laim full justification for his
existence. The Creator accepts no excuses for failure. Every personal
quality, and every opportunity to succeed that a man has, must be used,
to entitle him to the rewards of success. He owes not only to himself
and to his fellows, but also to God, the obligation of developing his
_utmost capability_. If he does not pay dividends on the divine
investment in him, his dereliction is justly punished by failure in
life. Sometimes he even forfeits the right to live.

[Sidenote: Success Cannot be Copied]

Many ambitious people, who recognize their duty to succeed but do not
know how to go about it, make a common mistake in thinking. They believe
the secret of certain success can be learned from _examples_; that
success can be _copied_. So men who have succeeded conspicuously are
often asked to state and explain their rules, for the benefit of other
men who regard them as oracles.

[Sidenote: Other Men's Formulas]

Doubtless you have read much about Marshall Field, J. Pierpont Morgan,
Charles M. Schwab, and similar outstanding business men. You have
studied their principles of success. You have tried to practice their
methods. But somehow the most careful following of their directions has
not made you a multi-millionaire, nor can you see riches as a prospect.
Naturally you are both disappointed and puzzled. Perhaps you have tested
faithfully for years various formulas of success extracted from the
advice of successful men. Yet _you_ have failed, or have achieved only
partial and unsatisfying success. You have been unable to solve the
problem that you once felt so sure could be worked out by the rules you
mastered.

Maybe you have become discouraged and have given up, in disgust, your
ambition for achievement. Very likely you have said to yourself,
"Success is so much a matter of luck and circumstances, there's no way
to make sure of it. I've done everything that Marshall Field, J.
Pierpont Morgan, and Charles M. Schwab have counseled; but I'm still
plugging along on an ordinary salary. Rules for certain success are
bunk. Luck has to break right for a man."

[Sidenote: The Element of Luck]

Unquestionably good luck _has_ brought success to some men who would
have failed without its aid. It is equally beyond doubt that bad luck
has prevented other men from achieving their ambitions. Of course _such_
successes and failures do not fall within any rules. They are altogether
exceptional, and