Many a girl of good natural ability spends her most productive years as
a cheap clerk, or in a mediocre position because she never thought it
worth while to develop her mental faculties or to take advantage of
opportunities within reach to fit herself for a superior position.
Thousands of girls unexpectedly thrown on their own resources have been
held down all their lives because of neglected tasks in youth, which at
the time were dismissed with a careless "I don't think it worth while."
They did not think it would pay to go to the bottom of any study at
school, to learn to keep accounts accurately, or fit themselves to do
anything in such a way as to be able to make a living by it. They
expected to marry, and never prepared for being dependent on
themselves,--a contingency against which marriage, in many instances,
is no safeguard.

The trouble with most youths is that they are not willing to fling the
whole weight of their being into their location. They want short
hours, little work and a lot of play. They think more of leisure and
pleasure than of discipline and training in their great life specialty.

Many a clerk envies his employer and wishes that he could go into
business for himself, be an employer too but it is too much work to
make the effort to rise above a clerkship. He likes to take life easy;
and he wonders idly whether, after all, it is worth while to strain and
strive and struggle and study to prepare oneself for the sake of
getting up a little higher and making a little more money.

The trouble with a great many people is that they are not willing to
make present sacrifices for future gain. They prefer to have a good
time as they go along, rather than spend time in self-improvement.
They have a sort of vague wish to do something great, but few have that
intensity of longing which impels them to make the sacrifice of the
present for the future. Few are willing to work underground for years
laying a foundation for the life monument. They yearn for greatness,
but their yearning is not the kind which is willing to pay any price in
endeavor or make any sacrifice for its object.

So the majority slide along in mediocrity all their lives. They have
ability for something higher up, but they have not the energy and
determination to prepare for it. They do not care to make necessary
effort. They prefer to take life easier and lower down rather than to
struggle for something higher. They do not pla