pick out some plan which was
successful and then imitate it.

The great ocean of business has many derelicts on it as a result of
copying plans. It is a part of the law of compensation that the man who
originates a plan and carries it to successful conclusion has a patent
on his business. This patent is his individuality and good business
equipment. The man who steals his plan physically is unable to steal
the mental end.

Since men have recorded facts in the shape of history, we find that men
have made successes of plans and businesses that have been discarded by
their predecessors as played-out plans.

When a plan is presented to you do not calculate the outcome by the
plan, but by the man.

Two banks may start side by side with exactly the same office furniture
and exactly the same business operations. They use the same kind of
money; they make loans on lands or on securities. The operations of
these two banks may be as closely identical as possible, yet within ten
years one bank will have considerable surplus and the other may be out
of business.

If the plan were the measure of success these two banks should fare
equally well, but the fact that they differed so materially is in
itself evidence that the success is determined by the individuals and
not the plan.

The illustration of a bank may be carried into other lines,
merchandising, manufacturing or railroading.

Compensation

The law of Compensation is--you pay for what you get, or you get what
you pay for.

This law says if a horse can run fast it can't pull a good load and
vice versa.

This law says a horse cannot go fast far.

It says that for every sorrow there is a joy, for every positive there
is a negative.

Where evil exists there is some good to offset it, says compensation.

The law of compensation is the measure optimists use, and in nearly
every chapter we have written in this series, compensation will be
found as a ground-work.

You can't get away from nor violate this rule of compensation.

It is not new, it is as old as creation itself.

Centuries ago it was expressed this way: "Whatsoever a man soweth that
shall he also reap."

Too many try to ignore this great rule, they try to get something for
nothing.

You may eat first and pay afterwards, or you may pay first and eat
afterwards.

You may play the butterfly; sip life's sweets and sow your wild oats
now, but pay day will come and may be you will be unable to