AN APPRECIATION That poverty, obscurity, and lowly birth are no handicap is frequently evidenced in the later development and conspicuous achievements of men. Affluence and opportunity do not insure leadership. Poverty is not always a guaranty that those who live in its surroundings will reach conspicuous heights, but there is greater incentive for those who have all to gain and nothing to lose to exert themselves than is the case with those who are supplied with everything which money and comfort afford. A fixed purpose in life, integrity, morality, industry, truthfulness, and determination are among the elements necessary to success. It does not matter that those who possess these elements are handicapped either by lack of opportunity or wealth or influence. Success comes to those who are determined to achieve it and have but one object and that object the fulfilment of an ambition, and who work toward it unceasingly and will not be diverted from that ambition by any obstacle. Obstacles to such men are but added incentives to success. They bring out the best there is in a man. Comfort and pleasure and luxurious sur roundings are not calculated to encourage the determination of individuals. Those who live under such circumstances move along the lines of least resistance. The great men of the world have come from the poor and lowly. They have achieved success because they have had the will to work. They have overcome opposition because they have learned the art of work. Work is an essential element to any success sought to be attained. The idle individual never overcomes obstacles. He shrinks from the effort which the obstacles make necessary, but the worker sees only the goal to which he aspires and he has no fear of failure. He knows that if he succeeds he must run the gauntlet; that his success is dependent upon the display of a better genius than that possessed by his contender. He allows nothing to discourage him as he passes along the journey of life. He does what he starts out to do, because he has made up his mind to do it. He grows step by step, through his untiring efforts, into the broader spheres of activity. His stature expands to meet the greater responsibilities. He enjoys the inspiration of the achievement to which he looks forward. Having achieved, he begins to work to a higher level, and while moving forward to the higher level he continues to enjoy in anticipation the next achievement, |