lly strong man, however, is he
who can use and enjoy them without being made dependent on them or being
enslaved by them. The real mastery of fortune consists not in doing
without the things she brings for fear they will corrupt and enslave us;
but in compelling her to give us all the things we can, and then
refusing to bow down to her in hope of getting more. This just
appreciation of fortune's gifts is doubtless hard to combine with
perfect independence. The Stoic solution of the problem is easier. The
really strong man, however, is he who

Gathers earth's whole good into his arms;
Marching to fortune, not surprised by her,

and the secret of this conquest of fortune without being captivated by
her lies in having, as Browning telling us,

One great aim, like a guiding star above,
Which tasks strength, wisdom, stateliness, to lift
His manhood to the height that takes the prize.

The shortcoming of the Stoics is not in the superiority to fortune
which they seek; but in the fact that they seek it directly by sheer
effort of naked will, instead of being lifted above subjection to
fortune by the attractive power of generous aims, and high ideals of
social service.

THE VIRTUE.

+The virtue which maintains superiority over external things and forces
is courage.+--In primitive times the chief form of fortune was physical
danger, and superiority to fear of physical injury was the original
meaning of courage. Courage involves this physical bravery still; but it
has come to include a great deal more. In a civilized community,
physical danger is comparatively rare. Courage to do right when everyone
around us is doing wrong; courage to say "No" when everyone is trying to
make us say "Yes"; courage to bear uncomplainingly the inevitable ills
of life;--these are the forms of courage most frequently demanded and
most difficult to exercise in the peaceful security of a civilized
community. This courage which presents an unruffled front to trouble,
and bears bravely the steady pressure of untoward circumstance, we call
by the special names of fortitude or patience. Patience and fortitude
are courage exercised in the conditions of modern life. The essence of
courage is superiority to outside forces and influences. When men were
beset by lions and tigers, by Indians and hostile armies, then courage
showed itself by facing and fighting these enemies. Now that we live
with civilized and friendly men and