MENTAL PREPARATION. 189 



* 



real up to the ideal. He should repeatedly affirm 

 to the inner self, "I am honorable." "I will, I 

 do respect myself." "Whatever is unworthy O r Suggestions for 



otfCflfi[tPOff^P 



ignoble is beneath me." "I never do, I never the Character. 



will stoop to what is low, small, dishonest or 



disreputable." "I am determined to excel." "I 



will rise." "My life shall command the respect 



of my own conscience, of my neighbors, of my 



God." 



No matter what may be the calling in life, 

 whether the parents are engaged in some menial 

 service, at some mechanical art, in business, or 

 in professional life, the same law is applicable 

 to all. Let the street grader excel in placing 

 the cobble stones; the gardener with his vege- 

 tables ; the business and professional man in their 

 chosen vocation; each may raise the standard of p owcr O f High 

 his proficiency and bless his offspring by culti- Ideals, 

 vating his own self-respect and a worthy ambi- 

 tion. /T have observed that the children of army 

 officers, college presidents, school superintendents 

 and others who occupy places of authority, have ^_ 



as a rule, much better self-respect and more erintendents. 

 self-confidence and tendency to command than 

 have those born from parents in whom these 

 qualities are not especially exercised. J 



Some mechanical ingenuity is required in every 

 life. To be born as some are, so awkward that 



they find it difficult to do anything requiring 



,. - - i i Mechanical 



the slightest mechanical tact is to say the least ingenuity. 



very annoying. It is not necessary nor even de- 

 sirable, that all children be endowed with great 

 natural mechanical ability; but where this power 

 is sadly deficient in one or both parents, it 



