if she can put up _with_ me, she shall never be put down _by_ me.

HINTS AS TO THRIVING.

Hard work is the grand secret of success. Nothing but rags and poverty
can come of idleness. Elbow-grease is the only stuff to make gold with.
No sweat, no sweet. He who would have the crow's eggs must climb the
tree. Every man must build up his own fortune nowadays. Shirt-sleeves
rolled up lead on to best broad cloth; and he who is not ashamed of the
apron will soon be able to do without it. "Diligence is the mother of
good luck," as Poor Richard says; but "idleness is the devil's bolster,"
John Ploughman says.

Make as few changes as you can; trees often transplanted bear little
fruit. If you have difficulties in one place, you will have them in
another; if you move because it is damp in the valley, you may find it
cold on the hill. Where will the ass go that he will not have to work?
Where can a cow live and not get milked? Where will you find land
without stones, or meat without bones? Everywhere on earth men must eat
bread in the sweat of their faces. To fly from trouble men must have
eagle's wings. Alteration is not always improvement, as the pigeon said
when she got out of the net and into the pie. There is a proper time for
changing, and then mind you bestir yourself, for a sitting hen gets no
barley; but do not be forever on the shift, for a rolling stone gathers
no moss. Stick-to-it is the conqueror. He who can wait long enough will
win. This, that, and the other, any thing and every thing, all put
together, make nothing in the end; but on one horse a man rides home in
due season. In one place the seed grows, in one nest the bird hatches
its eggs, in one oven the bread bakes, in one river the fish lives.

Do not be above your business. He who turns up his nose at his work
quarrels with his bread and butter. He is a poor smith who is afraid of
his own sparks: there's some discomfort in all trades, except
chimney-sweeping. If sailors gave up going to sea because of the wet, if
bakers left off baking because it is hot work, if ploughmen would not
plough because of the cold, and tailors would not make our clothes for
fear of pricking their fingers, what a pass we should come to! Nonsense,
my fine fellow, there's no shame about any honest calling; don't be
afraid of soiling your hands, there's plenty of soap to be had. All
trades are good to good traders. A clever man can make money out of
dirt. Lucifer matches pay wel