live1 to keep automobiles when they can barely afford a bicycle1 to wear clothing and jewelry which is beyond their means1 and they keep themselves constantly worried over it1 killing their legitimate comfort and enjoyment through the exhaustion of the strain and stress1--and all for nothing that is real or permanent1 nothing that adds to their character or well being4 ,such people have a perfect mania for trying to make other people think they are better off than they really are1 that they amount to more than they really do1 that they cut a bigger figure in the world than is actually the case4 ,in other words1 they make themselves pitiable slaves of other people's eyes4 ,they go through life not doing the things they ought to do1 what is best for their welfare and growth4 ,their lives are superficial because they do not live in or deal in realities4 ,everything about them is deceiving4 ,they live masked lives4 ,few people know them as they really are4 ,they only know them as they pretend to be4 ,what do these people1 who are always chasing shadows1 get out of life1 anyway8 ,there is an ambition which reminds one of a bird whose voracious appetite can never be satisfied4 ,it grows on what it feeds1 and the more it eats1 the more ravenous the appetite4 ,woe be it to him who caters to a false ambition6 ,he follows it blindly1 expects that it will give him peace when it is satisfied1 but alas1 it is never satisfied4 ,it is like the water in the enchanted story3 the more the victim drank of it1 the greater was his burning thirst4 ,such an ambition is fatal1 and will surely wreck him who blindly pursues it4 ,it will ruin his health and will rob him of all that is dearest and sweetest in life4 ,there are a great many people in this country who are committing suicide upon many years of their lives by being slaves of an inordinate ambition4 ,one of the most pathetic phases of our civilization is that men and women in poor health1 devitalized from over-work1 are goaded on way beyond their strength by a fiendish ambition4 ,their pride and their vanity say to them1 8,now1 it will not do to slow down4 ,we must keep up the pace with our neighbors4 ,people who do not keep up appearances in these days are nobodies4 ,we must keep going1 no matter how we feel4 ,we must make more money1 we must show more evidence of our prosperity4 ,we must put up a better front or ,mrs4 ,grundy will pass the suspicion along that we are1 after all1 not much of a success1 that we lacked the ability to do what people thought we were going to do4 ,no matter how we feel we must keep up1 keep pushing1 keep going1 crowd on more steam1 take stimulants and drugs1 if necessary1 goad ourselves on4 ,it is absolutely imperative to keep pushing40 ,oh1 what fools pride and vanity make of us1 especially when we are in no condition to keep up the pace1 when we owe it to ourselves to slow down1 when it is positively wicked to crowd on more steam6 ,how many people are driven into the grave by the lash of a mortgage on a farm1 on a home1 or on their business1 put there in an attempt to satisfy some over-vaunting ambition6 ,debt has made more people miserable1 ruined the peace of mind of more human beings1 the comfort and the happiness of more homes1 than almost anything else in the universe4 ,it is a terrible thing to so mortgage oneself to others that we must make slaves of ourselves4 ,how much better to live simply1 to struggle on in poverty until we can improve our position than to compromise ourselves with debt1 sell ourselves to a mortgage1 or a bill of goods6 ,what an easy thing it is to borrow money1 to give a note or to give a mortgage6 ,we believe at the time that we can pay all right1 but no one can be certain that things will go all right with him4 ,no one knows what the times may bring forth4 ,no one knows whether his health and strength will be spared1 or how soon he may be physically or mentally disabled4 ,the only true measure of real success is the quality of the ambition4 ,if the animal figures too largely in your ambition1 if the quality is coarse1 the success will be cheap1 no matter how great the quantity4 ,it is an unfortunate thing that so many of our youth should start out in life with only one aim2 and that is to make money4 ,this becomes the leading purpose in their lives and warps their way of looking at things4 ,everything else is seen in dwarfed proportions4 ,they do not consider making a life1 building character2 they are bent only on making money4 ,this is the all-absorbing topic everywhere4 ,the goal we hold in the mind is the model which shapes our lives1 and its character is reflected in everything we do4 ,think1 therefore1 what the influence must be of pointing all our faculties1 focusing all of our energies upon the money-making goal6 ,how it must warp and twist and wrench out of their natural orbit the more delicate sentiments1 the finer faculties4 ,when everything in us looks moneyward1 and the gaze is held persistently upon the dollar and what it will bring1 what must be the havoc1 the tragedy1 the fatal damage in the affections1 the friendships1 and the social faculties6 ,when the affections are chilled and the friendships strangled what is there left in a man but the monster1 brute qualities8 ,this is why a youth who starts out with noble aspirations1 with fine sensibilities and responsive affections1 often becomes hardened in his business career4 ,his finer sensibilities and more delicate faculties atrophy from disuse1 because he overdevelops the grasping1 greedy1 selfish faculties by the modern mania for the almighty dollar4 ,the transformation is so insidious that he does not half realize it until he finds himself stooping to scheming and plotting and underhand cunning1 which would have shocked him a few years earlier4 ,when a man once gets in the power of the selfish1 greedy1 grasping monster within him1 which he has fed and catered to so long that it has become a giant1 it is almost impossible to wrench himself away1 and he often becomes the slave of the very thing he once despised and loathed4 ,it is always a question of what is uppermost in the ambition1 the dominant aim1 that shapes the life most4 ,when a man has pursued an aim for years which tends to dry up the best within him1 when he has used all of his life forces1 all of his energies1 to feed that unworthy ambition until it has become a monster which controls him1 he is a pitiable creature4 ,there is no more distressing sight in the world than that of one who is completely in the clutches of a heartless1 grasping1 greed4 ,spurred on by the morbid ambition which has taken possession of him1 he is madly pursuing the dollar which haunts him1 until he is deaf to all appeals of his finer self1 and has lost all taste for that which he once enjoyed4 ,multitudes of people seem to think that if they were only in an ideal environment1 where they would be free from worry or anxiety regarding the living-getting problem1 if they were free from pain and in vigorous health1 they would be perfectly happy4 ,as a matter of fact1 we are not half so dependent for happiness upon our environment1 or upon circumstances1 as we sometimes imagine we are4 ,false ambition1 envy and jealousy are responsible for much of our uneasiness1 our restlessness and discontent4 ,our minds are so intent upon what other people have and are doing that we do not get a tithe of the enjoyment and satisfaction out of our own work1 out of our own possessions1 that they should afford us4 ,an inordinate ambition1 a desire to get ahead of others1 a mania to keep up appearances at all hazards1 whether we can afford it or not1 all these things feed selfishness1 that corrosive acid which eats away our possible enjoyment and destroys the very sources of happiness4 ,the devouring ambition to get ahead of others in money making1 to outshine others socially1 develops a sordid1 grasping disposition which is the bane of happiness4 ,no man with greed developed big within him need expect to be happy4 ,neither contentment1 satisfaction1 serenity1 affection1 nor any other member of the happiness family can exist in the presence of greed1 or an inordinate1 selfish ambition4 ,we have had some conspicuous examples of political aspirants who have put their personal ambition above their duty to their party and their country4 ,time and again one or the other of the great political parties has been well-nigh ruined by a man who could put his own personal ambition against even his country's welfare4 ,it is a dangerous thing to put personal ambition above duty1 anyway1 but especially so to a politician or statesman1 who is rendered doubly dangerous if he possesses great magnetic qualities4 ,we do not always know where the following of ambition's call will lead us1 but we do know this1 that by being loyal to ambition and doing our best to follow it in its normal1 wholesome state1 when not perverted by selfishness1 by love of ease or self-gratification1 it will lead to our best and highest welfare1 that when we follow1 when we put ourselves in a position to give it the best and the freest scope1 it will lead us to the highest self-expression of which we are capable1 and will give us the greatest satisfaction4 ,we know1 too1 that when our ambition is perverted to base ends our lives go all awry2 when we are false to the higher voice within us1 we are discontented1 unhappy1 inefficient1 and our lives are ineffective4 ,when a man becomes so infatuated with the mania for wealth1 position1 fame or notoriety that he focuses his whole soul1 all his powers and energies1 upon a false ideal1--upon a selfish1 narrow goal1 he develops only a very small part of himself and he becomes very narrow4 ,he lives most who lives truest4 ,he lives most who touches life in the largest number of the largest and highest points4 ,don't start out in life with a false standard2 a truly great man makes official position and money and houses and estates look so mean and poor that we feel like sinking out of sight with our cheap laurels and our ill-earned gold4 ,,chapter ,v ,,ambition ,,knows ,,no ,,age ,,limit ,what has become of that something which in your youth keyed your determination up to such a lofty pitch8 ,what has become of that something in you which would not let you rest1 which robbed you of sleep1 which constantly prodded you1 bombarded you with visions of the great and wonderful things you were going to do in the future8 ,one of the earmarks of old age is the cooling down of the fires of ambition4 ,while they burn brightly1 as long as you feel just as eager and as determined as in your younger days to do your level best1 to get up and to get on in the world1 to keep growing1 to keep improving1 you are not aging very much4 ,your years may dispute this1 but as long as a man aspires1 as long as he is eager to grow1 as long as he yearns and struggles to better his best he is not old4 ,when we are getting along in years there is always a great temptation to make ourselves believe that we have a right to let up a bit and to take things easier1 to get rid of as much drudgery as possible4 ,we have less and less inclination for the strenuous struggle to attain that which characterized our youth4 ,the great danger at this time is that as we let up a bit in our efforts our ambition will decline1 all of our life standards drop4 ,many people are not quite as painstaking1 not quite as particular when they get along in years as in their younger days4 ,it is so much easier then to slide along easily1 not to trouble about one's dress and personal appearance1 to hypnotize oneself into thinking1 8,well1 it does not matter very much now1 ,i am no longer young40 ,one of the most difficult things one is called upon to do as the years pass is to keep his ambition from dying1 his ideals clear and clean-cut1 his interest in his work from getting stale4 ,the secret of keeping the ambition fresh and bright is in keeping up the interest4 ,the artist who is in love with his work1 no matter how old1 never loses his zest1 his enthusiasm4 ,he goes to his canvas in old age with all the interest and eagerness of his youth4 ,many men and women age through sheer laziness1 mental inertia1 indifference4 ,they are only half alive4 ,they are not willing to take the trouble to pay the price for perpetual youth1 to keep their ambition from lagging4 ,some people seem to think that the ambition to do a certain thing in life is a permanent quality which will remain with them4 ,it is not4 ,one of the first symptoms of age and deterioration in one's work is the gradual1 unconscious oozing out1 shrinkage1 of one's ambition4 ,there is no one quality in our lives that requires more careful watching and constant bracing up1 jacking up1 so to speak1 than our ambition1 especially when we are advancing in years1 and do not keep in an atmosphere which tends to arouse one to life's possibilities4 ,without realizing it1 or meaning to1 we then easily become victims of the human inclination to take things easy1 not to exert oneself very much4 ,no matter how high our youthful ambition1 it is very easy to let it wane with the years1 to allow our standards to drop4 ,the moment we cease to brace ourselves up1 to watch ourselves1 we begin to deteriorate1 just as a child does when his mother ceases to pay strict attention to him and lets him have his own way4 ,the tendency of the majority at every age of existence is to go along the line of least resistance1 to take the easiest way4 ,the race instinct to climb is continually at war with the lower nature which would drag it down4 ,even the noblest beings are not free from the struggle of the higher with the lower which goes on ceaselessly throughout nature4 ,it is the triumph over the lower that keeps the race on the ascent4 ,there is no more pitiable sight in the world than that of a person in whom ambition is dead1--a man who has repeatedly denied that inward voice which bids him up and on1 a man in whom ambition's fires have gone out from the lack of fuel4 ,there is always hope for a person1 no matter how bad he may be1 as long as his ambition is alive2 but when that has disappeared1 the great life-spur1 the impelling motive is gone4 ,it requires a great deal and a great variety of food to keep the ambition vigorous4 ,unless it is well fortified it does not amount to anything4 ,it must be backed by a robust will power1 stern resolve1 physical energy1 and great powers of endurance1 to be effective4 ,the habit of watching the ambition constantly and keeping it alive1 is absolutely imperative to those who would keep from deteriorating4 ,everything depends on the ambition4 ,if we lived and thought more scientifically there would not be such a dropping of standards1 such a dulling of ideals1 and letting down in our efforts with advancing years4 ,whatever our ambition may be1 nothing else can be quite so precious to most of us as life1 and we want that life at its best4 ,every normal person dreads to see the mark of old age1 the symptoms of decrepitude1 and wants to remain fresh1 buoyant1 robust1 as long as possible4 ,yet most people do not take sensible precautions to preserve their youth and vigor4 ,they violate the health laws1 longevity laws2 sap their vitality in foolish1 unnatural living1 in deteriorating habits4 ,i have a friend who is always referring to his age4 ,he has formed a habit of constantly dwelling upon his declining years1 and keeping the picture of decrepitude in his mind4 8,you know1 when a man gets past sixty he can't stand what he once could10 he will say4 ,the idea that our energies and forces must begin to decline and the fires of ambition die out after a certain age is reached has a most pernicious influence upon the mind4 ,we do not realize how impossible it is for us to go beyond our self-placed 8dead-line0 limits1 to do what we really believe we cannot do4 ,no one is old until the interest in life is gone out of him1 until his spirit becomes aged1 until his heart becomes cold and unresponsive2 as long as he touches life at many points he can not grow old in spirit4 ,a man is old1 no matter what his years1 when he is out of touch with youth1 with its ideals1 its points of view1 out of touch with the spirit of his times2 when he has ceased to be progressive and up-to-date4 ,many of the grandest characters that ever lived have retained their youthful mentality up to the very last of a long life4 ,there was no deterioration in the mind of ,marshall ,field4 ,when in his advanced years he never showed any inclination to take less pains1 any cooling of ambition1 any inclination to bank his fires1 to drop his standards1 to lower his ideals4 ,we know that ,gladstone's mind was right in its prime at eighty4 ,many a man signs his death warrant when he retires from business4 ,retiring from business to many means practically retiring from life1 that is1 from real living1 because they have nothing to retire to4 ,they have not prepared themselves for retirement to anything outside of routine business life4 ,they have lost most of their friends in their absorption in business and their exclusive mode of living4 ,they have never developed their social faculties1 their love of art1 of music1 or of reading4 ,the whole life has gone into one business channel and when out of this they are lost4 ,life means little without a purpose4 ,once his life aim is gone man simply exists--he does not really live4 ,a high ideal1 a lofty purpose1 a noble aim1 whatever tends to make man look up and struggle up1 tends to improve his health condition and prolong the life4 ,the soul that aspires1 other things being equal1 has the longest life4 ,aspiration is a perpetual tonic2 it stimulates all the faculties4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,make ,,your ,,life ,,count ,everywhere we see men and women doing the lower1 the commoner things1 seemingly satisfied to do them all their lives1 when they have the ability to do the higher4 ,many people do not start out with ambition enough to spur them to do big things4 ,they make a large career practically impossible at the very outset1 because they expect so little of themselves4 ,they have a narrow1 stingy view of life and of themselves which limits their ambition to a little1 rutty1 poverty-stricken groove4 ,if ,i could give the ,american youth but one word of advice1 it would be that which ,michael ,angelo wrote under a diminutive figure on a canvas in ,raphael's studio1 when he called and found the great artist out1 8,amplius10 meaning 8larger40 ,raphael needed no more4 ,this word meant volumes to him4 ,i advise every youth to frame this motto1 hang it1 up in his room1 in his store1 in his office1 in the factory where he works1 where it will stare him in the face4 ,constant contemplation of it will make his life broader and deeper4 ,a fine ambition is a splendid life steadier4 ,it holds us to our task2 keeps us from yielding to the hundred temptations that might ruin us4 ,what chaos there would be but for man's ambition to get up and get on in the world and to improve his condition4 ,nothing so strengthens the mind and enlarges the horizon of manhood as a constant effort to measure up to a worthy ambition4 ,it stretches the thought1 as it were1 to a larger measure1 and touches the life to finer issues4 8,i am determined to make my life count10 said a poor young immigrant with whom ,i was talking not long ago4 ,now1 there is a resolution that is worth while1 because it is backed by a high ambition1 the determined purpose to be a man1 to make his life one of service to humanity4 ,this young fellow works hard during the day1 studying in a night school1 and improving himself in every possible way in his odds and ends of time4 ,this is the sort of dead-in-earnestness that wins4 ,this is the sort of material that has made ,america distinctive among all the nations of the earth4 ,this is the sort of determination that gave us a ,lincoln1 an ,andrew ,jackson1 an ,edison1 a ,john ,muir--all our great men1 native born or adopted sons4 ,could any one have a nobler ambition than this--to make his life count8 ,one cannot imagine its failure1 backed up by dead-in-earnestness4 ,the quality of the ambitions of a people at any time locates them in the scale of civilization4 ,the ideals of an individual or a nation measure the actual condition and the future possibilities and probabilities4 ,the trouble with many youths is they start out with no definite plan1 no one unwavering aim1 for success1 no worth while goal in view4 ,they just look for a job4 ,it may fit them or it may not1 and they plod along1 doing their work indifferently1 with no spirit or ambition to push them towards the heights4 ,illustration3 ,underwood ,underwood ,,john ,,muir ,it is astonishing how many people there are who have no definite aim or ambition1 but just exist from one day to another with no well-defined life plan4 ,although the great world war has done much to bring our youth to a realization of their responsibilities and raised their ideals to a lofty height we still see all about us on the ocean of life young men and women aimlessly drifting without rudder or port1 throwing away time1 without serious purpose or method in anything they do4 ,they simply drift with the tide4 ,if you ask one of them what he is going to do1 what his ambition is1 he will tell you he does not exactly know yet what he will do4 ,he is simply waiting for a chance to take up something4 8,between the great things that we cannot do and the small things we will not do1 the danger is that we shall do nothing10 says ,adolphe ,monod4 ,it is not enough for success to have ability1 education1 health4 ,hundreds of thousands have all these and still fail1 or live in mediocrity1 because they do not put themselves in an attitude or condition for achievement4 ,their ability is placed at a disadvantage by the lack of a big motive1 the stimulus of a worthy ambition4 8,the important things in life is to have a great aim and to possess the aptitude and perseverance to attain it10 says ,goethe4 ,of course1 many people are hindered in the race through no fault of their own1 but the vast majority of those who cease to climb and give up 7often right in sight of their goal71 do so from some weakness or defect4 ,many of them lack continuity of purpose or persistency2 others lack courage or determination4 ,many of these unfortunates would attain to at least something of real success by merely sticking to their tasks4 ,if the motive is big enough the ability to match it is usually forthcoming4 ,there is not one of you1 my friends1 who could not be more alert1 more original1 more ingenious1 more resourceful1 more careful1 more thorough1 more level-headed2 not one of you who could not use a little better judgment a little more forethought1 a little more discrimination1 if you saw a tempting prize ahead of you as a reward4 8,whatever may be your ambition1 play fair with yourself4 ,quit the side issues40 ,cut out the diversions4 ,live with and for your big ambition4 ,drop all else to attain your end and you will win--you will be and you will have what you want4 8,take a lesson in pruning and lop off the useless branches which consume vitality and obscure the sunshine40 ,that card club that interferes with early rising2 that light reading that takes your mind off preparation for bigger things1 and all other wasteful habits4 ,have you cut them off8 ,if you have not it is because you don't want the 8big thing0 hard enough to deserve it1 and you won't get it unless you prune off the useless habits that are diverting your energy and keeping you away from the main chance4 8,success in life is a process of selection and elimination--a choosing between the worthless and the worth while4 ,to get time for things that count you must save time by eliminating all else4 ,copy the athlete at the training table1 feed on that which builds you up and keeps you fit for the struggle40 ,unless you are inspired by a great purpose1 a resolute determination to make your life count1 you will not make much of an impression upon the world about you4 ,the difference in the quantity and quality of success is largely one of ambition and determination4 ,if you lack these you must cultivate them vigorously1 persistently1 or you will be a nobody4 ,i have never known any one to make a place for himself in the world1 who did not keep his purpose alive by the constant struggle to reach his goal4 ,the moment ambition sags1 we lose the force that propels us2 and once our propelling power is gone we drift with the tide of circumstances4 8,the youth who does not look up will look down1 and the spirit that does not soar is destined to grovel40 ,a young stenographer said to me once that if she felt sure she had the ability to become an expert literary stenographer1 she would go to evening school and would study nights and holidays1 and improve herself in every possible way2 but if she was convinced that she could never attain very great speed1 she would simply prepare herself for ordinary letter dictation1 and let it go at that4 ,she did not seem to think that making the most possible of what ability she had would give her a correspondingly good position1 or that the best possible training she could give herself would be the best possible investment she could make1 and would give her infinite satisfaction4 ,the less ability you have1 my young friend1 the more important it is that you make the most possible out of it4 ,if you are obliged to get your living1 and1 some of you1 to support a family and make a home with one talent1 you certainly need to make the most possible out of it1 and to put forth much greater effort than if you had been given ten talents4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,visualize ,,yourself ,,in ,a ,,better ,,position ,no matter in what business you may be1 or what your profession1 your prime ambition should be to attain a high-water mark in it4 ,the love of excellence is the lodestar that leads the world onward4 ,it is this that makes not only the successful business or professional man1 but also the all-round successful person in any line of endeavor4 ,andrew ,carnegie said1 8,i would not give a fig for the young man in business who does not already see himself a partner1 or the head of the firm40 ,do not rest for a moment in your thought of yourself as a head clerk1 foreman1 or manager in any concern1 no matter how big it is4 ,say each day to yourself1 8,my place is higher up40 ,be king in your dreams4 ,vow that you will reach the position with untarnished reputation1 and make no other vow to distract your attention4 ,i am frequently asked by youths and young men whether ,i think they really have enough in them to make much of a success in life1 anything that will be distinctive or worth while1 and ,i answer1 8,yes1 you have4 ,i know you have the ability to succeed1 but ,i don't know that you will4 ,that rests entirely with you4 ,if you have the energy and the will to succeed nothing can hold you back4 ,but if you have not1 no amount of education1 no pull or influence1 no power on earth outside of yourself can push or lead or boost you into success40 ,there is nothing so important in your life as your mental attitude towards yourself1 what you think of yourself1 the model which you hold of yourself and your possibilities4 ,if this is small1 narrow1 and dwarfed your life will correspond4 ,you must see yourself above a clerkship or you will never be anything higher than a clerk4 ,you must visualize yourself in a better position1 and hold constantly a grim determination to reach it or you will never get there4 ,never for a moment blur your motive or weaken your determination by harboring a doubt of your ability to reach your goal4 ,whenever you do this you are neutralizing just so much of the force which would take you there4 ,remember1 there is a partnership waiting for you somewhere if you are big enough and determined enough and have pluck enough to take it4 ,if you do not there is probably someone very near you who will do so1 someone who perhaps has not had nearly as good an opportunity as you have had4 ,and in the years to come1 if you do not take advantage of this opportunity to climb1 you will no doubt1 grumble at your 8ill luck0 and wonder how ,billy or ,johnny or ,jo1 who worked alongside of you1 managed to get the partnership or coveted position4 ,a recent writer says3 8,my advice to all those just starting to travel life's turnpike is3 #8,don't start until you have your ideal4 ,then don't stop until you get it4'0 ,very few of us realize how dependent our growth is on some special stimulus4 ,every act must have a motive4 ,we do nothing outside of our automatic habitual acts without an underlying motive4 ,perhaps the stronger life motive of the average man is that which comes from his desire to get up in the world4 ,illustration3 ,copyright1 #aijj1 by ,mc,clure1 ,phillips ,co4 ,,lincoln ,,studying ,,by ,,the ,,firelight4 ,there was a force behind ,lincoln which drove him from a log cabin up to the ,white ,house4 ,there was a vision of the ,north ,pole which haunted ,peary1 filled him with ambition to climb to the earth's uttermost boundary1 and finally drove him1 after repeated failures1 to the ,pole4 ,the same indomitable inner force urged the despised young ,jew1 ,benjamin ,disraeli1 to push his way up through the lower classes in ,england1 up through the middle classes1 up through the upper classes1 until he stood a master1 self-poised1 upon the topmost round of political and social power1 the prime minister of the greatest country in the world4 ,the story of those men is the same at bottom as that of every man who has attained greatness4 ,they were continually urged forward and upward by some inward prompting they could not resist4 ,this instinctive impulse to keep pushing on and up is the most curious and the most interesting thing in human life4 ,it exists in every normal human being1 and is just as pronounced and as real as the instinct of self-preservation4 ,upon this climbing instinct rests the destiny of the race4 ,without it men would still be savages1 and living in caves and huts4 ,civilization1 as we know it1 would not exist4 ,there would be no great cities1 no great factories1 no railroads1 no steamships1 no beautiful homes or parks1 pictures1 sculpture or books1 but for this mysterious urge which we call ambition4 ,the best of every man's work is above and beyond himself1 and is accomplished in the struggle to attain a lofty ideal4 ,the artist stands aside and points through his work to a glimpse of the universal art4 ,in his inspired moments the individuality of the orator is melted and fused into the all-pervading fire of eloquence4 ,in art or business1 in science or the daily commonplace tasks of life1 the gods will move along toward the line of absolute excellence or they will leave us to our own devices4 ,we do our most effective work in our struggle to get what we are after1 to arrive at the goal of our ambition4 ,we put forth our greatest effort1 our most strenuous endeavor1 while we are climbing1 not after we have arrived at our goal4 ,this is one reason why rich men's sons rarely achieve any great personal success4 ,they lack the climbing motive of necessity1 that tremendous urge1 the prodding of ambition which drives us on to achieve what we desire and are capable of attaining4 ,ambition is the leader of all great achievement4 ,it is the forerunner which goes ahead and clears a way for the other faculties4 ,the ambition is not always a safe guide1 however4 ,there are two wings to genius4 ,common sense and good judgment must accompany the ambition1 or it will very often run away with a man4 ,we have seen splendid pieces of machinery1 whose iron fingers would punch holes through solid steel plates without a single jar4 ,the machinery accomplishes this wonderful feat because of a huge balance-wheel4 ,it is the stored-up power1 velocity1 and momentum which enable it to accomplish this wonderful task4 ,take away the balance-wheel1 and the machinery1 which does its work as easily as a cook would make the holes in rolled-out pastry1 falls all to pieces the moment the balance-wheel is removed4 ,the balance-wheel is the secret4 ,the judgment is man's balance-wheel--great common sense1 horse sense4 ,his ambition will run away with him if he does not have this4 ,the young man who overestimates his ability1 who plunges beyond his depth1 who is over-confident1 whose self-trust is not based upon an accurate knowledge of his ability and limitations1 almost always comes to grief4 ,it is just as necessary to know what you are not qualified for1 and to let it alone1 as to know what you can do1 and do it4 8,study yourself10 says ,longfellow1 8and most of all1 note well wherein kind nature meant you to excel40 ,it takes a giant to do a giant's work4 ,what a ,morgan or a ,carnegie would do with perfect ease and safety1 might be as impossible for you to accomplish as to lift yourself by your own boot straps4 ,on the other hand1 you may be able to do something which even a ,morgan could not do4 ,study your own adaptations4 ,try to get a measure of your possibilities4 ,a man should early take an inventory of his ability and locate himself where he belongs4 ,if he has but one talent he should not try to train with the ten-talent man4 ,he should simply try to make the most of his one talent4 ,it is impossible to make one talent do the work of ten talents1 no matter how ambitious1 or how much energy one may fling into his work4 ,a great brain does a great thing easily4 ,we all do our best work without overstraining4 ,it is dangerous to over-tax one's faculties4 ,i have seen a college student who has overstrained his brain until he has seriously marred his mental power in the foolish effort to try to head his class when he was not a natural scholar4 ,he seemed to think that by making a superhuman effort1 studying all the time when others were at play1 during holidays and ,sundays1 always plugging1 plugging1 plugging1--he could overcome any handicap4 ,while he managed to come pretty near leading his class he never completely rallied from the effects of overstraining his brain4 ,it is a great thing to be able to measure our talents1 to understand ourselves so thoroughly that we will undertake just so much as we are able to accomplish1 and will not aim at the unattainable4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,thwarted ,,ambition ,all about us we see people who seem to have no special zest in life1 no great enthusiasm for anything2 there is a great disappointment somewhere in their lives4 ,why are they so unhappy8 ,no one loses his interest in life1 or becomes indifferent to his work unless he has been thwarted in the carrying out of his ambition1 or for some other reason has been unable to find his right place in life4 ,wherever we see discontent1 unhappiness1 unrest1 we may be sure that the person exhibiting these conditions is a round peg in a square hole1 or has not been able to realize his dreams4 ,for some reason his heart has been cheated of its ideal4 ,a thwarted ambition seems to wrench the whole nature out of its normal orbit4 ,there is no suffering1 except remorse1 so fatal as that which comes from the consciousness of blasted hope1 stifled aspiration4 ,to be conscious that one possesses decided ability for some particular calling1 and to be compelled by circumstances1 year after year1 to be chained to drudgery which the heart loathes1 requires supreme courage4 ,to feel that there is no probability1 or even possibility1 of ever being able to express that great hungry longing1 pent up in the heart1 filling it almost to bursting1 to drag through the weary years trying to be cheerful and hopeful and helpful to those one loves and yet to feel that his devotion to them has made the other thing impossible to him1 to suffer in silence disappointment which makes the heart sick1 is the greatest test of real manhood or womanhood4 ,it is very easy to criticize other people who have not risen in the world1 as perhaps we have2 but they may be heroes compared with us4 ,we can never tell what tragedies may be going on in their hearts1 or from what tortures of disappointed ambition and blasted hopes they may be suffering4 ,to be compelled to go through life without any possibility of satisfying the great soul hunger1 of realizing the infinite longings of the heart1 is torture4 ,there is no compensation for this except from the sense of duty done to others who would have suffered had we tried to realize our ambition4 ,i know a beautiful woman1 of charming personality1 who has a great musical talent1 a superb voice and yet1 she scarcely dares mention the subject of music in the presence of her husband1 who flies into a passion at the mere suggestion of her developing her wonderful talent4 ,all of her friends think it is criminal of her not to use her great gift but she feels forced to smother her ambition4 ,her husband1 although well able to meet the expense will not consider her taking lessons or making any effort to improve this ,god-given talent4 ,the result is a blight is setting on this woman's life4 ,she tries to be cheerful and to do her duty2 but those who understand her can see the slow strangulation processes going on1 which is undermining her ambition and destroying her health4 ,i recently heard through a piano dealer of another woman of great musical talent who with money bequeathed to her purchased a beautiful1 longed-for piano4 ,her husband made life so unbearable to her because of it that she returned it to the makers1 who1 appreciating her position1 generously returned to her the money paid them for it4 ,is there anything more cruel than to strangle a talent which was intended to be a perpetual joy as well as to give us success8 ,is there anything more wicked than to murder a divine ambition1 to destroy sacred aspirations2 anything more cruel than to make a human being miserable who is intended to be happy1 to rob one of all possibility of doing that which she was made to do8 ,yet there are thousands of husbands who are doing this1 and they wonder why their wives are not always buoyant and bubbling over with vivacity and life1 why they are not always cheerful1 hopeful and resourceful4 ,many husbands do not mean to be selfish in their home life1 and really believe they are generous1 but their minds are so focused upon themselves and their ambition that they can only think of a wife in reference to themselves4 ,whereas the highest love has the highest welfare of the individual at heart1 not its own4 ,ambition often blinds one to justice4 ,there is nothing more pitiable than to see a man the victim of an inordinate1 selfish ambition to advance himself at all costs1 to gain fame1 or notoriety1 or pleasure1 no matter who is sacrificed in the process4 ,many women have a marvelous way of hiding their griefs1 covering up their disappointment2 but such disappointment may mar the whole life4 ,there is something so utterly discouraging1 disheartening1 in being forced to give up the careers they long for1 that the nature never entirely rallies from the shock4 ,everywhere we see these burned-out shells of individuals who have been robbed of their normal pursuit4 ,they are ambitionless1 restless1 ineffective weaklings1 mere pygmies of their possible selves4 ,ella ,wheeler ,wilcox gives some wise advice that the dissatisfied and unhappy man or woman whose ambition has been thwarted may heed to advantage4 8,do not waste your vitality in hating your life2 find something in it which is worth liking and enjoying1 while you keep steadily at work to make it what you desire10 she says4 8,be happy over something every day1 for the brain is a thing of habit1 and you cannot teach it to be happy in a moment1 if you allow it to be miserable for years40 ,there is a powerful tonic in holding the conviction that you are in the world for a purpose1 that you are here to help1 that you have a part to perform which no one else can take for you1 because every one else has his own part to fill in the great life drama4 ,if you do not act your role1 there will be something lacking1 a want in the production4 ,no one ever amounts to much until he feels this pressure--that he was made to accomplish a certain thing in the world1 to fill a definite part4 ,then life seems to take on a new meaning4 8,few of us10 says ,sir ,john ,lubbock1 8realize the wonderful privileges of living2 the blessings we inherit1 the glories and beauties of the ,universe which are our own if we choose to have it so2 the extent to which we can make ourselves what we wish to be2 or the power we possess of securing peace1 of triumphing over pain and sorrow40 ,we go through life with our eyes steadily fixed on some distant goal1 straining every nerve to reach it4 ,we pass on our way opportunities innumerable of helping others over rough places1 of brightening and beautifying the commonplace life of every day4 ,but we see them not4 ,man was made for growth2 to realize peace1 poise1 satisfaction4 ,an ambition to be a man1 to stand for more in the community1 to push our horizon farther and farther away from us1 to think a little higher each day1 to think a little more of ourselves1 to have a little more faith in ourselves and in everybody else1 an ambition to be of real use in the world is an ambition worthy of the man ,god created1 and cannot but bring happiness to the individual4 ,in the white light of history1 before the tribunal of justice1 we shall not be judged for what we seem to be or have achieved1 but for what we are and by what we have tried to do4 ,in the judgment of this tribunal1 from which there is no appeal1 many failures will be approved as successes1 and many successes will be adjudged failures4 ,it will be easy to find the story of some boy who remained on the farm and helped pay the mortgage1 stifled his ambition in order that the favorite brother might be sent to college1 and thereby scored a much greater success than the one for whom the sacrifice was made4 ,the girl who smothered her longings for a higher education or sacrificed the prospects of marriage and a home of her own1 in order to take care of her aged parents1 and was not known outside of her little coterie of friends1 may have her name recorded far higher on the honor roll than that of the sister who went to college1 or became a great author1 musician1 artist or actress4 ,in imperishable characters there will be inscribed on the success roll of honor names unfamiliar to most of us1 the names of those who nobly performed humble parts in life2 the unknown workers for humanity1 the heroic sufferers1--some blind1 some crippled or handicapped by the loss of hands or feet1 or tortured by incurable diseases1--who1 with a fortitude equal to that of the martyrs of old1 took up life's burdens and bravely made the most of the powers and opportunities bestowed upon them by the ,almighty4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,why ,,don',t ,,you ,,begin8 ,when do you expect to do the wonderful things you have been dreaming about8 ,why don't you begin8 ,what are you waiting for8 ,why don't you start8 ,are you waiting for a 8good thing0 to come to you1 waiting for influence1 for pull1 for some one to help you8 ,do you know that nothing is more demoralizing to the life1 weakening to the character1 than to be constantly wishing and dreaming of the great things we are going to do without a corresponding effort to actualize our dreams8 ,wishing without a corresponding effort to realize degenerates the mind1 destroys initiative4 ,how many people deceive themselves into thinking that if they keep aspiring1 if they keep longing to carry out their ideals1 to reach their ambition1 they will1 without any other effort1 actually realize their dreams6 ,they do not seem to know that there is such a thing as aspiring too much1 as forming the dreaming habit to one's injury4 ,our visions are the plans of the possible life structure2 but they will end merely in plans if we do not persistently follow them up with a vigorous effort to make them real2 just as the architect's plans will end in his drawings if they are not followed up and made real by the builder4 ,three things we must do to make our dreams come true4 ,visualize our desire4 ,concentrate on our vision4 ,work to bring it into the actual4 ,the implements necessary for this are inside of us1 not outside4 ,no matter what the accidents of birth or fortune1 there is only one force by which we can fashion our life material--mind4 ,all men who have achieved great things have been dreamers1 and what they have accomplished has been just in proportion to the vividness1 the energy and persistency with which they visualized their ideals2 held to their dreams and struggled to make them come true4 8,the crying evil of the young man who enters the business world to-day is the lack of application1 preparation1 thoroughness1 with ambition but without the willingness to struggle to gain his desired end10 says ,theodore ,n4 ,vail4 ,it is one thing to have the ability and the desire to do something distinctive1 something individual1 but doing it is a very different thing4 ,there is a tremendous amount of unproductive ability in the great failure army to-day4 ,why didn't the men who have it make something of themselves8 ,many of those men could be prosperous1 successful men of standing in their community1 instead of mendicants in a bread line4 ,they had the opportunity to make good4 ,why didn't they8 ,it is a good thing to ask ourselves every now and then whether we are making good2 whether we are making the most of our opportunities2 whether we are going up or down4 ,oliver ,wendel ,holmes says it does not matter so much where we stand as the direction in which we are moving4 ,in what direction are you moving8 ,there are thousands of people in this country to-day who have splendid ambitions1 who have made resolutions to carry out those ambitions1 but who are cowering victims of doubt1 which keeps them from making a start4 ,they are just waiting4 ,they are unable to make a beginning while this monster stands at the door of their resolution4 ,they are afraid to burn their bridges behind them1 to commit themselves to their purpose4 ,at the very outset of your career it is a splendid thing to make up your mind that you are going to be a conqueror in life1 that you are going to be the king of your mental realm and not a slave to any treacherous enemy2 that you will choose the wisest course1 and1 no matter how forbidding or formidable the difficulties in the way1 that you will take the turning which points toward the goal of your ambition1 no matter who or what may bar your onward path4 ,don't let doubt balk your efforts4 ,don't let it paralyze your beginning and make you a pigmy so that you will not half try to make good when you have a waiting giant in you4 ,confidence1 self-assurance1 self-faith--these are the great friends which will kill the traitor doubt4 ,the fact that you have an almost uncontrollable impulse1 a great absorbing ambition to do a thing which meets with the approval of your judgment and your better self1 is a notice served upon you that you can do the thing1 and should do it at once4 ,do not be afraid of taking responsibilities4 ,make up your mind that you will assume any responsibility which comes to you along the line of your legitimate career and that you will bear it a little better than anybody else ever before has4 ,there is no greater mistake in the world than that of postponing present responsibility thinking that we will be better prepared to assume it later4 ,it is accepting these positions as they come to us that gives us the preparation2 for we can do nothing of importance easily1 effectively1 until we have done it so many times that it becomes a habit4 ,how often we hear people make remarks like this3 8,i know that ,i ought to do this thing to-day1 but ,i do not believe ,i will10 or 8,i do not feel like it40 ,so they1 perhaps1 procrastinate1 or let the thing slide along1 and do just the opposite to what they know they ought to do4 ,if those who are disappointed with what they have so far accomplished1 would only make up their minds that for one month they would force themselves to do the things they dislike1 but which they know would be for their good1 they would get a new start on the success road1 a grip on themselves and their possibilities4 ,their whole work system would feel the resultant tonic4 ,on the very resolution to do the thing which is best for you--no matter how disagreeable1 no matter how humiliating1 no matter how much you may suffer from sensitiveness or a feeling of unpreparedness--depends the development of your manhood1 or womanhood4 ,why be afraid to demand great things of yourself8 ,affirm your ability to do and be and powers which you never dreamed you possessed will leap to your assistance4 8,trust thyself4 ,every heart vibrates to that iron string40 ,there is no one that can shut the door which leads to any legitimate ambition1 to a larger1 fuller life1 but yourself4 ,there are no obstacles1 no difficulties1 no power on earth1 nothing but yourself that can make ,god's promise to man void3 8,behold1 ,i have set before you an open door which no man can shut40 ,we are all reservoirs of power1 and what we make of ourselves1 what we achieve in life1 is not dependent on the outward things1 but on the extent to which we draw on our hidden forces1 our latent talents and resources4 ,whatever comes to us in life we create first in our mentality4 ,as the building is a reality in all its details in the architect's mind before a stone or brick is laid1 so we create mentally everything which later becomes a reality in our achievement4 ,our heart longings1 our soul aspirations1 are something more than mere vaporings of imagination4 ,they are prophecies1 predictions1 couriers1 forerunners of things that can become realities4 ,hold the picture1 the plan of the man or woman you long to be and that you are resolved to be1 and stick to your mental plan of a glorious future4 ,do not give up in your discouraged moments or allow any obstacle to blur your ideals4 ,persist in visualizing the ideal man you are determined to be1 and always think of yourself as you are ambitious to become4 ,this mental attitude will help you to match your dream with its reality4 ,there is a magnetic1 attractive power in such a mighty purpose1 in clinging to one unwavering aim4 ,this sort of mental attitude and effort will establish your relation between yourself and the thing you are seeking4 ,,the ,,end