t of a contest, however courteously it
may be conducted, frightening him to such an extent that he loses all
his ideas.

The unfortunate shrinking which characterizes him makes him an easy prey
for people of exaggerated enthusiasms as well as to quick
disillusionment.

A token of apparent sympathy touches him so profoundly that he does not
wait to estimate its value and to decide whether it be sincere or not.

He passes in a moment from careless gaiety to the blackest despair if he
imagines that he has observed even the appearance of an unsympathetic
gesture.

He does not need to be sure, to be miserable. It is enough for him if
the circumstances that he thought favorable become seemingly hostile and
antagonistic.

How utterly different is the attitude of the man who is endowed with
poise!

His firmness of soul saves him from unconsidered enthusiasms and he
jealously preserves his control in the presence of excessive
protestations as well as when confronting indications of aimless
antagonism.

How can such a man as this possibly fail to form a correct judgment and
to benefit by all the qualities that depend upon it?

Absolute sincerity toward oneself is one of the forms of sound judgment.

Without indulging in excessive modesty, it is a good thing to endeavor
to become intimately acquainted with one's aptitudes and one's failings,
and to admit the latter with the utmost frankness in order to set about
the work of correcting them.

It is also necessary to know exactly what sort of territory it is in
which one is taking one's risks.

The world of affairs, whatever these last may happen to be, may be
likened to a vast preserve containing traps for wild beasts.

The man who wishes to walk in such a place without coming to harm will,
first of all, make a careful study of the ground for the purpose of
avoiding the traps and pitfalls that may engulf him or wound him as he
passes.

Just as soon as he has located these dangers his step becomes firm and
he can advance with a tranquil gait and head upraised along the paths
which he knows do not conceal any dangerous surprizes.

These are the pitfalls that most frequently threaten that daring that we
sometimes find in the timid.

Their very defects preventing them from making proper comparisons, they
are altogether too prone to ignore their faults and to magnify their
virtues and so fall an easy prey to the designer and the sharper.

Their very carelessness in