areless stonecutter carve
an Apollo, a Minerva, a Venus de Medici, or a Greek Slave? Does luck
raise rich crops on the land of the sluggard, weeds and brambles on
that of the industrious farmer? Does luck make the drunkard sleek and
attractive, and his home cheerful, while the temperate man looks
haggard and suffers want and misery? Does luck starve honest labor,
and pamper idleness? Does luck put common sense at a discount, folly
at a premium? Does it cast intelligence into the gutter, and raise
ignorance to the skies? Does it imprison virtue, and laud vice? Did
luck give Watt his engine, Franklin his captive lightning, Whitney his
cotton-gin, Fulton his steamboat, Morse his telegraph, Blanchard his
lathe, Howe his sewing-machine, Goodyear his rubber, Bell his
telephone, Edison his phonograph?

If you are told of the man who, worn out by a painful disorder, tried
to commit suicide, but only opened an internal tumor, effecting a cure;
of the Persian condemned to lose his tongue, on whom a bungling
operation merely removed an impediment of speech; of a painter who
produced an effect long desired by throwing his brush at a picture in
rage and despair; of a musician who, after repeated failures in trying
to imitate a storm at sea, obtained the result desired by angrily
running his hands together from the extremities of the keyboard,--bear
in mind that even this "luck" came to men as the result of action, not
inaction.

"Luck is ever waiting for something to turn up," says Cobden; "labor,
with keen eyes and strong will, will turn up something. Luck lies in
bed, and wishes the postman would bring him the news of a legacy; labor
turns out at six o'clock, and with busy pen or ringing hammer lays the
foundation of a competence. Luck whines; labor whistles. Luck relies
on chance; labor, on character."

Stick to the thing and carry it through. _Believe you were made for
the place you fill_, and that no one else can fill it as well. Put
forth your whole energies. Be awake, electrify yourself; go forth to
the task. Only once learn to carry a thing through in all its
completeness and proportion, and you will become a hero. You will
think better of yourself; others will think better of you. The world
in its very heart admires the stern, determined doer.

"I like the man who faces what he must
With step triumphant and a heart of cheer;
Who fights the daily battle without fear;
Sees his hopes fail, yet kee