,haines4             ,,the ,,call ,,of  
,,the ,,twentieth ,,century  ,an        
,address to ,young ,men  ,by ,,david    
,,starr ,,jordan  ,chancellor of ,leland
 ,stanford ,junior ,university  #aijc   
,to ,vernon ,lyman ,kellogg             
,so                                 live
 that                               your
 afterself--                            
the  man  you  ought                    
to be--may in his time                  
be possible and actual4 ,far            
away in the twenties1 the thirties      
of the ,twentieth ,century1 he is       
awaiting                   his turn4    
,his body1 his brain1 his soul are in   
your boyish hands4 ,he cannot help      
himself4 ,what will               you   
leave for him8 ,will it be a brain      
unspoiled by lust or                    
dissipation1 a mind trained to think and
 act1 a nervous system           true as
 a dial in its response to the truth    
about you8 ,will you1             boy of
 the ,twentieth ,century1 let him come  

as a man among men               in his 
time1 or will you throw away his        
inheritance before                 he   
has had the chance to touch it8 ,will   
you let him come1                       
taking your place1 gaining through your 
experiences1                            
hallowed through your joys1 building on 
them his                       own1 or  
will  you  fling  his  hope  away1      
decreeing1 wanton-like1 that the man    
you might have been shall never         
be8       ,the new century has come upon
 us with a rush of energy that no       
century has shown before4 ,let us stand 
aside for a moment that we may see what 
kind of a century it is to be1 what is  
the work it has to do1 and what manner  
of men it will demand to do it4  ,in    
most regards one century is like        
another4 ,just as men are men1 so times 
are times4 ,in the ,twentieth ,century  
there will be the same joys1 the same   
sorrows1 the same marrying and giving in
 marriage1 the same round of work and   

play1 of wisdom and duty1 of folly and  
distress which other centuries have     
seen4 ,just as each individual man has  
the same organs1 the same passions1 the 
same functions as all others1 so it is  
with all the centuries4 ,but we know men
 not by their likenesses1 which are     
many1 but by differences in emphasis1 by
 individual traits which are slight and 
subtle1 but all-important in determining
 our likes and dislikes1 our            
friendships1 loves1 and hates4 ,so with 
the centuries2 we remember those which  
are past not by the mass of common      
traits in history and development1 but  
by the few events or thoughts unnoticed 
at the time1 but which stand out like   
mountain peaks raised above oblivion's  
sea1 when the times are all gathered in 
and the century begins to blend with the
 infinite azure of the past4 ,not wars  
and conquests mark a century4 ,the hosts
 grow small in the vanishing            
perspective1 the captains and the kings 
depart1 but the thoughts of men1 their  

attitude toward their environment1 their
 struggles toward duty1--these are the  
things which endure4  ,compared with the
 centuries that are past1 the ,twentieth
 ,century in its broad outlines will be 
like the rest4 ,it will be selfish1     
generous1 careless1 devoted1 fatuous1   
efficient4 ,but three of its traits must
 stand out above all others1 each raised
 to a higher degree than any other      
century has known4 ,the ,twentieth      
,century above all others will be       
strenuous1 complex1 and democratic4     
,strenuous the century must be1 of      
course4 ,this we can all see1 and we    
have to thank the young man of the      
,twentieth ,century who gave us the     
watchword of the strenuous life1 and who
 has raised the apt phrase to the       
dignity of a national purpose4 ,our     
century has a host of things to do1 bold
 things1 noble things1 tedious things1  
difficult things1 enduring things4 ,it  
has only a hundred years to do them in1 
and two of these years are gone already4

 ,we must be up and bestir ourselves4   
,if we are called to help in this work1 
there is no time for an idle minute4    
,idle men and idle women no doubt will  
cumber our way1 for there are many who  
have never heard of the work to do1 many
 who will never know that there has been
 a new century4 ,these the century will 
pass by with the gentle tolerance she   
shows to clams and squirrels1 but on    
those of us she calls to her service she
 will lay heavy burdens of duty4 ,the   
color of life is red4 ,already the fad  
of the drooping spirit1 the             
end-of-the-century pose1 has given way  
to the rush of the strenuous life1 to   
the feeling that struggle brings its own
 reward4 ,the men who are doing ask no  
favor at the end4 ,life is repaid by the
 joy of living it4  ,as the century is  
strenuous so will it be complex4 ,the   
applications of science have made the   
great world small1 while every part of  
it has grown insistent4 ,as the earth   
has shrunk to come within our grasp1 so 

has our own world expanded to receive   
it4 ,my mind to me a kingdom is1 and to 
this kingdom all the other kingdoms of  
the earth now send their embassadors4   
,the complexity of life is shown by the 
extension of the necessity of choice4   
,each of us has to render a decision1 to
 say yes or no a hundred times when our 
grandfathers were called upon a single  
time4 ,we must say yes or no to our     
neighbors' theories or plans or desires1
 and whoever has lived or lives or may  
yet live in any land or on any island of
 the sea has become our neighbor4       
,through modern civilization we are     
coming into our inheritance1 and this   
heirloom includes the best that any man 
has done or thought since history and   
literature and art began4 ,it includes1 
too1 all the arts and inventions by     
which any men of any time have separated
 truth from error4 ,of one blood are all
 the people of the earth1 and whatsoever
 is done to the least of these little   
ones in some degree comes to me4 ,we    

suffer from the miasma of the ,indian   
jungles2 we starve with the savages of  
the harvestless islands2 we grow weak   
with the abused peasants of the ,russian
 steppes1 who leave us the legacy of    
their grippe4 ,the great volcano which  
buries far off cities at its foot casts 
its pitying dust over us4 ,it is said   
that through the bonds of commerce1     
common trade1 and common need1 there is 
growing up the fund of a great bank of  
human kindness1 no genuine draft on     
which is ever left dishonored4 ,whoever 
is in need of help the world over1 by   
that token has a claim on us4  ,in our  
material life we draw our resources from
 every land4 ,clothing1 spices1 fruits1 
toys1 household furniture1--we lay      
contributions on the whole world for the
 most frugal meal1 for the humblest     
dwelling4 ,we need the best work of     
every nation and every nation asks our  
best of us4 ,the day of home-brewed ale1
 of home-made bread1 and home-spun      
clothing is already past with us4       

,better than we can do1 our neighbors   
send us1 and we must send our own best  
in return4 ,with home-made garments also
 pass away inherited politics and       
hereditary religion1 with all the       
support of caste and with all its       
barriers4 ,we must work all this out for
 ourselves2 we must make our own place  
in society2 we must frame our own       
creeds2 we must live our own religion2  
for no longer can one man's religion be 
taken unquestionably by any other4 ,as  
the world has been unified1 so is the   
individual unit exalted4 ,with all this1
 the simplicity of life is passing away4
 ,our front doors are wide open as the  
trains go by4 ,the caravan traverses our
 front yard4 ,we speak to millions1     
millions speak to us2 and we must       
cultivate the social tact1 the          
gentleness1 the adroitness1 the firmness
 necessary to carry out our own designs 
without thwarting those of others4 ,time
 no longer flows on evenly4 ,we must    
count our moments1 so much for          

ourselves1 so much for the world we     
serve and which serves us in return4 ,we
 must be swift and accurate in the part 
we play in a drama so mighty1 so        
strenuous1 and so complex4  ,more than  
any of the others1 the ,twentieth       
,century will be democratic4 ,the       
greatest discovery of the ,nineteenth   
,century was that of the reality of     
external things4 ,that of the ,twentieth
 ,century will be this axiom in social  
geometry3 ,a straight line is the       
shortest distance between two points4   
,if something needs doing1 do it2 the   
more plainly1 directly1 honestly1 the   
better4  ,the earlier centuries cared   
little for the life of a man4 ,hence    
they failed to discriminate4 ,in masses 
and mobs they needed kings and rulers   
but could not choose them4 ,hence the   
device of selecting as ruler the elder  
son of the last ruler1 whatever his     
nature might be4 ,a child1 a lunatic1 a 
monster1 a sage1--it was all the same to
 these unheeding centuries4 ,the people 

could not follow those they understood  
or who understood them4 ,they must trust
 all to the blind chance of heredity4   
,tyrant or figurehead1 the mob1 which   
from its own indifference creates the   
pomp of royalty1 threw up its caps for  
the king1 and blindly died for him in   
his courage or in his folly with the    
same unquestioning loyalty4 ,in like    
manner did the mob fashion lords and    
princes1 each in its own image4 ,not the
 man who would do or think or help1 but 
the eldest son of a former lord was     
chosen for its homage4 ,the result of it
 all was that no use was made of the    
forces of nature1 for those who might   
have learned to control them were hunted
 to their death4 ,the men who could     
think and act for themselves were in no 
position to give their actions leverage4
  ,when a people really means to do     
something1 it must resort to democracy4 
,it must value men as men1 not as       
functions of a chain of                 
conventionalities4 ,america1 says       

,emerson1 means opportunity2 opportunity
 for work1 opportunity for training1    
opportunity for influence4 ,democracy   
exalts the individual4 ,it realizes that
 of all the treasures of the nation1 the
 talent of its individual men is the    
most important4 ,it realizes that its   
first duty is to waste none of this4 ,it
 cannot afford to leave its ,miltons    
mute and inglorious nor to let its      
village ,hampdens waste their strength  
on petty obstacles while it has great   
tasks for them to accomplish4 ,in a     
democracy1 when work is to be done men  
rise to do it4 ,no matter what the      
origin of our ,washingtons and          
,lincolns1 our ,grants and our          
,shermans1 our ,clevelands or our       
,roosevelts1 our ,eliots1 our ,hadleys1 
or our ,remsens1 we know that they are  
being made ready for every crisis which 
may need their hand1 for every work we  
would have them carry through4 ,to give 
each man the training he deserves is to 
bring the right man face to face with   

his own opportunity4 ,the straight line 
is the shortest distance between two    
points in life as in geometry4 ,for the 
work of a nation we may not call on     
,lord ,this or ,earl ,that1 whose       
ancestors have lain on velvet for a     
thousand years2 we want the man who can 
do the work1 who can face the dragon1 or
 carry the message to ,garca4 ,a man    
whose nerves are not relaxed by         
centuries of luxury will serve us best4 
,give him a fair chance to try2 give us 
a fair chance to try him4 ,this is the  
meaning of democracy2 not fuss and      
feathers1 pomp and gold lace1 but       
accomplishment4  ,democracy does not    
mean equality--just the reverse of this1
 it means individual responsibility1    
equality before the law1 of             
course--equality of opportunity1 but no 
other equality save that won by faithful
 service4 ,that social system which bids
 men rise must also let them fall if    
they cannot maintain themselves4 ,to    
choose the right man means the dismissal

 of the wrong4 ,the weak1 the           
incompetent1 the untrained1 the         
dissipated find no growing welcome in   
the century which is coming4 ,it will   
have no place for unskilled laborers4 ,a
 bucket of water and a basket of coal   
will do all that the unskilled laborer  
can do if we have skilled men to direct 
them4 ,the unskilled laborer is no      
product of democracy4 ,he exists in     
spite of democracy4 ,the children of the
 republic are entitled to something     
better4 ,a generous education1 a        
well-directed education1 should be the  
birthright of each one of them4         
,democracy may even intensify natural   
inequalities4 ,the man who cannot say no
 to cheap and vulgar temptations falls  
all the lower in the degree to which he 
is a free agent4 ,in competition with   
men alert1 loyal1 trained and creative1 
the dullard is condemned to a lifetime  
of hard labor1 through no direct fault  
of his own4 ,keep the capable man down  
and you may level the incapable one up4 

,but this the ,twentieth ,century will  
not do4 ,this democracy will not do2    
this it is not now doing1 and this it   
never will attempt4 ,the social         
condition which would give all men equal
 reward1 equal enjoyment1 equal         
responsibility1 may be a condition to   
dream of4 ,it may be ,utopia2 it is not 
democracy4 ,sir ,henry ,maine describes 
the process of civilization as the      
movement from status to contract4 ,this 
is the movement from mass to man1 from  
subservience to individualism1 from     
tradition to democracy1 from pomp and   
circumstance of non-essentials to the   
method of achievement4  ,owen ,wister in
 ,the ,virginian says3 ,all ,america is 
divided into two classes1--the quality  
and the equality4 ,the latter will      
always recognize the former when        
mistaken for it4 ,both will be with us  
until our women bear nothing but kings4 
,it was through the ,declaration of     
,independence that we ,americans        
acknowledged the eternal inequality of  

man4 ,for by it we abolished a          
cut-and-dried aristocracy4 ,we had seen 
little men artificially held up in high 
places1 and great men artificially held 
down in low places1 and our own         
justice-loving hearts abhorred this     
violence to human nature4 ,therefore we 
decreed that every man should1          
thenceforth have equal liberty to find  
his own level4 ,by this very decree we  
acknowledged and gave freedom to true   
aristocracy1 saying1 ',let the best man 
win1 whoever he is4' ,let the best man  
win6 ,that is ,america's word4 ,that is 
true democracy4 ,and true democracy and 
true aristocracy are one and the same   
thing4 ,if anybody cannot see this1 so  
much the worse for his eyesight4  ,paucs
 vvat humanum genus3 for the few the    
race should live1--this is the discarded
 motto of another age4 ,the few live for
 the many4 ,the clean and strong enrich 
the life of all with their wisdom1 with 
their conquests4 ,it is to bring about  
the larger equalities of opportunity1 or

 purpose1 that we exalt the talents of  
the few4  ,this has not always been     
clear1 even the history of the          
,republic4 ,my own great grandfather1   
,john ,elderkin ,waldo1 said at         
,tolland1 ,connecticut1 more than a     
century ago3 ,times are hard with us in 
,new ,england4 ,they will never be any  
better until each farm laborer in       
,connecticut is willing to work all day 
for a sheep's head and pluck1 just as   
they used to do before the red          
schoolhouses on the hills began to      
preach their doctrines of sedition and  
equality4 ,there could never be good    
times again1 so he thought1 till the    
many again lived for the few4  ,it is in
 the saving of the few who serve the    
many that the progress of civilization  
lies4 ,in the march of the common man1  
and in the influence of the man uncommon
 who rises freely from the ranks1 we    
have all of history that counts4  ,in a 
picture gallery at ,brussels there is a 
painting by ,wiertz1 most cynical of    

artists1 representing the man of the    
,future and the things of the ,past4 ,a 
naturalist holds in his right hand a    
magnifying glass1 and in the other a    
handful of ,napoleon and his marshals1  
guns1 and battle-flags1--tiny objects   
swelling with meaningless glory4 ,he    
examines these intensely1 while a child 
at his side looks on in open-eyed       
wonder4 ,she cannot understand what a   
grown man can find in these curious     
trifles that he should take the trouble 
to study them4  ,this painting is a     
parable designed to show ,napoleon's    
real place in history4 ,it was painted  
within a dozen miles of the field of    
,waterloo1 and not many years after the 
noise of its cannon had died away4 ,it  
shows the point of view of the man of   
the future4 ,save in the degradation of 
,france1 through the impoverishment of  
its life-blood1 there is little in human
 civilization to recall the disastrous  
incident of ,napoleon's existence4      
,paucs vvat humanum genus3 the many live

 for the few4 ,this shall be true no    
longer4 ,the earth belongs to him who   
can use it and the only force which     
lasts is that which is used to make men 
free4  ,triumphant ,america1 says       
,george ,horace ,lorimer1 certainly does
 not mean each and every one of our     
seventy-eight millions4 ,for instance1  
it does not include the admitted idiots 
and lunatics1 the registered paupers and
 parasites1 the caged criminals1 the six
 million illiterates4 ,in a sense1 it   
includes the twenty-five to thirty      
million children1 for they exert a      
tremendous influence upon the grown     
people4 ,but in no sense does it include
 the whittlers on dry-goods boxes1 the  
bar-room loafers1 the fellows that      
listen all day long for the whistle to  
blow1 those who are the first to be     
mentioned whenever there is talk of     
cutting down the force4 ,it does not    
include those of our statesmen who spend
 their time in promoting corrupt jobs1  
or in hunting places for lazy heelers4  

,it does not include the doctors who    
reach their high-water mark for         
professional knowledge on the day they  
graduate1 or the lawyers who lie and    
cheat and procure injustice for the sake
 of fees4  ,most of these--even the     
idiots and criminals--do a little       
something towards progress4 ,this world 
is so happily ordered that it is        
impossible for one man to do much harm  
or to avoid doing some good2 and one of 
the greatest forces for good is the     
power of a bad example4 ,still it is not
 our bad examples that make us get on   
and earn us these smothers of flowery   
compliment4  ,some of us are tall and   
others short1 some straight and others  
crooked1 some strong1 others feeble2    
some of us run1 others walk1 others     
snail it4 ,but all1 all have their feet 
upon the same level of the common earth4
 ,and ,america's worst enemy is he--or  
she--who by word or look encourages     
another to think otherwise4 ,head as    
high as you please2 but feet always upon

 the common ground1 never upon anybody's
 shoulders or neck1 even though he be   
weak or willing4  ,so in this strenuous 
and complex age1 this age of fierce     
democracy1 what have we to do1 and with 
what manner of men shall we work8 ,young
 men of the ,twentieth ,century1 will   
your times find place for you8 ,there is
 plenty to do in every direction4 ,that 
is plain enough4 ,all the pages in this 
little book1 or in a very large one1    
would be filled by a mere enumeration4  
,in agriculture a whole great empire is 
yet to be won in the arid west1 and the 
west that is not arid and the east that 
was never so must be turned into one    
vast market-garden4 ,the ,twentieth     
,century will treat a farm as a friend1 
and it will yield rich returns for such 
friendship4 ,in the ,twentieth ,century 
vast regions will be fitted to          
civilization1 not by imperialism1 which 
blasts1 but by permeation1 which        
reclaims4  ,the table-lands of ,mexico1 
the plains of ,manchuria1 the ,pampas of

 ,argentine1 the moors of ,northern     
,japan1 all these regions in our own    
temperate zone offer a welcome to the   
,anglo-,saxon farmer4 ,the great tropics
 are less hopeful1 but they have never  
had a fair trial4 ,the northern nations 
have tried to exploit them in haste1 and
 then to get away1 never to stay with   
them and work patiently to find out     
their best4 ,some day the possibilities 
of the ,torrid ,zone may come to us as a
 great discovery4  ,there is need of men
 in forestry2 for we must win back the  
trees we have slain with such ruthless  
hand4 ,the lumberman of the future will 
pick ripe trees and save the rest as    
carefully as the herdsman selects his   
stock4 ,in engineering1 in mining1 in   
invention1 there are endless            
possibilities4 ,every man who masters   
what is already known in any one branch 
of applied science1 makes his own       
fortune4 ,he who can add a little1 save 
a little1 do something better or        
something cheaper1 makes the fortune of 

a hundred others4 ,there is always room 
for a man of force1 and he makes room   
for many4  ,andrew ,carnegie once said  
that the foundation of his fortune lay  
in the employment of trained chemists1  
while other men made steel by rule of   
thumb4 ,trained chemists made better    
steel1 just a little4 ,they devised ways
 to make it cheaper1 just a little1 and 
they found means to utilize the slag4   
,all this means hundreds of millions of 
dollars1 if done on a large enough      
scale4  ,there is no limit to the       
demands of engineering4 ,a million      
waterfalls dash down the slopes of the  
,sierras4 ,the patient sun has hauled   
the water up from the sea and spread it 
in snow over the mountains4 ,the same   
sun will melt the snow1 and as the water
 falls back to the sea it will yield    
again the force it cost to bring it to  
its heights4 ,thus sunshine and falling 
water can be transmuted into power4     
,this power already lights the cities of
 ,california1 and some day it may be    

changed into the heat which moves a     
thousand factories4 ,all these are the  
problems of the ,electrical ,engineer4  
,equally rich are the opportunities in  
other forms of engineering4 ,there is no
 need to be in haste1 perhaps1 but the  
,twentieth ,century is eager in its     
quest for gold4 ,the mother lode runs   
along the foothills from ,bering        
,straits to ,cape ,horn4 ,from end to   
end of the continent the ,twentieth     
,century will bring this gold to light1 
and carry it all away4 ,the ,mining     
,engineer who knows the mountains best  
finds his fortune ready to his hand4    
,civil ,engineers1 ,steam ,engineers1   
,naval ,engineers1 whoever knows how to 
manage things or men1 even ,social      
,engineers1 ,labor ,engineers1 all find 
an eager welcome4 ,there are never too  
many of those who know how2 but the day 
of the rule of thumb has long since     
past4 ,the ,engineer of to-day must     
create1 not imitate4 ,and to him who can
 create1 this last century we call the  

,twentieth is yet part of the first day 
of ,creation4  ,in commerce the field is
 always open for young men4 ,the world's
 trade is barely yet begun4 ,we hear    
people whining over the spread of the   
commercial spirit1 but what they mean is
 not the spirit of commerce4 ,it is     
persistence of provincial selfishness1 a
 spirit which has been with us since the
 fall of ,adam1 and which the centuries 
of whitening sails has as yet not       
eradicated4 ,the spirit of fair commerce
 is a noble spirit4 ,through commerce   
the world is unified4 ,through commerce 
grows tolerance1 and through tolerance1 
peace and solidarity4 ,commerce is      
world-wide barter1 each nation giving   
what it can best produce for what is    
best among others4 ,freedom breeds      
commerce as commerce demands freedom4   
,only free men can buy and sell2 for    
without selling no man nor nation has   
means to buy4 ,when ,china is a nation1 
her people will be no longer a yellow   
peril4 ,it is poverty1 slavery1 misery1 

which makes men dangerous4 ,in the words
 of ,joss ,chinchingoss1 the ,kipling of
 ,singapore1 we have only to give the   
,chinaman    ,the chance at home that he
 makes for himself elsewhere1   ,and the
 star of the ,jelly-fish nation mid     
others shall shine as fair4  ,since the 
day1 twenty-three years ago1 on which ,i
 first passed through the ,golden ,gate 
of ,california1 ,i have seen the steady 
increase of the shipping which enters   
that channel4 ,there are ten vessels    
to-day passing in and out to one in     
#ahhj4 ,another twenty-five years will  
see a hundred times as many4 ,we have   
discovered the ,orient1 and even more1  
the ,orient has discovered us4 ,we may  
not rule it by force of arms2 for that  
counts nothing in trade or civilization4
 ,commerce follows the flag only when   
the flag flies on merchant ships4 ,it   
has no interest in following the flag to
 see a fight4 ,commerce follows fair    
play and mutual service4 ,through the   
centuries of war men have only played at

 commerce4 ,the ,twentieth ,century will
 take it seriously1 and it will call for
 men to do its work4 ,it will call more 
loudly than war has ever done1 but it   
will ask its men not to die bravely1 but
 to live wisely1 and above all          
truthfully to watch their accounts4     
,the ,twentieth ,century will find room 
for pure science as well as for applied 
science and ingenious invention4 ,each  
,helmholtz of the future will give rise 
to a thousand ,edisons4 ,exact knowledge
 must precede any form of applications4 
,the reward of pure science will be1 in 
the future as in the past1 of its own   
kind1 not fame nor money1 but the joy of
 finding truth4 ,to this joy no favor of
 fortune can add4 ,the student of nature
 in all the ages has taken the vow of   
poverty4 ,to him money1 his own or      
others1 means only the power to do more 
or better work4  ,the ,twentieth        
,century will have its share in         
literature and art4 ,most of the books  
it will print will not be literature1   

for idle books are written for idle     
people1 and many idle people are left   
over from less insistent times4 ,the    
books sold by the hundred thousands to  
men and women not trained to make time  
count1 will be forgotten before the     
century is half over4 ,the books it     
saves will be books of its own kind1    
plain1 straightforward1 clear-cut1      
marked by that fanaticism for veracity  
which means everything else that is good
 in the intellectual and moral          
development of man4 ,the literature of  
form is giving way already to the       
literature of power4 ,we care less and  
less for the surprises and              
scintillations of clever fellows2 we    
care more and more for the real thoughts
 of real men4 ,we find that the deepest 
thoughts can be expressed in the        
simplest language4 ,a straight line is  
the shortest distance between two points
 in literature as well as in mechanics4 
,in simplicity is strength1 as ,watt    
said of machinery1 and it is true in art

 as well as in mechanics4  ,in medicine1
 the field of action is growing         
infinitely broader1 now that its        
training is securely based on science1  
and the divining rod no longer stands   
first among its implements of precision4
 ,not long ago1 it is said1 a young     
medical student in ,new ,york committed 
suicide1 leaving behind this touching   
sentence3 ,i die because there is room  
for no more doctors4 ,and this just now1
 when for the first time it is worth    
while to be a doctor4 ,room for no more 
doctors1 no doubt1 of the kind to which 
he belonged--men who know nothing and   
care nothing for science and its        
methods1 who choose the medical school  
which will turn them loose most quickly 
and cheaply1 who have no feeling for    
their patients1 and whose prescriptions 
are given with no more conscience than  
goes into the fabrication of an electric
 belt or the compounding of a patent    
medicine4 ,room for no more doctors     
whose highest conception is to look     

wise1 take his chances1 and pocket the  
fee4 ,room for no more doctors just now1
 when the knowledge of human anatomy and
 physiology has shown the way to a      
thousand uses of preventive surgery4    
,room for no more doctors1 when the     
knowledge of the microbes and their     
germs has given the hope of successful  
warfare against all contagious diseases2
 room for no more doctors1 when         
antiseptics and anaesthetics have proved
 their value in a thousand pain-saving  
ways4 ,room for no more doctors now1    
when the doctor must be an honest man1  
with a sound knowledge of the human body
 and a mastery of the methods of the    
sciences on which this knowledge        
depends4 ,room for no more doctors of   
the incompetent class1 because the wiser
 times demand a better service4  ,what  
is true in medicine applies also to the 
profession of law4 ,the pettifogger must
 give place to the jurist4 ,the law is  
not a device for getting around the     
statutes4 ,it is the science and art of 

equity4 ,the lawyers of the future will 
not be mere pleaders before juries4     
,they will save their clients from need 
of judge or jury4 ,in every civilized   
nation the lawyers must be the          
law-givers4 ,the sword has given place  
to the green bag4 ,the demands of the   
,twentieth ,century will be that the    
statutes coincide with equity4 ,this    
condition educated lawyers can bring    
about4 ,to know equity is to be its     
defender4  ,in politics the demand for  
serious service must grow4 ,as we have  
to do with wise and clean men1          
statesmen1 instead of vote-manipulators1
 we shall feel more and more the need   
for them4 ,we shall demand not only men 
who can lead in action1 but men who can 
prevent unwise action4 ,often the policy
 which seems most attractive to the     
majority is full of danger for the      
future4 ,we need men who can face       
popular opinion1 and1 if need be1 to    
face it down4 ,the best citizen is one  
not afraid to cast his vote away by     

voting with the minority4  ,as we look  
at it in the rough1 the political       
outlook of democracy often seems        
discouraging4 ,a great1 rich1 busy      
nation cannot stop to see who grabs its 
pennies4 ,we are plundered by the rich1 
we are robbed by the poor1 and trusts   
and unions play the tyrant over both4   
,but all these evils are temporary4 ,the
 men that have solved greater problems  
in the past will not be balked by these4
 ,whatever is won for the cause of      
equity and decency is never lost again4 
,eternal vigilance is the price of      
liberty1 and in this ,twentieth ,century
 there are always plenty who are awake4 
,one by one political reforms take their
 place on our statute books1 and each   
one comes to stay4  ,in all this1 the   
journalist of the future may find an    
honorable place4 ,he will learn to      
temper enterprise with justice1 audacity
 with fidelity1 omniscience with        
truthfulness4 ,when he does this he will
 become a natural leader of men because 

he will be their real servant4 ,to mould
 public opinion1 to furnish a truthful  
picture of the times from day to day1   
either of these ideals in journalism    
gives ample room for the play of the    
highest manly energy4  ,the need of the 
teacher will not grow less as the       
century goes on4 ,the history of the    
future is written in the schools of     
to-day1 and the reform which gives us   
better schools is the greatest of       
reforms4 ,it is said that the teacher's 
noblest work is to lead the child to his
 inheritance4 ,this is the inheritance  
he would win2 the truth that men have   
tested in the past1 and the means by    
which they were led to know that it was 
truth4 ,free should the scholar be--free
 and brave1 and to such as these the    
,twentieth ,century will bring the      
reward of the scholar4  ,the ,twentieth 
,century will need its preachers and    
leaders in religion4 ,some say1 idly1   
that religion is losing her hold in     
these strenuous days4 ,but she is not4  

,she is simply changing her grip4 ,the  
religion of this century will be more   
practical1 more real4 ,it will deal with
 the days of the week as well as with   
the ,sabbath4 ,it will be as patent in  
the marts of trade as in the walls of a 
cathedral1 for a man's religion is his  
working hypothesis of life1 not of life 
in some future world1 but of life right 
here to-day1 the only day we have in    
which to build a life4 ,it will not look
 backward exclusively to a dead fact    
stranded on the shore of the oblivious  
years1 nor will its rewards be found    
alone in the life to come4 ,the world of
 to-day will not be a vale of tears     
through which sinful men are to walk    
unhappily toward final reward4 ,it will 
be a world of light and color and joy1 a
 world in which each of us may have a   
noble though a humble part1--the work of
 the holy life of action4 ,it will find 
religion in love and wisdom and virtue1 
not in bloodless asceticism1            
philosophical disputation1 the          

maintenance of withered creeds1 the     
cultivation of fruitless emotion1 or the
 recrudescence of forms from which the  
life has gone out4 ,it is possible1     
,thoreau tells us1 for us to walk in    
hallowed cathedrals1 and this in our    
every-day lives of profession or trade4 
,it is the loyalty to duty1 the love of 
,god through the love of men1 which may 
transform the workshop to a cathedral1  
and the life of to-day may be divine    
none the less because it is strenuous   
and complex4 ,it may be all the more so 
because it is democratic1 even the      
,sabbath and its duties being no longer 
exalted above the other holy days4      
,what sort of men does the century need 
for all this work it has to do8 ,we may 
be sure that it will choose its own1 and
 those who cannot serve it will be cast 
aside unpityingly4 ,those it can use it 
will pay generously1 each after its     
kind1 some with money1 some with fame1  
some with the sense of power1 some with 
the joy of service4 ,some will work hard

 in spite of vast wealth1 some only     
after taking the vow of poverty4  ,those
 not needed you can find any day4 ,they 
lean against lamp-posts in platoons1    
they crowd the saloons1 they stand about
 railway stations all day long to see   
trains go by4 ,they dally on the lounges
 of fashionable clubs4 ,they may be had 
tied in bundles by the employers of     
menial labor4 ,their women work at the  
wash-tubs1 and crowd the sweat shops of 
great cities2 or1 idle rich1 they may   
dawdle in the various ways in which men 
and women dispose of time1 yielding     
nothing in return for it4 ,you1 whom the
 century wants1 belong to none of these 
classes4 ,yours must be the spirit of   
the times1 strenuous1 complex1          
democratic4  ,a young man is a mighty   
reservoir of unused power4 ,give me     
health and a day and ,i will put the    
pomp of emperors to shame4 ,if ,i save  
my strength and make the most of it1    
there is scarcely a limit to what ,i may
 do4 ,the right kind of men using their 

strength rightly1 far outrun their own  
ambitions1 not as to wealth and fame and
 position1 but as to actual             
accomplishment4 ,i never dreamed that ,i
 should do so much1 is the frequent     
saying of a successful man2 for all men 
are ready to help him who throws his    
whole soul into the service4  ,men of   
training the century must demand4 ,it is
 impossible to drop into greatness4     
,there is always room at the top4 so the
 ,chicago merchant said to his son1 but 
the elevator is not running4 ,you must  
walk up the stairs on your own feet4 ,it
 is as easy to do great things as small1
 if you only know how4 ,the only way to 
learn to do great things is to do small 
things well1 patiently1 loyally4 ,if    
your ambitions run high1 it will take a 
long time in preparation4 ,there is no  
hurry4 ,no wise man begrudges any of the
 time spent in the preparation for life1
 so long as it is actually making ready4
  ,profligacy1 says ,emerson1 consists  
not in spending1 but in spending off the

 line of your career4 ,the crime which  
bankrupts men and nations is that of    
turning aside from one's main purpose to
 serve a job here and there4  ,the value
 of the college training of to-day      
cannot be too strongly emphasized4 ,you 
cannot save time nor money by omitting  
it1 whatever the profession on which you
 enter4 ,the college is becoming a part 
of life4 ,for a long time the ,american 
college was swayed by the traditions of 
the ,english aristocracy4 ,its purpose  
was to certify to a man's personal      
culture4 ,the young man was sent to     
college that he might be a member of a  
gentler caste4 ,his degree was his badge
 that in his youth he had done the      
proper thing for a gentleman to do4 ,it 
attested not that he was wise or good or
 competent to serve1 but that he was    
bred a gentleman among gentlemen4  ,so  
long as the title of academic bachelor  
had this significance1 the man of action
 passed it by4 ,it had no meaning to    
him1 and the fine edge of accuracy in   

thought and perception1 which only the  
college can give1 was wanting in his    
work4 ,the college education did not    
seem to disclose the secret of power1   
and the man of affairs would have none  
of it4  ,a higher ideal came from       
,germany1--that of erudition4 ,the      
,german scholar knows some one thing    
thoroughly4 ,he may be rude or          
uncultured1 he may not know how to use  
his knowledge1 but whatever this        
knowledge is1 it is sound and genuine4  
,thoroughness of knowledge gives the    
scholar self-respect2 it makes possible 
a broad horizon and clear perspective4  
,from these sources1 ,english and       
,german1 the ,american ,university is   
developing its own essential idea1--that
 of personal effectiveness4 ,the        
,american ,university of to-day seeks   
neither culture nor erudition as its    
final end4 ,it values both as means to  
greater ends4 ,it looks forward to work 
in life4 ,its triumphs in these regards 
the century will see clearly4 ,it will  

value culture and treasure erudition1   
but it will use both as helps toward    
doing things4 ,it will find its         
inspiration in the needs of the world as
 it is1 and it is through such effort   
that the world that is to be shall be   
made a reality4 ,a great work demands   
full preparation4 ,it takes larger      
provision for a cruise to the ,cape of  
,good ,hope than for a trip to the ,isle
 of ,dogs4 ,for this reason the century 
will ask its men to take a college      
education4  ,it will ask much more than 
that1--a college education where the    
work is done in earnest1 students and   
teachers realizing its serious value1   
and besides all this1 it will demand the
 best special training which its best   
universities can give4 ,for the         
,twentieth ,century will not be         
satisfied with the universities of the  
fifteenth or seventeenth centuries4 ,it 
will create its own1 and the young man  
who does the century's work will be a   
product of its university system4 ,of   

this we may be sure1 the training for   
strenuous life is not in academic       
idleness4 ,the development of living    
ideals is not in an atmosphere of       
cynicism4 ,the blas1 lukewarm1          
fin-de-sicle young man of the clubs will
 not represent university culture1 nor1 
on the other hand1 will culture be      
dominated by a cheap utilitarianism4    
,you will hear every day around you1    
said ,emerson to the divinity students  
of ,harvard1 the maxims of a low        
prudence4 ,you will hear that your first
 duty is to get land and money1 place   
and fame4 ',what is this truth you seek8
 ,what is this beauty8' men will ask in 
derision4 ,if1 nevertheless1 ,god have  
called any of you to explain truth and  
beauty1 be bold1 be firm1 be true4 ,when
 you shall say1 ',as others do1 so will 
,i2 ,i renounce1 ,i am sorry for it--my 
early visions2 ,i must eat the good of  
the land1 and let learning and romantic 
speculations go until some more         
favorable season1' then dies the man in 

you2 then once more perish the buds of  
art and poetry and science1 as they have
 died already in a hundred thousand men4
 ,the hour of that choice is the crisis 
in your history4  ,the age will demand  
steady headed men1 men whose feet stand 
on the ground1 men who can see things as
 they really are1 and act accordingly4  
,the resolute facing of the world as it 
is1 with all the garments of            
make-believe thrown off1--this1         
according to ,huxley1 is the sole cure  
for the evils which beset men and       
nations4 ,the only philosophy of life is
 that derived from its science4 ,we know
 right from wrong because the           
destruction is plain in human           
experience4 ,right action brings        
abundance of life4 ,wrong action brings 
narrowness1 decay1 and degeneration4 ,a 
man must have principles of life above  
all questions of the mere opportunities 
of to-day1 but these principles are     
themselves derived from experience4     
,they belong to the higher opportunism1 

the consideration of what is best in the
 long run4 ,the man who is controlled by
 an arbitrary system without reference  
to conditions1 is ineffective4 ,he      
becomes a crank1 a fanatic1 a man whose 
aims are out of all proportion to       
results4 ,this is because he is dealing 
with an imaginary world1 not with the   
world as it is4 ,we may admire the      
valiant knight who displays a noble     
chivalry in fighting wind-mills1 but we 
do not call on a wind-mill warrior when 
we have some plain1 real work to        
accomplish4 ,all progress1 large or     
small1 is the resultant of many forces4 
,we cannot single out any one of these  
as of dominant value1 and ignore or     
despise the others4 ,in moving through  
the solar system1 the earth is falling  
toward the sun as well as flying away   
from it4 ,in human society1 egoism is   
coexistent with altruism1 competition   
with co-operation1 mutual struggle with 
mutual aid4 ,each is as old as the other
 and each as important2 for the one     

could not exist without the other4 ,not 
in air-built ,utopias1 but in flesh and 
blood1 wood and stone and iron1 will the
 movement of humanity find its          
realization4  ,don't count on gambling  
as a means of success4 ,gambling rests  
on the desire to get something for      
nothing4 ,so does burglary and larceny4 
,the love of money is the root of all   
evil4 ,this was said long ago1 and it is
 not exactly what the wise man meant4   
,he was speaking of unearned money4     
,money is power1 and to save up power is
 thrift4 ,on thrift civilization is     
builded4 ,the root of all evil is the   
desire to get money without earning it4 
,to get something for nothing           
demoralizes all effort4 ,the man who    
gets a windfall spends his days watching
 the wind4 ,the man who wins in a       
lottery buys more lottery tickets4      
,whoever receives bad money1 soon throws
 good money after bad4 ,he will throw   
that of others when his own is gone4 ,no
 firm or corporation is rich enough to  

afford to keep gamblers as clerks4  ,the
 age will demand men of good taste who  
care for the best they know4 ,vulgarity 
is satisfaction with mean things4 ,that 
is vulgar which is poor of its kind4    
,there is a kind of music called        
rag-time1--vulgar music1 with catchy    
tunes--catchy to those who do not know  
nor care for things better4 ,there are  
men satisfied with rag-time music1 with 
rag-time theatres1 with rag-time        
politics1 rag-time knowledge1 rag-time  
religion4 ,it was my duty to have loved 
the highest4 ,the highest of one man may
 be low for another1 but no one can     
afford to look downward for his         
enjoyments4 ,the corrosion of vulgarity 
spreads everywhere4 ,its poison enters  
every home4 ,the billboards of our      
cities bear evidence to it2 our         
newspapers reek with it1 our story books
 are filled with it2 we cannot keep it  
out of our churches or our colleges4    
,the man who succeeds must shun1        
vulgarity4 ,to be satisfied with poor   

things in one line will tarnish his     
ideals in the direction of his best     
efforts4 ,one great source of failure in
 life is satisfaction with mean things4 
,it is easier to be almost right than to
 be right4 ,it is less trying to wish   
than to do4 ,there are many things that 
glitter as well as gold and which can be
 had more cheaply4 ,illusion is always  
in the market and can be had on easy    
terms4 ,realities do not lie on the     
bargain counters4 ,happiness is based on
 reality4 ,it must be earned before we  
can come into its possession4 ,happiness
 is not a state4 ,it is the             
accompaniment of action4 ,it comes from 
the exercise of natural functions1 from 
doing1 thinking1 planning1 fighting1    
overcoming1 loving4 ,it is positive and 
strengthening4 ,it is the signal all is 
well1 passed from one nerve cell to     
another4 ,it does not burn out as it    
glows4 ,it makes room for more          
happiness4 ,loving1 too1 is a positive  
word4 ,it is related to happiness as an 

impulse to action4 ,the love that does  
not work itself out in helping acts as  
mere torture of the mind4 ,the primal   
impulse of vice and sin is a short cut  
to happiness4 ,it promises pleasure     
without earning it4 ,and this pleasure  
is always an illusion4 ,its final legacy
 is weakness and pain4 ,pain is not a   
punishment1 but a warning of harm done  
to the body4 ,the unearned pleasures    
provoke this warning4 ,they leave a dark
 brown taste in the mouth4 ,their       
recollection is different in the        
morning4 ,such pleasures1 ,robert ,burns
 who had tried many of them says1 are   
like poppies spread1 or like the        
snow-falls on the river4 ,but it is not 
true that they pass and leave no trace4 
,their touch is blasting4 ,but true     
happiness leaves no reaction4 ,to do    
strengthens a man for more doing2 to    
love makes room for more loving4  ,the  
second power of vulgarity is obscenity1 
and this vice is like the pestilence4   
,all inane vulgarity tends to become    

obscene4 ,from obscenity rather than    
drink comes the helplessness of the     
ordinary tramp4  ,another form of       
vulgarity is profanity4 ,the habit of   
swearing is not a mark of manliness4 ,it
 is the sign of a dull1 coarse1         
unrefined nature1 a lack of verbal      
initiative4 ,sometimes1 perhaps1        
profanity seems picturesque and         
effective4 ,i have known it so in       
,arizona once or twice1 in old ,mexico  
and perhaps in ,wyoming1 but never in   
the home1 or the street1 or the ordinary
 affairs of life4 ,it is not that       
blasphemy is offensive to ,god4 ,he is  
used to it1 perhaps1 for he has met it  
under many conditions4 ,but it is       
offensive to man1 insulting to the      
atmosphere1 and destructive of him who  
uses it4 ,profanity and bluster are not 
signs of courage4 ,the bravest men are  
quiet of speech and modest in demeanor4 
,the man who is successful will not be a
 dreamer4 ,he will have but one dream   
and that will work itself out as a      

purpose4 ,dreaming wanes into           
sentimentalism1 and sentimentalism is   
fatal to action4 ,the man of purpose    
says no to all lesser calls1 all minor  
opportunities4 ,he does not abandon his 
college education because a hundred     
dollar position is offered him outside4 
,he does not turn from one profession   
because there is money in another4 ,he  
has his claim staked out1 and with time 
he will only fill in the detail of its  
boundaries4  ,now that you are through  
college1 what are you going to do8 asked
 a friend of a wise young man4  ,i shall
 study medicine1 was the grave reply4   
,but isn't that profession already      
overcrowded8 asked the friend4          
,possibly it is1 said the youth1 but ,i 
purpose to study medicine all the same4 
,those who are already in the profession
 must take their chances4  ,in this joke
 of the newspapers there is a sound     
philosophy4 ,men of purpose never       
overcrowd4 ,the crowd is around the foot
 of the staircase waiting for the       

elevator4  ,the old traveller1          
,rafinesque1 tells us that when he was a
 boy he read the voyages of ,captain    
,cook1 ,le ,vaillant1 ,pallas1 and      
,bougainville1 and my soul was fired to 
be a great traveller like them1 and so  
,i became such1 he adds shortly4  ,if   
you say to yourself3 ,i will be a       
traveller1 a statesman1 an engineer2 if 
you never unsay it2 if you bend all your
 powers in that direction2 if you take  
advantage of all helps that come in your
 way and reject all that do not1 you    
will sometime reach your goal4 ,for the 
world turns aside to let any man pass   
who knows whither he is going4  ,why    
should we call ourselves men1 said      
,mirabeau1 unless it be to succeed in   
everything1 everywhere4 ,say of nothing3
 ',this is beneath me1' nor feel that   
anything is beyond your power1 for      
nothing is impossible to the man who can
 will4  ,do not say that ,i am expecting
 too much of the effects of a firm      
resolution1 that ,i give advice which   

would lead to failure4 ,for the man who 
will fail will never take a resolution4 
,those among you whom fate has cut out  
to be nobodies are the ones who will    
never try6  ,even harmless pleasures    
hurt if they win you from your purpose4 
,lorimer's old merchant writes to his   
son at ,harvard3 ,you will meet fools   
enough in the day without hunting up the
 main herd at night4 ,this plain        
business man's advice is worth every    
young man's attention4  ,the ,twentieth 
,century will ask for men of instant    
decision1 men whose mental equipment is 
all in order1 ready to be used on the   
instant4 ,yes and no1 right and wrong1  
we must have them labelled and ready to 
pack to go anywhere1 to do anything at  
any time1 or to know why we refuse to do
 it1 if it is something we will not do4 
,ethelred the ,unready died helpless a  
thousand years ago4 ,the unready are    
still with us1 but the strenuous century
 will grant them but short shrift4  ,the
 man of the ,twentieth ,century will be 

a hopeful man4 ,he will love the world  
and the world will love him4 ,there is  
no hope for you1 ,thoreau once said1    
unless this bit of sod under your feet  
is the sweetest for you in the world--in
 any world4 ,the effective man takes his
 reward as he goes along4 ,nowhere is   
the sky so blue1 the grass so green1 the
 opportunities so choice as now1 here1  
to-day1 the time1 the place where his   
work must be done4  ,to-day is your day 
and mine1 ,i have said on another       
occasion2 the only day we have1 the day 
in which we play our part2 what our part
 may signify in the great whole we may  
not understand1 but we are here to play 
it1 and now is the time4 ,this we know3 
it is a part of action1 not of whining4 
,it is a part of love1 not cynicism4 ,it
 is for us to express love in terms of  
human helpfulness4  ,whatever feeling is
 worthy and real will express itself in 
action1 and the glow that surrounds     
worthy action we call happiness4  ,he   
will be a loyal man1 considering always 

the best interests of him he serves1    
ready to lay down his life1 if need be1 
for duty1 ready to abandon whatever     
conflicts with higher loyalty1 with     
higher duty4  ,in the economic struggles
 of to-day1 well-meaning men are making 
two huge mistakes1 which in time will   
undo whatever of good their efforts may 
accomplish4 ,one of these is the        
struggle against education1 the effort  
to limit the number of skilled laborers1
 and this in a free country where each  
man's birthright is the development of  
his skill4 ,the other is the effort to  
destroy the feeling of personal loyalty 
on the part of the laborer4 ,half the   
value of any man's service lies in his  
willingness1 his devotion to the man or 
the work4 ,this old-fashioned virtue of 
loyalty must not be cheapened4 ,the man 
whose service is worth paying for1 gives
 more than his labor4 ,he believes that 
what he does is right1 and when anything
 goes wrong he will turn in and make it 
right4 ,in the long run the laborer can 

get no more than he deserves1 and       
disloyal labor is paving the way for its
 own subjugation4 ,unwilling service is 
a form of slavery1 and unwilling        
employment is a slavery of the employer4
  ,more than all this1 the man in the   
,twentieth ,century needs must be a man 
of character4 ,it was said of ,abraham  
,lincoln that he was a man too simply   
great to scheme for his proper self4    
,the man who schemes for his own        
advancement soon forfeits the support of
 others4 ,he may lay pipes and pull     
wires1 seeming for a little to succeed4 
,god consents1 but only for a time4     
,sooner or later1 if he lives to meet   
his fate1 he finds his end in utter     
failure4 ,and this failure is final3 for
 those who have suffered will not help  
him again4 ,even rats desert a sinking  
ship4 ,to be successful a man need take 
no heed for his own particular future4  
,he will find his place in the future of
 his work4  ,in the ordinary business of
 life the smart man has had his day4 ,he

 gives place to the man who can bring   
about results4 ,whatever the present    
menace of trust and monopoly1 the       
business of the future must be conducted
 on large lines4 ,the profits of the    
future will be the legitimate reward of 
economy1 organization1 and boldness of  
conception4 ,to this end absolute       
honesty is essential to success4 ,the   
merchant selling poor goods at high     
prices1 an article which looks as good  
as the real thing but is something else1
 must give place to a larger system1    
with specialized service on a basis of  
absolute truthfulness4 ,business of a   
large scale must finally demand         
publicity and equity4 ,sooner or later  
even monopolies must grant this1 whether
 we insist on it by statute or not4 ,it 
is necessary for their own protection2  
for large structures cannot long stand  
on insecure foundations4 ,in the long   
run trade is honest2 for dishonest trade
 cuts its own throat4  ,above all1      
because including all1 the century will 

ask for men of sober mind4 ,the finest  
piece of mechanism in all the universe  
is the brain of man and the mind which  
is its manifestation4 ,what mind is1 or 
how it is related to brain cells1 we    
cannot say1 but this we know1 that as   
the brain is1 so is the mind2 whatever  
injury comes to the one is shown in the 
other4 ,in this complex structure1 with 
its millions of connecting cells1 we are
 able to form images of the external    
world1 truthful so far as they go1 to   
retain these images1 to compare them1 to
 infer relations of cause and effect1 to
 induce thought from sensation1 and to  
translate thought into action4 ,in      
proportion to the exactness of these    
operations is the soundness1 the        
effectiveness of the man4 ,the man is   
the mind1 and everything else is        
accessory4 ,the sober man is the one who
 protects his brain from all that would 
do it harm4 ,vice is our name for       
self-inflicted injury1 and the purpose  
of vice is to secure a temporary feeling

 of pleasure through injury to the      
brain4 ,real happiness does not come    
through vice4 ,you will know that which 
is genuine because it makes room for    
more happiness4 ,the pleasures of vice  
are mere illusions1 tricks of the       
nervous system1 and each time these     
tricks are played it is more and more   
difficult for the mind to tell the      
truth4 ,such deceptions come through    
drunkenness and narcotism4 ,in greater  
or less degree all nerve-affecting drugs
 produce it2 alcohol1 nicotine1         
caffeine1 opium1 cocaine1 and the rest1 
strong or weak4 ,habitual use of any of 
these is a physical vice4 ,a physical   
vice becomes a moral vice1 and all vice 
leaves its record on the nervous system4
 ,to cultivate vice is to render the    
actual machinery of our mind incapable  
of normal action4  ,it is the brain's   
business to perceive1 to think1 to will1
 to act4 ,all these functions taken     
together we call the mind4 ,the brain is
 hidden in darkness1 sheltered within a 

box of bone4 ,all that it knows comes to
 it from the nerves of sense4 ,all that 
it can do in this world is to act on the
 muscles it controls through its nerves 
of motion4 ,the final purpose of        
knowledge is action4 ,our senses tell us
 what lies about us1 that we may move   
and act1 and do this wisely and safely4 
,the sense-organs are the brain's only  
teachers so far as we know1 the muscles 
are its only servants4 ,but there are   
many orders which may be issued to these
 servants4 ,out of the many sensations1 
memories1 imaginations1 how shall the   
brain choose8  ,the power of attention  
fixes the mind on those sensations or   
impressions of most worth1 pushing the  
others into the background4 ,past       
impressions1 memory-pictures1 linger in 
the brain1 and these1 bidden or         
unbidden1 crowd with the others4 ,to    
know the relation of all these1 to      
distinguish present impressions from    
memories1 realities from dreams1--this  
is mental sanity4 ,the sane brain       

performs its appointed task4 ,the mind  
is clear1 the will is strong1 the       
attention persistent1 and all is well in
 the world4 ,but the machinery of the   
brain may fail4 ,the mind grows         
confused4 ,it mistakes memories for     
realities4 ,it loses the power of       
attention4 ,a fixed idea may take       
possession of it1 or it may be filled by
 a thousand vagrant impressions1        
wandering memories1 in as many seconds4 
,in this case the response of the       
muscles becomes uncertain4 ,the acts are
 governed not by the demands of external
 conditions but by internal whims4 ,this
 is a condition of mania or mental      
irresponsibility4 ,some phase of mental 
unsoundness is produced by any of the   
drugs which affect the nerves1 whether  
stimulants or narcotics4 ,they may help 
to borrow from our future store of      
energy1 but they borrow at compound     
interest and never repay the loan4 ,they
 give an impression of joy1 of rest1 of 
activity1 without giving the fact2 one  

and all1 their function is to force the 
nervous system to lie4 ,each indulgence 
in any of them makes it harder to tell  
the truth4 ,one and all1 their supposed 
pleasures are followed by reactions1    
subjective pains as unreal as the joys  
which they follow4 ,each of them1 if    
used persistently1 brings incapacity1   
insanity1 and death4 ,with each of them 
use creates appetite4 ,to yield once it 
is easier to yield again4 ,the harm of  
some of them is slight4 ,tea1 coffee1   
beer1 claret1 in moderate quantities1 do
 but moderate harm1 but all of them are 
without other effect on the nerves save 
to work them injury4 ,white lies at the 
best are falsehoods4 ,these are the     
white lies of physiology4 ,in regard to 
each of these1 the young man must count 
the cost4 ,count all the cost and be    
prepared to pay4 ,the song of ,ulrich   
von ,htten1 when he gave his life for   
religious freedom1 is worth applying to 
all other costly things4 ,he sang3--    
',ich habe gewagt mit ,sinnen   ,und    

trage des noch kein ,reu4'    ,with open
 eyes have ,i dared it1   and cherish no
 regret4  ,for all indulgence in wine   
and coffee and tobacco you will have a  
bill to pay4 ,perhaps not a heavy bill4 
,the indulgence may be worth the while1 
but if so1 find out for yourself        
beforehand whether others have found it 
so4 ,if you dare1 dare with open eyes   
and cherish no regrets4 ,for regret is  
the most profitless thing to cherish4   
,there is nothing more distressing than 
remorse without will4 ,the only hope in 
the world is to stop1 and by the time   
that the inebriate comes to realize     
where he is1 it is too late to stop4    
,there is joy in life1 says ,sullivan1  
the pugilist1 but it is known only to   
the man who has a few jolts of liquor   
under his belt4 ,to know this kind of   
joy is to put one's self beyond the     
reach of all others4  ,the joy of the   
blue sky1 the bright sunshine1 the      
rushing torrent1 the songs of birds1    
sweet as children's prattle is1 the     

breath of the meadows1 the glow of      
effort1 the beauty of poetry1 the       
achievement of thought1 the thousand and
 thousand real pleasures of life1 are   
inaccessible to him who has a few jolts 
of liquor under his belt1 while the     
sorrows he feels1 or thinks he feels1   
are as unreal as his joys1 and as       
unworthy of a life worth living4  ,there
 was once1 ,i am told1 a man who came   
into his office smacking his lips1 and  
said to his clerk1 ,the world looks very
 different to the man who has had a good
 glass of brandy and soda in the        
morning4 ,yes1 said the clerk1 and the  
man looks different to the world4  ,and 
this is natural and inevitable1 for the 
pleasure1 which exists only in the      
imagination1 leads to action which has  
likewise nothing to do with the demands 
of life4 ,the mind is confused1 and may 
be delighted with the confusion1 but the
 confused muscles tremble and halt4 ,the
 tongue is loosened and utters          
unfinished sentences2 the hand is       

loosened and the handwriting is shaky2  
the muscles of the eyes are unharnessed1
 and the two eyes move independently and
 see double2 the legs are loosened1 and 
the confusion of the brain shows itself 
in the confused walk4 ,and if this      
confusion is long continued1 the mental 
deterioration shows itself in external  
things1--the shabby hat and seedy       
clothing1 and the gradual drop of the   
man from stratum to stratum of society1 
till he brings up some night in the     
ditch4 ,as the world looks more and more
 different to him1 so does he look more 
and more different to the world4  ,a    
prominent lawyer of ,boston once told me
 that the great impulse to total        
abstinence came to him when a young man1
 from hearing his fellow lawyers talking
 over their cups4 ,the most vital       
secrets of their clients' business were 
made public property when their tongues 
were loosened by wine2 and this led him 
to the firm resolution that nothing     
should go into his mouth which would    

prevent him from keeping it closed      
unless he wanted to open it4 ,the time  
will come when the only opening for the 
ambitious man of intemperate habits will
 be in politics4 ,it is rapidly becoming
 so now4 ,private employers dare not    
trust their business to the man who     
drinks4 ,the great corporations dare    
not4 ,he is not wanted on the railroads4
 ,the steamship lines have long since   
cast him off4 ,the banks dare not use   
him4 ,he cannot keep accounts4 ,only the
 people1 long-suffering and generous1   
remain as his resource4 ,for this reason
 municipal government is his specialty2 
and while this patience of the people   
lasts1 our cities will breed scandals as
 naturally as our swamps breed malaria4 
,already the business of the century    
recognizes the truth of all this4 ,the  
bonding companies ask1 before they sign 
a contract1 whether the official in     
question uses liquor1 what kind of      
liquor1 whether he smokes1 gambles1 or  
in other ways so conducts himself that  

in five years he will be less of a man  
than he is now4  ,the great corporations
 ask the same questions as to all their 
employees4 ,even these organizations    
called soulless know the value of men1  
and that the vices of to-day must be    
reckoned at compound interest and       
charged against their estimate of the   
young man's future4 ,the ,twentieth     
,century must be temperate2 for only    
sober men can bear the strain of its    
enterprises4  ,equally dangerous is the 
search for the joys of love by those who
 would shirk all love's                 
responsibilities4 ,just as honest love  
is the most powerful influence that can 
enter into a man's life1 so is love's   
counterfeit the most disintegrating4    
,happiness cannot spring from the ashes 
of lust4 ,love looks toward the future4 
,its glory is its altruism4 ,to shirk   
responsibility is to destroy the home4  
,the equal marriage demands equal purity
 of heart1 equal chastity of intention4 
,open vice brings with certainty disease

 and degradation4 ,secret lust comes to 
the same end1 but all the more surely   
because the folly of lying is added to  
other sources of decay4 ,that society is
 so severe in its condemnation of the   
double life is an expression of the     
bitterness of its experience4 ,the real 
character of a man is measured by the   
truth he shows to women4 ,his ideal of  
womankind is gauged by the character of 
the woman he seeks4  ,in general1 the   
sinner is not the man who sets out in   
life to be wicked4 ,few men are born    
wicked2 many are born weak4 ,false ideas
 of manliness2 false conceptions of good
 fellowship1 which false ideas of the   
relationship of men and women give1     
wreck many a young man of otherwise good
 intentions4 ,the sinner is the man who 
cannot say no4 ,the fall through vice to
 sin is a matter of slow transition4    
,one virtue after another is yielded up 
as the strain on the will becomes too   
great4 ,in ,kipling's fable of          
,parenness1 the demon appears before the

 clerk in the ,indian service1 who has  
been too long a good fellow among the   
boys4 ,it asks him to surrender three   
things in succession3 his trust in man1 
his faith in woman1 then the hopes and  
ambitions of his childhood4 ,when these 
are given up1 as they must be in the    
life of dissipation1 the demon leaves   
him in exchange a little crust of dry   
bread4 ,bare existence without joy or   
hope is all that the demon can give when
 the forces of life are burned out4  ,in
 our colleges1 the one ethical principle
 kept before the athlete by his         
associates is this3 ,never break        
training rules4 ,the pitcher who smokes 
a cigarette throws away his game4 ,the  
punter who spends the night at a dance  
loses his one chance of making a goal4  
,the sprinter who takes the glass of    
convivial beer breaks no record4 ,his   
record breaks him4 ,some day we shall   
realize that the game of life is more   
than the game of foot-ball4 ,we have    
work every day more intricate than      

pitching curves1 more strenuous than    
punting the ball4 ,we must keep in trim 
for it4 ,we must hold ourselves in      
repair4 ,we must remember training      
rules4 ,when this is done1 we shall win 
not only games and races1 but the great 
prizes of life4 ,almost half the        
strength of the men of ,america is now  
wasted in dissipation1 gross or petty1  
in drink or smoke4 ,this strength would 
be saved could we remember training     
rules4 ,through the training rules of   
our fathers we have come to consider as 
part of our inheritance the ,puritan    
,conscience4 ,as the success of our     
nation is built upon this conscience1 so
 in like fashion depends upon it the    
success of our daily life4  ,i had a    
friend once1 a mining man of some       
education1 who made his fortune in      
bonanza days in ,nevada1 and who drank  
up what he had made with the boys who   
have long since passed away4 ,as a      
hopeless sot he visited the gold cure at
 ,los ,gatos4 ,not finding much relief1 

he walked over to ,palo ,alto to borrow 
of me his fare to ,san ,francisco4 ,he  
said that he was going to pawn his goods
 for a fare to ,nevada1 where he meant  
to kill himself4 ,whether he did so or  
not1 ,i do not know2 for ten years have 
gone by and ,i have never heard of him  
again4  ,as he sat in my room1 haggard1 
bloodshot1 ragged1 gin-flavored1 a      
little boy who had then never known sin1
 came in1 and being no respecter of     
persons1 took him for a man and offered 
him his hand4  ,being taken for a man1  
brought him back his manhood for a      
moment4 ,the visions of evil left him1  
and from ,dickens' poem of ,the         
,children he repeated almost to himself 
these words3--    ',i know now how      
,jesus could liken ,the ,kingdom of ,god
 to a child4'  ,the old scene came back 
to him4 ,when the ,master was teaching1 
the children crowded about him1 and     
there were those who would send them    
away4 ,but the ,master said1 ,no1 let   
the little children come unto me1 and do

 not forbid them2 for of such is the    
,kingdom of ,heaven4 ,and again he said1
 ,the ,kingdom of ,heaven is within you4
 ,and again those whose services the    
,lord of the centuries could use1 he    
likened to little children4  ,and of the
 many ways in which this likeness can be
 used this is one4 ,the child is born   
with brain and nervous system adequate  
to its many purposes in life1 if it is  
suffered to grow naturally1 to become   
what ,god meant it to be4 ,there are not
 many children of sin not made so by    
vice1 intemperance1 lust1 and obscenity4
 ,they are victims of their elders'     
folly1 of our carelessness as to their  
environment4 ,half the troubles of men  
of our race come through self-inflicted 
injury to the nervous system4 ,we are   
tormented by the fool-killer4 ,if we    
could revert to the child's simple      
purity1 the free movement of its        
machinery of life1 we should find       
ourselves in a new heaven on a new      
earth4 ,we could understand for         

ourselves part of what the ,master      
meant4 ,we should know now how ,jesus   
could liken the ,kingdom of ,god to a   
child4  ,all forms of subjective        
enjoyment1 all pleasures that begin and 
end with self1 unrelated to external    
things1 are insane and unwholesome1     
destructive alike to rational enjoyment 
and to effectiveness in life4 ,and this 
is true of spurious emotions alike1     
whether the pious ecstasies of a        
half-starved monk1 the neurotic         
imaginings of a sentimental woman1 or   
the riots of a debauchee4 ,he is the    
wise man who for all his life can keep  
mind and soul and body clean4  ,i know  
of no more encouraging fact1 says       
,thoreau1 than the ability of a man to  
elevate his life by conscious endeavor4 
,it is something to paint a particular  
picture1 or to carve a statue1 and so   
make a few objects beautiful4 ,it is far
 more glorious to carve and paint the   
very atmosphere and medium through which
 we look4 ,this morally we can do4  ,if 

it were ever my fortune in speaking to  
young men to become eloquent1 with the  
only real eloquence there is1 the plain 
speaking of a living truth1 this ,i     
would say3--  ,your first duty in life  
is toward your after-self4 ,so live that
 your after-self--the man you ought to  
be--may in his time be possible and     
actual4 ,far away in the twenties1 the  
thirties1 of the ,twentieth ,century he 
is awaiting his turn4 ,his body1 his    
brain1 his soul are in your boyish      
hands4 ,he cannot help himself4 ,what   
will you leave for him8 ,will it be a   
brain unspoiled by lust or dissipation1 
a mind trained to think and act1 a      
nervous system true as a dial in its    
response to the truth about you8 ,will  
you1 boy of the ,twentieth ,century1 let
 him come as a man among men in his     
time1 or will you throw away his        
inheritance before he has had the chance
 to touch it8 ,will you turn over to him
 a brain distorted1 a mind diseased1 a  
will untrained to action1 a spinal cord 

grown through and through with the devil
 grass of that vile harvest we call wild
 oats8 ,will you let him come1 taking   
your place1 gaining through your        
experiences1 hallowed through your joys1
 building on them his own1 or will you  
fling his hope away1 decreeing          
wanton-like that the man you might have 
been shall never be8  ,this is your     
problem in life1 the problem of more    
importance to you than any or all       
others4 ,how will you solve it8 ,will   
you meet it as a man or as a fool8 ,when
 you answer this1 we shall know what use
 the ,twentieth ,century can make of    
you4  ,death is a thing cleaner than    
,vice1 ,owen ,wister tells us1 and in   
the long run it is more profitable4     
,charles ,r4 ,brown tells us of the old 
physician showing the physical effects  
of vice in the ,museum of ,pathology4   
,almighty ,god writes a very plain hand4
 ,this is what he said4 ,in every       
failure as in every success in the      
,twentieth ,century1 this plain hand can

 be plainly traced4 ,by their long      
memories the gods are known4 ,this is an
 older form of the very same great      
lesson1 the goodness and severity of    
,god4  ,those who control the spiritual 
thought of the ,twentieth ,century will 
be religious men4 ,they will not be     
religious in the fashion of monks1      
ascetics1 mystic dreamers1 or emotional 
enthusiasts4 ,they will not be active in
 debating societies1 discussing the     
intricacies of creeds4 ,neither will    
they be sticklers as to details in      
religious millinery4 ,they will be      
simple1 earnest1 ,god-fearing1 because  
they have known the ,god that makes for 
righteousness4 ,their religion of the   
,twentieth ,century will be its working 
theory of life4 ,it will be expressed in
 simple terms or it may not be expressed
 at all1 but it will be deep graven in  
the heart4 ,in wise and helpful life it 
will find ample justification4 ,it will 
deal with the world as it is in the     
service of the ,god of things as they   

are4 ,it will find this world not a vale
 of tears1 a sink of iniquity1 but a    
working paradise in which the rewards of
 right doing are instant and constant4  
,it will find indeed that ,his service  
is perfect freedom1 for all things large
 or small within the reach of human     
effort are done in ,his way and in ,his 
way only4  ,whittier tells us of the    
story of the day in ,connecticut in     
#aghj1 when the horror of great darkness
 came over the land1 and all men feared 
the dreaded ,day of ,judgment had come  
at last4  ,the ,legislature of          
,connecticut1 dim as ghosts in the old  
,state ,house1 wished to adjourn to put 
themselves in condition for the great   
assizes4 ,meanwhile1 ,abraham           
,davenport1 representative from         
,stamford rose to say3--    ,this may   
well be   ,the ,day of ,judgment for    
which the world awaits2   ,but be it so 
or not1 ,i only know   ,my present duty 
and my ,lord's command   ,to occupy till
 ,he come4   ,so at the ,post where ,he 

hath set me in ,his ,providence1   ,i   
choose for one to meet ,him face to     
face4   ,let ,god do ,his work4 ,we will
 see to ours4  ,then he took up a       
discussion of an act relating to the    
fisheries of alewife and shad1 speaking 
to men who felt them obliged to stand by
 their duty1 though never expecting to  
see shad1 or alewife1 or even           
,connecticut again4    ,glad did ,i live
 and gladly die1   ,and ,i lay me down  
with a will4  ,this was ,stevenson's    
word4 ,let ,god do ,his work2 we will   
see to ours4 ,and in whatever part of   
,god's ,kingdom we men of the ,twentieth
 ,century may find ourselves1 we shall  
know that we are at home4 ,for the same 
hand that made the world and the ages   
created also the men in whose hands the 
final outcome of the wayward centuries  
finds its place within the ,kingdom of  
,heaven4