The very effort required to live in these ungenerous surroundings, the
absolute necessity to make every blow tell, to preserve every fragment
of value; the perpetual exercise of the inventive faculty, thus making
the intellect more productive by the continuous and creative use of
it--all these develop those powers of mind and heart which through all
history have distinguished the inhabitants of such countries as
Switzerland and New England. "And so," said Connecticut's great
senator, "these rocky hills produce manhood."
Apply this to your own circumstance, you who cannot go to college
because you must "support the family," or have inherited a debt which
your honor compels you to pay, or any one of those unhappy conditions
which fortune has laid on your young shoulders.
Most men with wealth, friends, and influence accept them as a matter
of course. Not many young men who are happily situated at the
beginning, employ the opportunities which are at their hand. They
don't understand their value. Having "influence" to help them, they
usually rely on this artificial aid--seldom upon themselves. Having
friends, they depend upon these allies rather than upon the ordered,
drilled, disciplined troops of their own powers and capabilities.
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