The mind is master of the man,
And so “they can who think they can.”
Where boasting ends, there dignity begins. – Young.
Impossible is a word found only in the dictionary of fools. – Napoleon.
This influence of the mind in thus shaping the man is very well set forth by James Allen, who says: “A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind. Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands, with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought-forces and mind-elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances, and destiny.”
I am in earnest. I will not equivocate. I will not excuse. I will not retreat a single inch; and I will be heard. – Garrison.
So it is not too early for you to begin to think bravely and resolutely and hopefully upon the life you intend to live, and to cultivate the mental and physical strength that shall help you later on to put your good thoughts into permanent good deeds. Certainty of victory goes far toward winning battles before they are fought. The boy who thinks “I can” is much more likely to succeed in life than is the one who thinks “I can’t.”
While you stand deliberating which book your son shall read first, another boy has read both. – Dr. Johnson.
“Couldn’t” and “Could” were two promising boys
Who lived not a great while ago.
They had just the same playmates and just the same toys,
And just the same chances for winning life’s joys
And all that the years may bestow.
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. – Franklin.
And “Could” soon found out he could fashion his life
On lines very much as he planned;
He could cultivate goodness and guard against strife;
He could have all his deeds with good cheer to be rife,
And build him a name that would stand.
When passion is on the throne, reason is out of doors. – Matthew Henry.
But poor little “Couldn’t” just couldn’t pull through
All the trials he met with a sigh;
When a task needed doing, he couldn’t, he knew;
And hence, when he couldn’t, how could he? Could you,
If you couldn’t determine you’d try?
I wasted time, and now time doth waste me. – Shakespeare.
So “Could” just kept building his way to success,
Nor clouding his sky with a doubt,
But “Couldn’t” strayed into the slough of Distress,
Alas! and his end it is easy to guess —
Strayed in, but he couldn’t get out.
And that was the difference ’twixt “Couldn’t” and “Could”;
Each followed his own chosen plan;
And where “Couldn’t” just wouldn’t “Could” earnestly would,
And where one of them weakened the other “made good,”
And won with his watchword, “I can!”
Weak men wait for opportunities, strong men make them. – Marden.
By reading between the lines we can infer from the foregoing that what the world really wants is men – good men. But the world is old enough and wise enough to know that if it does not train up some good boys, there will be no good men, by and by. “As the twig is bent the tree is inclined.” “The child is father of the man.”
Give me insight into to-day, and you may have the antique and future worlds. – Emerson.
So the world simply wishes to inform you, here and now, that it will count on your assistance as soon as you have had sufficient time and opportunity to prepare properly for the many chances it has in store for you. It notifies you in good season of the important use it hopes to make of you. It does not wish you to be confronted suddenly with a life problem you cannot solve intelligently. You must be so well equipped that you will not make life a “fizzle.”
When I don’t know whether to fight or not, I always fight. – Nelson.
A “fizzle,” as defined by the dictionaries, is a bungling, unsuccessful undertaking.
What is a gentleman? I’ll tell you: a gentleman is one who keeps his promises made to those who cannot enforce them. – Hubbard.
Life is, or ought to be, a splendid undertaking. Some make a success of it; some make a “fizzle;” some make a sort of half-and-half. Every one who lives his or her life must make something of it. What that “something” is depends very largely on the individual person. Heredity has something to do with it; environment has something to do with it; yet we like to think it is the individual who has most to do with the finished product.
All men are to some degree “self-made,” although they are slow to admit it except in instances where the work has been well done.
When one begins to turn in bed it is time to turn out. – Wellington.
The loser declares it is Fate’s hard plan,
But the winner – ho, ho! – he’s a “self-made” man.
It is unfair for the loser to blame others for his deficiencies and delinquencies. No one’s reputation is likely to suffer much lasting injury as long as he keeps his character unspotted. What others may say of us is not of so much moment; the important question is, “Is it true?”
When I found I was black, I resolved to live as if I were white, and so force men to look below my skin. – Alexandre Dumas.
Of strife others make us, we’ve little to fear
Because we can surely defeat it;
Few persons get into hot water, ’tis clear,
But they furnish the fuel to heat it.
Impossible? I trample upon impossibilities! – Pitt.
On the other hand the winner is ungrateful when he credits to his own ability the help and good influence he has derived from his associates and his surroundings. No one lives by, to, or for himself, alone. A great man adds to his greatness by generously praising those who have aided in his advancement.
We are, most of us, selfishly slow to confess
How much others aid us in winning success;
But the Fourth of July and the oyster must see
What failures, without any crackers, they’d be.
When all is holiday, there are no