tained by any
young man who is sufficiently resolute in his purpose. Finance,
Commerce, and Industry are, under modern conditions, spheres open to the
talent of any individual. The lack of education in the formal sense is
no bar to advancement. Every young man has his chance. But will he
practise industry, economy, and moderation, avoid arrogance and panic,
and know how to face depression with a stout heart? Even if he is a
genius, will he know how not to soar with duly restrained wings?

The secret of power is the method by which the fire of youth is
translated into the knowledge of experience. In these essays I have
suggested a short cut to that knowledge. I once had youth, and now I
have experience, and I believe that youth can do anything if its desire
for success is sufficiently strong to curb all other desires. I also
believe that a few words of experience can teach youth how to avoid the
pitfalls of finance which wait for the most audacious spirits. I write
out of the conviction of my own experience.

But, above all, stands the attainment of happiness as the final form of
struggle. Happiness can only be attained as the result of a prolonged
effort. It is the result of material surroundings and yet a state of the
inner mind. It is, therefore, in some form or another at once the
consequence of achievement and a sense of calm. The flavour is
achievement, but the fruit should be the assured sense of happiness.

"One or another
In money or guns may surpass his brother.
But whoever shall know,
As the long days go.
That to live is happy, has found his heaven."

It is in ignoring this doctrine of the poet that so many men go wrong.
They practise the doctrines of success: they attain it, and then they
lose happiness because they cannot stop. The flower is brilliant, but
the fruit has a sour taste. The final crown in the career of success is
to know when to retire.

"Call no man happy," says the ancient sage, "until he is dead," drawing
his moral from the cruel death of a great King. I would say, call no man
successful until he has left business with enough money to live the kind
of life that pleases him. The man who holds on beyond this limit is
laying up trouble for himself and disappointment for others.

Success in the financial world is the prerogative of young men. A man
who has not succeeded in the field before middle-age comes upon him,
will never succeed in the fundamental sens