s crossing the line until he had given his answer.
By the prompt decision of the intrepid ambassador the invader was led
to withdraw, and war was prevented. The prompt decision of the Romans
won them many a battle, and made them masters of the world. All the
great achievements in the history of the world are the results of quick
and steadfast decision.

Men who have left their mark upon their century have been men of great
and prompt decision. An undecided man, a man who is ever balancing
between two opinions, forever debating which of two courses he will
pursue, proclaims by his indecision that he can not control himself,
that he was meant to be possessed by others; he is not a man, only a
satellite. The decided man, the prompt man, does not wait for
favorable circumstances; he does not submit to events; events must
submit to him.

The vacillating man is ever at the mercy of the opinion of the man who
talked with him last. He may see the right, but he drifts toward the
wrong. If he decides upon a course he only follows it until somebody
opposes it.

When Julius Caesar came to the Rubicon, which formed the boundary of
Italia,--"the sacred and inviolable,"--even his great decision wavered
at the thought of invading a territory which no general was allowed to
enter without the permission of the Senate. But his alternative was
"destroy myself, or destroy my country," and his intrepid mind did not
waver long. "The die is cast," he said, as he dashed into the stream
at the head of his legions. The whole history of the world was changed
by that moment's decision. The man who said, "I came, I saw, I
conquered," could not hesitate long. He, like Napoleon, had the power
to choose one course, and sacrifice every conflicting plan on the
instant. When he landed with his troops in Britain, the inhabitants
resolved never to surrender. Caesar's quick mind saw that he must
commit his soldiers to victory or death. In order to cut off all hope
of retreat, he burned all the ships which had borne them to the shores
of Britain. There was no hope of return, it was victory or death.
This action was the key to the character and triumphs of this great
warrior.

Satan's sublime decision in "Paradise Lost," after his hopeless
banishment from heaven, excites a feeling akin to admiration. After a
few moments of terrible suspense he resumes his invincible spirit and
expresses that sublime line: "What matter where, if I be still