s affected all the rest follow suit.

A man who isn't afraid of a physical combat will readily match his wits
with his fellow man. Physical training is therefore all important to
_initiative and self-reliance_.

Our natural aim is to make for ourselves a true personality that does
not know defeat. When we come to an obstacle we must be able to hurdle
it. It is all very well to say that the longest way around is the
shortest way across, but it doesn't sound like initiative and
self-reliance. There is one thing about men who rely upon
themselves--they make no excuses, nor do they puff up over victory.

Posing for applause is as distasteful to them as standing for abuse. All
they ask is a square deal and the confidence of their associates. If
they fall down on a proposition they get up and go at it again until
success crowns their efforts. Such men have a way of _turning defeat
into victory_.

How immeasurably inferior to such a spirit is the fellow who whines and
moans at every evil twist of fortune. He has no confidence in himself
and nothing else to do except confide his woes to all who will listen to
his cowardly story of defeat. Such men are least useful in the important
work of this world. They are the humdrum hirelings--the dumb followers.
The pitiful part of it all is that they could have succeeded had they
but taken stock of themselves when the taking was good. But while there
is life there is hope--likewise a chance. _It is up to us._

One of the startling things about men of initiative is the way they
come forward in times of trouble. We don't have to point to Andrew
Jackson in the War of 1812. We can look around us. Take, for example, a
great fire. Haven't we often read of the brave fireman who sprang
forward and by doing the right thing instantly, saved a multitude of
lives? Well, such a man is possessed of self-reliance. He is trained for
the hazardous life he leads. When the emergency arose he was ready in a
jiffy to do the work expected of him.

It is safe to say that without training such men would have botched the
job and instead of being praised to the skies would have sunk into
oblivion under the heap of public scorn. Sometimes it happens that a man
accidentally becomes a hero, but it was no accident that he was _able to
become one_. He must have had initiative--he must have had
self-reliance. Archibald C. Butt was such a man. He went down on the
_Titanic_. The last act of his life was to help wom