248 LITERAEY VALUES 



while other people had the privilege of wings, he 

 would he haunted by the fear that he had made a 

 mistake, and as he trudged along in the mire, doubt- 

 less would envy the people in the air above him ; 

 but if he had no choice in the matter and was com- 

 pelled to go afoot through no fault of his, he would 

 thank his stars that his fate was no worse. When 

 choice comes in and we can elect this or that, then 

 the door for regret, for unhappiness, is opened. We 

 do not mourn because we were born in this place 

 and not that, but if we had been consulted we might 

 fancy some cause of regret. 



Yet there is a condition or circumstance that has 

 a greater bearing upon the happiness of life than any 

 other. What is it ? I have hardly hinted at it in 

 the foregoing remarks. It is one of the simplest 

 things in the world and within reach of all. If this 

 secret were something I could put up at auction, what 

 a throng of bidders I should have, and what high 

 ones ! People would come from all parts of the 

 earth to bid upon it. Only the wise ones can guess 

 what it is. Some might say it is health, or money, 

 or friends, or this or that possession, but you may 

 have all these things and not be happy. You may 

 have fame and power, and not be happy. I main- 

 tain there is one thing more necessary to a happy 

 life than any other, though health and money and 

 friends and home are all important. That one thing 

 is — what ? The sick man will say health ; the 

 poor man, wealth ; the ambitious man, power ; the 

 scholar, knowledge ; the overworked man, rest. 



