n their proper careers early in life; and _an
early choice shortens the way_. Can anything be more important to
human beings than a start in life in the right direction, where even
small effort will count for more in the race than the greatest
effort--and a life of drudgery--in the wrong direction? A man is
seldom unsuccessful, unhappy, or vicious when he is in his place.

After once choosing your occupation, however, never look backward;
stick to it with all the tenacity you can muster. Let nothing tempt
you or swerve you a hair's breadth from your aim, and you will win. Do
not let the thorns which appear in every vocation, or temporary
despondency or disappointment, shake your purpose. You will never
succeed while smarting under the drudgery of your occupation, if you
are constantly haunted with the idea that you could succeed better in
something else. Great tenacity of purpose is the only thing that will
carry you over the hard places which appear in every career to ultimate
triumph. This determination, or fixity of purpose, has a great moral
bearing upon our success, for it leads others to feel confidence in us,
and this is everything. It gives credit and moral support in a
thousand ways. People always believe in a man with a fixed purpose,
and will help him twice as quickly as one who is loosely or
indifferently attached to his vocation, and liable at any time to make
a change, or to fail. Everybody knows that determined men are not
likely to fail. They carry in their very pluck, grit, and
determination the conviction and assurance of success.

The world does not dictate _what_ you shall do, but it does demand that
you do _something_, and that you shall be a king in your line. There
is no grander sight than that of a young man or woman in the right
place struggling with might and main to make the most of the stuff at
command, determined that not a faculty or power shall run to waste.
Not money, not position, but power is what we want; and character is
greater than any occupation or profession.

"Do not, I beseech you," said Garfield, "be content to enter on any
business that does not require and compel constant intellectual
growth." Choose an occupation that is refining and elevating; an
occupation that you will be proud of; an occupation that will give you
time for self-culture and self-elevation; an occupation that will
enlarge and expand your manhood and make you a better citizen, a better
man.