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Beveridge, Albert Jeremiah, 1862-1927

"The Young Man and the World"

That is
why you ought to go to college--to be a trained, disciplined force.
But how and where you got your power--the world of men and women is
far too interested in itself to be interested in that.
When you do finally go to college, take care of yourself like a man. I
am told that there are men in college who have valets to attend them,
their rooms, and their clothes. Think of that! Don't do anything like
that, even if you are a hundred times a millionaire. Of course _you_
won't--you who read this--because not one out of ten thousand young
Americans can afford to have a valet in college--thank heaven!
Don't do any of the many things which belong to that life of
self-indulgence of which the keeping of a valet in college is a
flaring illustration. Don't let kind friends litter up your room with
a lot of cushions, and such stuff. The world for which you are
preparing is no "cushiony" place, let me tell you; and if you let
luxury relax your nerves and soften your brain tissues and make your
muscles mushy, a similar mental and moral condition will develop. And
then, when you go out into real life, you will find some sturdy young
barbarian, with a Spartan training and a merciless heart, elbowing you
clear off the earth.


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