tion that would let nothing stand in the way of their plans. Nothing could daunt them, nothing could make them turn aside from the goal they had set before themselves in their thoughts. There was no fear of failure, there were no doubts that the object desired could be attained. They knew that they could succeed, and therein lay the secret of their success. All their achievements were due to the power of their minds-not to any fortuitous circumstances.

Napoleon created his victories in his mind before he won them. Had he allowed his mind to dwell on chances of defeat he would never have achieved his splendid victories. When he failed it was because others were incapable of measuring up to his standards and of carrying out the gigantic tasks which he set them. Whatever may have been his failure at the end, was it not more glorious than never to have attempted and achieved such greatness? The moral, surely, is that we should not let our ambitions overreach themselves; it can never be that great thoughts and great attempts are undesirable because they are perilous. Cromwell, be it noted, did not overreach himself like Napoleon. He refused the crown, putting a curb on his own ambition, and retaining the full measure of his success to the end of his days.

It is far better to fail grandly than to be

content to remain a mediocrity. The mental effort of attempting something great of itself is a help towards greatness. You may fail at your big work, but you will profit by what you do, and you will gain strength and knowledge which will pull you through next time. Do not admit that you have failed or can fail. The non-attainment of your goal at one particular onslaught does not shut you out from it for ever. What you call

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failures are halts on the road to success to enable you to take a breathing space and find out what your weaknesses and your difficulties are. The men who accept them as defeats are the men who are unlucky." The wise man profits by his misfortunes and turns them to account; and he marches straight on to success. Do not assume that you will be less efficient or less prosperous to-morrow than you are to-day. Make yourself more efficient still, and fit yourself for greater deeds.

CHAPTER X

KEYS TO HAPPINESS

"Learn only to grasp happiness, for happiness is always there."

F

GOETHE.

REE will means the power to rule our minds. We cannot rule unless we understand. It is not necessary that we should indulge in morbid introspection concerning ourselves. We can learn by studying human nature, and by pondering over the lives of the great men and women of the ages. Self-control is the first lesson that life teaches us, because without it we cannot succeed in anything we may undertake.

Success is merely a relative term. To a number of people it stands for happiness; to some, contentment; to others, money. Money is not to be despised. After all, it is the visible and tangible sign of success in business. We must never forget, however, that success in business does not necessarily mean success in life. The philosopher said, "Success cannot buy happiness," to which the cynic replied: "No, but it can buy off a lot of unhappiness." If you

have money you want to know how to use it so that it will bring you actually what you need, and this demands a cultivated and well-balanced mind.

There is one quality of the mind that makes for power and progress above all others. Without it life must be a failure and a fraud, hopeless and despairing. With it, all the days are tinged with rose, all our troubles, defeats and disappointments are but the sign-posts marking the steps of the road to success and happiness. It is the philosopher's stone of life which turns all it touches to gold. This quality is optimism. It is a gift of God possessed by everybody, like free-will. It may become atrophied from lack of use, or remain stunted because it is used too little. Yet, like all our natural gifts, it will increase in value by cultivation and use. Man was never meant to be a pessimist. Pessimism is an entirely artificial habit of mind that has no existence. Take an example. The optimist says, "Every cloud has its silver lining." The pessimist replies, "Every silver lining betokens a cloud." Yes," says the optimist, "but the cloud only hides the sun for a while. The sun is there all the time, more powerful than the cloud, and in time its strength will disperse the cloud altogether.'

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In business, optimism generally goes by the name of ambition. The ambitious man sees only the goal

towards which he is striving. He has his losses and his setbacks, but he knows the goal is still accessible. As soon as he begins to doubt that, his efforts slacken and his work deteriorates in quality. Success is a state of mind like everything else. Each day of achievement is a day of success, though the work may not look profitable. Each task well done is a help to success because it induces a sense of satisfaction, and makes work easier and pleasanter. You can see, if you follow this line of reasoning, that every material and moral success is bound up with the quality of optimism, and that the more we cultivate this quality the more successful and the happier we shall be.

It is the duty of each one of us to be an optimist. Do you suppose that the derelicts of London who throng the Embankment seats at night would be there if they were optimists? Some of them fell into the depths because they had no strong hand to drag them upwards. If they had had the selfreliance that optimism breeds, do you suppose they would have given up the struggle? Some got there through drink. Drink, as we know, produces an artificial feeling of pleasure. It dulls the pessimism of the brain. That artificial state of mind can be produced much more easily by an effort of will. If all the world were pessimists, what an awful place it would be to live in! We each know men and women