immortal. These notes may appear a
thousand years hence, reproduced in our descendants, in all their
beautiful or terrible detail.

"Least of all seeds, greatest of all harvests," seems to be one of the
great laws of nature. All life comes from microscopic beginnings. In
nature there is nothing small. The microscope reveals as great a world
below as the telescope above. All of nature's laws govern the smallest
atoms, and a single drop of water is a miniature ocean.

The strength of a chain lies in its weakest link, however large and
strong all the others may be. We are all inclined to be proud of our
strong points, while we are sensitive and neglectful of our weaknesses.
Yet it is our greatest weakness which measures our real strength.

A soldier who escapes the bullets of a thousand battles may die from
the scratch of a pin, and many a ship has survived the shocks of
icebergs and the storms of ocean only to founder in a smooth sea from
holes made by tiny insects.

_Small things become great when a great soul sees them_. A single
noble or heroic act of one man has sometimes elevated a nation. Many
an honorable career has resulted from a kind word spoken in season or
the warm grasp of a friendly hand.

It is the little rift within the lute
That by and by will make the music mute,
And, ever widening, slowly silence all.
TENNYSON.

"It was only a glad 'good-morning,'
As she passed along the way,
But it spread the morning's glory
Over the livelong day."

"Only a thought in passing--a smile, or encouraging word,
Has lifted many a burden no other gift could have stirred."

CHAPTER XLII

THE SALARY YOU DO NOT FIND IN YOUR PAY ENVELOPE

The quality which you put into your work will determine the quality of
your life. The habit of insisting upon the best of which you are
capable, of always demanding of yourself the highest, never accepting
the lowest or second best, no matter how small your remuneration, will
make all the difference to you between failure and success.

"If the laborer gets no more than the wages his employer offers him, he
is cheated; he cheats himself."

A boy or a man who works simply for his salary, and is actuated by no
higher motive, is dishonest, and the one whom he most defrauds is
himself. He is cheating himself, in the quality of his daily work, of
that which all the after years, try as he may, can never give him back.

If I were allowed but