there is nothing which reaches men's hearts like talking straight
out the convictions and emotions of your innermost soul. Those
who hear you may not agree with you, or they may not understand
you fully, but something incalculable, something vital, passes.
And as for a boy or girl it is one of the sorriest of mistakes to
talk down to them; almost always your lad of fifteen thinks more
simply, more fundamentally, than you do; and what he accepts as
good coin is not facts or precepts, but feelings and
convictions--LIFE. And why shouldn't we speak out?

"I long ago decided," I said, "to try to be fully what I am and
not to be anything or anybody else."

"That's right, that's right," exclaimed Mr. Stanley, nodding his
head vigorously.

"It's about the oldest wisdom there is," I said, and with that I
thought of the volume I carried in my pocket, and straightway I
pulled it out and after a moment's search found the passage I
wanted.

"Listen," I said, "to what this old Roman philosopher said"--and
I held the book up to the lamp and read aloud:

"'You can be invincible if you enter into no contest in which it
is not in your power to conquer. Take care, then, when you
observe a man honoured before others or possessed of great power,
or highly esteemed for any reason, not to suppose him happy and
be not carried away by the appearance. For if the nature of the
good is in our power, neither envy nor jealousy will have a place