--just as
Beecher was never the same man after reading Ruskin.

Some years ago a party of Russian workmen were sent to this country by
a Russian firm of shipbuilders, in order that they might acquire
American methods and catch the American spirit. Within six months the
Russians had become almost the equals of the American artisans among
whom they worked. They had developed ambition, individuality, personal
initiative, and a marked degree of excellence in their work. A year
after their return to their own country, the deadening, non-progressive
atmosphere about them had done its work. The men had lost the desire
to improve; they were again plodders, with no goal beyond the day's
work. The ambition aroused by stimulating environment had sunk to
sleep again.

Our Indian schools sometimes publish, side by side, photographs of the
Indian youths as they come from the reservation and as they look when
they are graduated,--well dressed, intelligent, with the fire of
ambition in their eyes. We predict great things for them; but the
majority of those who go back to their tribes, after struggling awhile
to keep up their new standards, gradually drop back to their old manner
of living. There are, of course, many notable exceptions, but these
are strong characters, able to resist the downward-dragging tendencies
about them.

If you interview the great army of failures, you will find that
multitudes have failed because they never got into a stimulating,
encouraging environment, because their ambition was never aroused, or
because they were not strong enough to rally under depressing,
discouraging, or vicious surroundings. Most of the people we find in
prisons and poor-houses are pitiable examples of the influence of an
environment which appealed to the worst instead of to the best in them.

Whatever you do in life, make any sacrifice necessary to keep in an
ambition-arousing atmosphere, an environment that will stimulate you to
self-development. Keep close to people who understand you, who believe
in you, who will help you to discover yourself and encourage you to
make the most of yourself. This may make all the difference to you
between a grand success and a mediocre existence. Stick to those who
are trying to do something and to be somebody in the world,--people of
high aims, lofty ambition. Keep close to those who are
dead-in-earnest. Ambition is contagious. You will catch the spirit
that dominates in your envir