his own type; he distributed his own papers. That
was the beginning.

One of the most successful merchants that I know opened a little store
in the midst of large and pretentious mercantile establishments. He
bought his own goods; he was his own clerk; he swept and dusted his
own storeroom, and polished his own show-cases. He was up at five in
the morning, and he worked to twelve and one at night, and then slept
on the counter. That was less than thirty years ago. To-day he is at
the head of the largest department store in one of the considerable
cities of this country, _and he owns his store_.

This is an illustration so common that every country town, as well as
London, Paris, and New York, can show examples like it. And, mark you,
most of these men were weighted down with responsibilities as great as
yours can possibly be, and hindered by obstacles as numerous and
difficult as those which you have confronting you.

Yet they succeeded brilliantly. The world rewarded them as richly as
any graduate of any university who went to his life's work from the
very head of his class. For you know this, don't you, that the world
hands down success to any man who pays the price. Very well, the price
is not a college education. The price is effectiveness, and the
college is valuable only as it helps you to be effective.

Here is a true picture of our earthly work and its rewards: Behind a
counter stands the salesman, Fortune, with just but merciless scales.
On the shelves this Merchant of Destiny has both failure and success,
in measure large and small. Every man steps up to this counter and
purchases what he receives and receives what he purchases. And when he
buys success he pays for it in the crimson coin of his life's blood.

This is a sinister illustration, I know, but it is the truth, and the
truth is what you are after, is it not? You can do about what you will
within the compass of your abilities; but you accomplish all your
achievings with heart-beats. This is a rule which has no exceptions,
and applies with equal force to the man who goes to college and to him
who cannot go. What is that that some poet says about the successful
man:

"... Who while others slept
Was climbing upward through the night."

So do not let the fact that you cannot go to college excuse yourself
to yourself for being a failure. Do not say, "I have no chance because
I am not a college man," and blame the world for its injustice. Wh