wants to rob a house, he tries to find
the home of an honest man. Why? Because he thinks that the honest man,
who never takes advantage of his fellowmen, will be least apt to
suspect that anyone will take advantage of _him_.

"But the same truth holds good when one honest man seeks to deal with
another honest man. A true man, when he comes to us with any plan of
work or investment may be relied upon to say just what he thinks and
believes. He is dependable. It is a pleasure and a satisfaction, when
we are listening to the words of another person, to know that that
other person is speaking the truth. But not everyone is to be depended
upon in this way. There is another kind of man who tells you something
in apparent sincerity, but when he calls upon the next person he may
tell the story in an entirely different way. Why? Because he believes
that the second person will be better pleased with the revised
version.

[Illustration: Fig. 82]

"How often do we find an attractive face which gains our entire
confidence, a face, pleasant to see and agreeable in every way. [Draw
face, completing Fig. 82.] And then, how often are we pained and
shocked and disappointed when something happens which allows us to
look into the real character of the person and we find that his real
self is anything but agreeable and worthy of confidence. [Draw lines
to complete Fig. 83.] Such a discovery, however, should not cause us
to lose faith in our brothers. Truth, character, and a splendid degree
of manhood abound everywhere.

[Illustration: Fig. 83]

"Boys and girls, begin now the formation of habits which will make you
strong, honest, worthy men and women. Sometimes you see a man who is
fiery, cross, ill-tempered and surly. Again you will find one who is
fawning, over-polite, subservient and altogether wearisome because, in
trying to make himself agreeable he becomes a bore and a
nuisance. Both of these kinds of men have failed to reach the right
goal of manhood. We must have backbone, firmness and stamina, but we
must be willing to bend sometimes or we are apt to get some pretty
hard bumps when we hold our heads too high. Remember that you can't
please everybody. Sometimes it is best to say 'Yes' when people ask
you to do certain things, and sometimes a flat-footed 'No' is the
thing. Remember that if you agree with everybody who expresses an
opinion, you have the respect of nobody. Think for yourself, but think
carefully. If you choose