a man ceases to believe
in himself--gives up the fight--you can not do much for him except to try
to restore what he has lost--his self-faith--and to get out of his head
the idea that there is a fate which tosses him hither and thither, a
mysterious destiny which decides things whether he will or not. You can
not do much with him until he comprehends that _he is bigger than any
fate_; that he has within himself a power mightier than any force outside
of him.

One reason why the careers of most of us are so pinched and narrow, is
because we do not have a large faith in ourselves and in our power to
accomplish. We are held back by too much caution. We are timid about
venturing. We are not bold enough.

Whatever we long for, yearn for, struggle for, and hold persistently in
the mind, we tend to become just in exact proportion to the intensity and
persistence of the thought. _We think ourselves into smallness, into
inferiority by thinking downward_. We ought to think upward, then we
would reach the heights where superiority dwells. The man whose mind is
set firmly toward achievement does not appropriate success, _he is
success_.

Self-confidence is not egotism. It is knowledge, and it comes from the
consciousness of possessing the ability requisite for what one
undertakes. Civilization to-day rests upon self-confidence.

A firm self-faith helps a man to project himself with a force that is
almost irresistible. A balancer, a doubter, has no projectile power. If
he starts at all, he moves with uncertainty. There is no vigor in his
initiative, no positiveness in his energy.

There is a great difference between a man who thinks that "perhaps" he
can do, or who "will try" to do a thing, and a man who "knows" he can do
it, who is "bound" to do it; who feels within himself a pulsating power,
an irresistible force, equal to any emergency.

This difference between uncertainty and certainty, between vacillation
and decision, between the man who wavers and the man who decides things,
between "I hope to" and "I can," between "I'll try" and "I will"--this
little difference measures the distance between weakness and power,
between mediocrity and excellence, between commonness and superiority.

The man who does things must be able to project himself with a mighty
force, to fling the whole weight of his being into his work, ever
gathering momentum against the obstacles which confront him; every issue
must be met wholly