do not
reduce them to some order, giving them rank, we are in danger of
becoming purposeless drifters on the sea of life.

What is the most important thing in life? What shall be our aim and
purpose, as we look about us, observing our fellows--what they have
accomplished and what they are--what commends itself to us as best worth
while? And what course can we pursue to get the most and the best out of
it?

We find a world of infinite diversity in conditions, in aims, and in
results. One of the most striking differences is in regard to what we
call success. We are prone to conclude that he who is prosperous in the
matter of having is the successful man. Possessing is the proof of
efficiency, and he who possesses little has measurably failed in the
main object of life. This conclusion has a measure of truth, but is not
wholly true. We see not a few instances of utter poverty of life
concurrent with great possessions, and are forced to conclude that the
real value of possessions is dependent on what they bring us. Merely to
have is of no advantage. Indeed it may be a burden or a curse. Happiness
is at least desirable, but it has no necessary connection with property
accumulations. They may make it possible, but they never insure it.
Possession may be an incident, but seldom is a cause.

If we follow this thought further we shall find that in the accepted
methods of accumulation arise many of the causes of current misery and
unhappiness. Generally he who is said to succeed pays a price, and a
large one, for the prosperity he achieves. To be conspicuously
successful commonly involves a degree of selfishness that is almost
surely damaging. Often injustice and unfairness are added to the train
of factors, and dishonesty and absence of decency give the finishing
touch. Every dollar tinged with doubt is a moral liability. If it has
been wrested from its rightful owner through fraud or force of
opportunity, it would better be at the bottom of the sea.

THE BEST IN LIFE

The power and practical irresponsibility of money have ruined many a
man, and the misuse of wealth has left unused immense opportunity for
good. It has coined a word that has become abhorrent, and "Capitalism"
has, in the minds of the suspicious, become the all-sufficient cause of
everything deplorable in human conditions. No true-hearted observer can
conclude that the first consideration of life should be wealth. On the
other hand, no right-minded person