The fact that he believes in himself, sets him apart from ordinary
mankind. Many great men have been at loss to understand why they
attained success. It is well nigh impossible for them to outline the
causes that led them to the top rungs of the ladder. The reason is that
_their lack of fear_ of experiences was an unconscious one, rather than
a conscious one. However, they are willing to admit that acting on the
principle of profiting by experience _loaned them initiative_ with which
to proceed. They soon came to know opportunity at sight and had only to
look around to find it.

The young man standing on the threshold of life is, from lack of
experience, puzzled over the future. He looks above him and sees the
towering successes. He reads in the papers of the massive characters who
have risen from the bottom to the top. Naturally he would like to meet
one of these giants of success and hear what he has to say. The
interview is quite needless. "_Get busy and profit by experience_," is
about all the advice one man can give to another. There is no way to
profit by experience until we have had experience so there is nothing to
do but get busy and experience will come as fast as we can absorb it.
Our duty is to strive for success and not expect to attain it except by
successive steps. A wholesale consignment would be our undoing. Quick
successes through luck or good fortune have not the lasting value of
those won by virtue of knowing how--of accomplishing what we started
out to do.

Faith in one's self does not come from the outside--it must spring up
naturally _from within_. A healthy body and a sane mind are the best
foundations for this. The young man who begins his career with these
facts in mind is given a running start over his competitors. Poverty and