etting in his way and tripping him up at one time; hiding
from him and making him hunt after them at another. Carelessness is a
confession of a weak will that cannot keep things under control. And
weakness is ever the mark of vice.

THE VICE OF EXCESS.

+The end and aim of system is to expedite business. Red tape is the
idolatry of system. It is system for the sake of system.+--Every rule
admits exceptions. To make exceptions before a habit is fully formed is
dangerous; and while we are learning the habit of orderliness and system
we should put ourselves to very great inconvenience rather than admit an
exception to our systematic and orderly way of doing things. When,
however, the habit has become fixed, it is wise and right to sacrifice
order and system, when some "short cut" will attain our end more quickly
and effectively than the regular and more round-about way of orderly
procedure. The strong and successful business man is he who has his
system so thoroughly under his control that he can use it or dispense
with it on a given occasion; according as it will further or hinder the
end he has in view.

THE PENALTY.

+The careless man is always bothered by things he does not want getting
in his way; and by things that he does want keeping out of his
way.+--Half his time is spent in clearing away accumulated obstructions
and hunting after the things he needs. Where everything is in a heap it
is necessary to haul over a dozen things in order to find the one you
are after. Carelessness suffers things to get the mastery over us; and
the consequence is that we and our business are ever at their mercy. And
as things held in control are faithful and efficient servants, so things
permitted to domineer over us and do as they please become cruel and
arbitrary masters. They waste our time, try our patience, destroy our
business, and scatter our fortunes.

CHAPTER X.

Fortune.

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as fortune, chance, or
accident. All things are held together by invariable laws. Every event
takes place in accordance with law. Uniformity of law is the condition
and presupposition of all our thinking. The very idea of an event that
has no cause is a contradiction in terms to which no reality can
correspond, like the notion of two mountains without a valley between;
or a yard stick with only one end.

Relatively to us, and in consequence of the limitation of our knowledge,
an event is a resu