f what his countrymen have
done for him.

In choosing our books we must bear in mind one thing--_let them be
inspiring_. Let them be of such a nature that when we read them we will
feel like going out into the world to accomplish something _big_!

That is probably the mission of great books--to inspire and uplift. The
world's greatest men have been readers--would they have cared for books
unless they were inspiring? It is said that when Napoleon was being
taken to St. Helena he advised one of the officers never to stop
reading.

Most of the things worth while are at some time or other stored away in
books by the thinkers. Every phase of history, every movement to better
mankind and lift it above the drudgery of mere toil, every beautiful
thought is to be found in them and the better the book the more will be
found in it of these very things. When we have finished the day's work
we can pull down a volume from the shelf and in a moment be lost in an
entirely different world. The man who neglects to read surely misses the
one best means of broadening his mind.

All books of the better class furnish food for thought and are excellent
tools for the man of initiative. To read means keeping in touch with the
big visions. We cherish these dreams and make them real in plans of our
own. Aspiration is behind the pages of every worth-while volume. It was
the motive power which drove the author to produce it and it should
become a part of the forces which drive us on to victory. Without such
inspiration we grope as children in the dark. We are without a light to
guide us on our way.

Books by such men as Marden and Hubbard are great generators of the
electricity of doing things. They have put into words those innermost
emotions which are the instruments of success. They point out a way we
may safely follow. They loan us inspiration which causes us to act for
ourselves. They give us thoughts that are useful and practical which we
never would have gained by virtue of our own reasoning power. They made
it a life work to coin into phrases words that inspire. Out of their
large experience came the logical sequences of cause and effect. Not to
profit by their teachings is a crime against our own prospects--without
them we lag behind. Instead of progressing we look on in wonder at what
is going on in the world. Somehow we cannot connect ourselves with the
big enterprises. And all because we failed to feed our minds properly.

There