to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only
recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all
conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly,
and accomplish masterfully.

Having conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally mark out a
_straight_ pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right
nor the left. Doubts and fears should be rigorously excluded; they
are disintegrating elements, which break up the straight line of
effort, rendering it crooked, ineffectual, useless. Thoughts of
doubt and fear never accomplished anything, and never can. They
always lead to failure. Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong
thoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in.

The will to do springs from the knowledge that we _can_ do. Doubt
and fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who encourages
them, who does not slay them, thwarts himself at every step.

He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure. His
every thought is allied with power, and all difficulties are
bravely met and wisely overcome. His purposes are seasonably
planted, and they bloom and bring forth fruit, which does not fall
prematurely to the ground.

Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force: he who
_knows_ this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a
mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations; he who
_does_ this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his
mental powers.

THE THOUGHT-FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT

ALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the
direct result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe,
where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual
responsibility must be absolute. A man's weakness and strength,
purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man's; they are
brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be
altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own,
and not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are evolved
from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he
remains.

A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is _willing_ to
be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself;
he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires
in another. None but himself can alter his condition.

It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many me