object upon which his heart is set. This is as true of earthly as of
heavenly things. Even the man whose sole object is to acquire wealth
must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he can
accomplish his object; and how much more so he who would realize a
strong and well-poised life?

Here is a man who is wretchedly poor. He is extremely anxious that
his surroundings and home comforts should be improved, yet all the
time he shirks his work, and considers he is justified in trying to
deceive his employer on the ground of the insufficiency of his
wages. Such a man does not understand the simplest rudiments of
those principles which are the basis of true prosperity, and is not
only totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness, but is
actually attracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by
dwelling in, and acting out, indolent, deceptive, and unmanly
thoughts.

Here is a rich man who is the victim of a painful and persistent
disease as the result of gluttony. He is willing to give large sums
of money to get rid of it, but he will not sacrifice his gluttonous
desires. He wants to gratify his taste for rich and unnatural viands
and have his health as well. Such a man is totally unfit to have
health, because he has not yet learned the first principles of a
healthy life.

Here is an employer of labour who adopts crooked measures to avoid
paying the regulation wage, and, in the hope of making larger
profits, reduces the wages of his workpeople. Such a man is
altogether unfitted for prosperity, and when he finds himself
bankrupt, both as regards reputation and riches, he blames