Everard Jack Appleton.

From “The Quiet Courage.”

DUTY

In a single sentence Emerson crystallizes the faith that nothing is impossible to those whose guide is duty.  His words, though spoken primarily of youth, apply to the whole of human life.

  So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
   So near is God to man,
  When duty whispers low, Thou must,
   The youth replies, I can.

Ralph Waldo Emerson.

THE CALL OF THE UNBEATEN

P.T.  Barnum had shrewdness, inventiveness, hair-trigger readiness in acting or deciding, an eye for hidden possibilities, an instinct for determining beforehand what would prove popular.  All these qualities helped him in his original and extraordinary career.  But the quality he valued most highly was the one he called “stick-to-it-iveness.”  This completed the others.  Without it the great showman could not have succeeded at all.  Nor did he think that any man who lacks it will make much headway in life.

  We know how rough the road will be,
  How heavy here the load will be,
    We know about the barricades that wait along the track;
  But we have set our soul ahead
  Upon a certain goal ahead
    And nothing left from hell to sky shall ever turn us back.

  We know how brief all fame must be,
  We know how crude the game must be,
    We know how soon the cheering turns to jeering down the block;
  But there’s a deeper feeling here
  That Fate can’t scatter reeling here,
    In knowing we have battled with the final ounce in stock.

  We sing of no wild glory now,
  Emblazoning some story now
    Of mighty charges down the field beyond some guarded pit;
  But humbler tasks befalling us,
  Set duties that are calling us,
    Where nothing left from hell to sky shall ever make us quit.

Grantland Rice.

From “The Sportlight.”

POLONIUS’S ADVICE TO LAERTES

A father’s advice to his son how to conduct himself in the world:  Don’t tell all you think, or put into action thoughts out of harmony or proportion with the occasion.  Be friendly, but not common; don’t dull your palm by effusively shaking hands with every chance newcomer.  Avoid quarrels if you can, but if they are forced on you, give a good account of yourself.  Hear every man’s censure (opinion), but express your own ideas to few.  Dress well, but not ostentatiously.  Neither borrow nor lend.  And guarantee yourself against being false to others by setting up the high moral principle of being true to yourself.