That is it—­be a man; a great, strong, willing, kindly man—­calm in the glory of a fearless heart, serene in your trust and belief in God, the Father of the world, and so sure of the justice of His providence that you go about your daily business free from those silly cares which corrode and ruin manhood itself.

Be a man—­that is the first and the last rule of the greatest success in life.  For the greatest success in life does not mean dollars heaped in bank-vaults nor volumes written, nor railroads built, nor laws devised, nor armies led.  No, the greatest success is none of these.  The supreme success is character.

Pay no attention to mere spiteful criticism, but seek, as for gold and precious stones, the chastening advice of friends.  Do not be offended if your friends say an unpleasant thing of you.  And here we are at the Bible again:  “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

These recurrences to what those wise old Hebrews said make one feel that one is committing a superfluity when one attempts to say anything along the line of practical advice, since anything that any man can say is nothing more than a very weak dilution of the concentrated thought of the most acute minds of the greatest business people, the most successful material people—­yes, and the most idealistic people—­who ever lived, the ancient, the mysterious, the persistent Jews.

This is saying much for the Hebrew blood and genius; but have not these Jews given us our moral laws, our spiritual ideals, our sacred faith?  Not only the bankers of the world are they, but the formulators of the rules of conduct between man and man, and of that adoring attitude which the enlightened mind should always maintain toward the All-Father.  The Jews are the universal people.

If you like ethnology, study the Jews.  Study the Germans, too.  What peoples they both are—­utterly unlike, yet full of the inspiration of thoughts and deeds and persistence.  Persistence—­there is a word of might it will pay you to ponder over.

Persistence—­“stick-to-it-ive-ness.”  It is a quality better than genius.  The Germans have that quality preeminently, and other wholesome and masterful characteristics as well.  They are domestic yet warlike, industrial yet artistic, experts in commerce yet disciples of science.  Study the Germans!

Though you must not fear criticism, do not disregard it.  You may find a suggestion in it, and thus your enemy will become your counselor.  But applause!  Fly from the desire for it as from pestilence.  It will weaken you infinitely.  And to a strong man achievement is the only applause of value—­the making of his point.

Many years ago I heard this story of Bismarck.  If it is not true, it ought to be.  And if it is not true specifically, it is true abstractly.  He had just returned from one of his notable diplomatic victories at the beginning of his career; great crowds had assembled for a speech.