me men
live in abundance, and have something to spare, whilst others can
scarcely obtain the necessaries of life, and at the same time run into
debt?" "The reason is," replied Isomachus, "because the former occupy
themselves with their business, whilst the latter neglect it."

The difference between men consists for the most part in intelligence,
conduct, and energy. The best character never works by chance, but is
under the influence of virtue, prudence, and forethought.

There are, of course, many failures in the world. The man who looks to
others for help, instead of relying on himself, will fail. The man who
is undergoing the process of perpetual waste, will fail. The miser, the
scrub, the extravagant, the thriftless, will necessarily fail. Indeed,
most people fail because they do not deserve to succeed. They set about
their work in the wrong way, and no amount of experience seems to
improve them. There is not so much in luck as some people profess to
believe. Luck is only another word for good management in practical
affairs. Richelieu used to say that he would not continue to employ an
unlucky man,--in other words, a man wanting in practical qualities, and
unable to profit by experience; for failures in the past are very often
the auguries of failures in the future.

Some of the best and ablest of men are wanting in tact. They will
neither make allowance for circumstances, nor adapt themselves to
circumstances: they will insist on trying to drive their wedge the broad
end foremost. They raise walls only to run their own heads against. They
make such great preparations, and use such great precautions, that they
defeat their own object,--like the Dutchman mentioned by Washington
Irving, who, having to leap a ditch, went so far back to have a good run
at it, that when he came up he was completely winded, and had to sit
down on the wrong side to recover his breath.

In actual life, we want things done, not preparations for doing them;
and we naturally prefer the man who has definite aims and purposes, and
proceeds in the straightest and shortest way to accomplish his object,
to the one who describes the thing to be done, and spins fine phrases
about doing it. Without action, words are mere maundering.

The desire for success in the world, and even for the accumulation of
money, is not without its uses. It has doubtless been implanted in the
human heart for good rather than for evil purposes. Indeed the desire to