ssion more
sympathetic, or are you screwing up your face in tense knots of worry?
Are your eyes growing hopeless and dull, is your mouth drooping at the
corners, and becoming a set thin line in the centre, and is your skin
dry, and sallow, and parched?

Study yourself and answer these questions to your own soul, for in the
answer depends the decision whether you really love and trust God, and
believe in your own immortal spirit, or whether you are a mere impostor
in the court of faith.

The Object of Life

What do you believe to be the object of your life?

To be happy and successful, perhaps you are thinking, even if you do
not answer in those words.

That is the idea of the many. Meanwhile others, who have been educated
in the melancholy faith of their ancestors, believe the object of this
life is to be miserable, poor, and full of sorrow, that they may wear a
crown of glory hereafter.

But the clear thinker and careful observer must realize that there is
one and only one main object in life--_the building of character_.

He who sets out in early youth with that ambition and purpose, and
keeps to it, will not only attain his object, but he will, too, attain
happiness and true success--for there is no such thing as failure for
the man or woman of character.

We often apply the two words character and success, unworthily.

We speak of a man of "much character" when he is merely self-assertive
and stubborn, and we call a man successful, who has accumulated a
fortune, or achieved fame and a position, by doubtful methods.

Then what is character, and what is success?

Character is the result of the cultivation of the highest and noblest
qualities in human nature, and putting those qualities to practical use.

Success is the conquest of the lower and baser self, and the ability to
be useful to one's fellow men.

There are men of brain, wealth and position who are failures, and there
are men of limited abilities and in humble places who are yet
successful, inasmuch as they make the utmost of themselves, and their
opportunities.

It makes no difference how lowly your sphere in life may be, and no
matter how limited your environment, you can build your character if
you will. You need no outlay of money, no assistance from those in
power, no influence.

Character Building must be done alone, and by yourself. The ground
must be cleansed of debris, and the structure must be erected stone by
stone.