d women they must
be born of love and liberty. I have known men that would trust a woman
with their heart--if you call that thing which pushes their blood
around a heart; and with their honor--if you call that fear, of getting
into the penitentiary, honor; I have known men that would trust that
heart and that honor with a woman, but not their pocket-book--not a
dollar bill. When I see a man of that kind, I think they know better
than I do which of these three articles is the most valuable. I
believe if you have got a dollar in the world and you have got to spend
it, spend it like a man; spend it like a king, like a prince. If you
have to spend it, spend it as though it was a dried leaf, and you were
the owner of unbounded forests. I had rather be a beggar and spend my
last dollar like a king than be a king and spend my money like a
beggar. What is it worth compared with the love of a splendid woman?

People tell me that is very good doctrine for rich folks, but it won't
do for poor folks. I tell you that there is more love in the huts and
homes of the poor, than in the mansions of the rich, and the meanest
but with love in it is a palace fit for the gods, and a palace without
that, is a den only fit for wild beasts. The man who has the love of
one splendid woman is a rich man. Joy is wealth, and love is the legal
tender of the soul! Love is the only thing that will pay ten percent
to borrower and lender both; and if some men were as ashamed of
appearing cross in public as they are of appearing tender at home, this
world would be infinitely better. I think you can make your home a
heaven if you want to--you can make up your minds to that. When a man
comes home let him come home like a ray of light in the night bursting
through the doors and illuminating the darkness. What right has a man
to assassinate joy, and murder happiness in the sanctuary of love--to
be a cross man, a peevish man--is that the way he courted? Was there
always something ailing him? Was he too nervous to hear her speak?
When I see a man of that kind I am always sorry that doctors know so
much about preserving life as they do.

It is not necessary to be rich, nor powerful, nor great to be a
success; and neither is it necessary to have your name between the
putrid lips of rumor to be great. We have had a false standard of
success. In the years when I was a little boy we read in our books
that no fellow was a success that did not make a f