nk a little more of
himself, feel a little surer of himself, have more faith in himself,
because he has discovered himself. There is also great satisfaction in
the knowledge that one has not neglected the unfoldment and expansion
of his mind, that he has not let the impressionable years of youth go
by unimproved.

But the best thing you carry from your _alma mater_ is not what you
there prized most, not your knowledge of the sciences, languages,
literature, art; it is something infinitely more sacred, of greater
value than all these, and that is _your aroused ambition, your
discovery of yourself, of your powers, of your possibilities; your
resolution to be a little more of a man, to play a manly part in life,
to do the greatest, grandest thing possible to you_. This will mean
infinitely more to you than all you have learned from books or lectures.

The most precious thing of all, however, if you have made the most of
your chance, is the uplift, encouragement, inspiration, which you have
absorbed from your teachers, from your associations; this is the
embodiment of the college spirit, the spirit of your _alma mater_; it
is that which should make you reach up as well as on, which should make
you aspire instead of grovel--look up, instead of down.

The graduate should regard his education as a sacred trust. He should
look upon it as a power to be used, not alone for his advancement, or
for his own selfish ends, but for the betterment of all mankind. As a
matter of fact, things are so arranged in this world that no one can
use his divine gift for himself alone and get the best out of it. To
try to keep it would be as foolish as for the farmer to hoard his seed
corn in a bin instead of giving it to the earth, for fear he would
never get it back.

The man who withholds the giving of himself to the world, does it at
his peril, at the cost of mental and moral penury.

The way to get the most out of ourselves, or out of life, is not to try
to _sell_ ourselves for the highest possible price but to _give_
ourselves, not stingily, meanly, but _royally, magnanimously, to our
fellows_. If the rosebud should try to retain all of its sweetness and
beauty locked within its petals and refuse to give it out, it would be
lost. It is only by flinging them out to the world that their fullest
development is possible. The man who tries to keep his education, his
superior advantages for himself, who is always looking out for the ma