Character and Success 101 



should be understood both by the community and 

 the individual. Wealthy men who use their wealth 

 aright are a great power for good in the commu 

 nity, and help to upbuild that material national pros 

 perity which must underlie national greatness; but 

 if this were the only kind of success, the nation 

 would be indeed poorly off. Successful statesmen, 

 soldiers, sailors, explorers, historians, poets, and 

 scientific men are also essential to national greatness, 

 and, in fact, very much more essential than any mere 

 successful business man can possibly be. The aver 

 age man, into whom the average boy develops, is, 

 of course, not going to be a marvel in any line, 

 but, if he only chooses to try, he can be very good 

 in any line, and the chances of his doing good work 

 are immensely increased if he has trained his mind. 

 Of course, if, as a result of his high-school, academy, 

 or college experience, he gets to thinking that the 

 only kind of learning is that to be found in books, 

 he will do very little; but if he keeps his mental 

 balance, that is, if he shows character, he will 

 understand both what learning can do and what it 

 can not, and he will be all the better the more he 

 can get. 



A good deal the same thing is true of bodily de 

 velopment. Exactly as one kind of man sneers at 

 college work because he does not think it bears any 

 immediate fruit in money-getting, so another type 



