o true success was ever won or ever can be won that
sets at defiance the laws of God and man.

To win, so that we ourselves and the world shall be the better for
our having lived, we must begin the struggle, with a high purpose,
keeping ever before our minds the characters and methods of the noble
men who have succeeded along the same lines.

The young man beginning the battle of life should never lose sight of
the fact that the age of fierce competition is upon us, and that this
competition must, in the nature of things, become more and more
intense. Success grows less and less dependent on luck and chance.
Preparation for the chosen field of effort, an industry that
increasing, a hope that never flags, a patience that never grows
weary, a courage that never wavers, all these, and a trust in God,
are the prime requisites of the man who would win in this age of
specialists and untiring activity.

The purpose of this work is not to stimulate genius, for genius is
law unto itself, and finds its compensation in its own original
productions. Genius has benefited the world, without doubt, but too
often its life compensation has been a crust and a garret. After
death, in not a few cases, the burial was through charity of
friends, and this can hardly be called an adequate compensation, for
the memorial tablet or monument that commemorates a life of
privation, if not of absolute wretchedness.

It is, perhaps, as well for the world that genius is phenomenal; it
is certainly well for the world that success is not dependent on it,
and that every young man, and young woman too, blessed with good
health and a mind capable of education, and principles that are true
and abiding, can win the highest positions in public and private
life, and dying leave behind a heritage for their children, and an
example for all who would prosper along the same lines. And all this
with the blessed assurance of hearing at last the Master's words:
"Well done, good and faithful servant!"

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might." There is a
manly ring in this fine injunction, that stirs like a bugle blast.
"But what can my hands find to do? How can I win? Who will tell me
the work for which I am best fitted? Where is the kindly guide who
will point out to me the life path that will lead to success?" So
far as is possible it will be the purpose of this book to reply
fully to these all important questions, and by illustration and
exam