A Fleece of Gold | Page 9

only rational basis for a
free government. Thus it is as much your duty properly to nourish your
brain as to give proper care to the body.
In the rigid economy of modern life we should use extreme care in the
selection of our reading. Our best interests demand more of us than a
gormandizing of newspapers or ephemeral reading of any kind. Far be
it from me to disparage that great organ of the times--the newspaper,
which is a source of keen delight and benefit to us all, and almost the
only source of instruction to thousands of the race. But we should be
judicious in this, and not allow transitional matter to monopolize our
time. "Read not the times, read the eternities," cried Thoreau. The
shelves of our home and public libraries are filled with priceless
volumes yet unread by us. And he who is not cultivating a taste for

good wholesome reading is missing one of the highest enjoyments of
life as well as minimizing his chances for success. We should ever be
exploring new regions of thought. And in the extreme activity of this
electric age we shall be obliged to take snap shots at our reading--on
the street car, in the lunch room, anywhere we find it possible to peruse
a single page.
If we look into the lives of some of the illustrious ones we shall find
that they obtained knowledge under the greatest disadvantages. We see
Lincoln reading his favorite volumes by the dim light of a pineknot
blaze; or Burritt poring over his books at the forge; or Garfield gazing
intently at the pages while riding a mule on the banks of a canal.
Wesley likewise diligently searched the Scriptures while riding
horseback over the country; William Cobbett learned grammar while a
common soldier on the march; and we are told that Alexander the Great,
each night on retiring, would place his favorite book, the "Iliad," under
his pillow and during his waking moments would peruse its pages.
But the high intellectual plane of present-day civilization demands
more of us than the world demanded then, when the avenues to honor
and to power lay over fields of conquest, and the passport to favor was
the sword. The complex problems of today call for a more thorough
cultivation of our mental powers, which, to bring into play upon the
multifarious concerns of our life, is the object of broad education. A
well cultivated mind makes a man monarch of all that he surveys; and
no one can be said to be truly successful who has not invaded the
empire of thought in search for the imperishable Fleece of Gold.
Success, then, in the highest sense, is a full realization of the highest
wealth of body, mind, and soul. And while it does not disparage
material aggrandizement, it makes it subservient, ever looking to an
equalization of the greater revenues of life. Like truth it consists in a
right proportion of things; and like character, is inherent in the nature
of the individual. Success must embrace all the cardinal virtues. It must
arise from the harmonious and fullest use of all the faculties. In its
essence, it is the aggregate of those things which we have acquired, and
which we are putting to a wise and useful purpose. The way of life is
strewn with those who have done fairly well. Excellence is the golden
quality to seek. Success, like a commodity, has its price, and he who
would have it must be willing to pay. You can not buy it on a bargain

counter; it is a staple product and demands full value--the sublimest
qualities of your being.
"In the lexicon of youth, which fate reserves for a bright manhood,
there is no such words as--fail."

III
The Messenger of Fate
"They Seized the Favorable Moment."

Take all reasonable advantage of that which the present may offer
you.... It is the only time which is ours. Yesterday is buried forever, and
to-morrow we may never see.
--Victor Hugo.
Master of human destinies am I; Fame, love, and fortune on my
footsteps wait, Cities and fields I walk; I penetrate Deserts and seas
remote, and passing by Hovel and mart and palace, soon or late I knock
unbidden once at every gate; If sleeping wake; if feasting, rise before I
turn away. It is the hour of fate, And they who follow me reach every
state Mortals desire and conquer every foe Save death; but those who
doubt or hesitate, Condemned to failure, penury, and woe, Seek me in
vain and uselessly implore; I answer not and I return no more.
--John J. Ingalls.

Opportunity
The famous statue, "Take Time by the Forelock," was a masterpiece of
Greek sculpture. A noted Athenian orator,