Nature already has supplied me with knowledge and instinct far greater than any beast in the forest and the value of experience is overrated, usually by old men who nod wisely and speak stupidly. The end finds it wasted on dead men. Only principles endure and these I now possess, for the laws that will lead me to greatness are contained in the words of these scrolls. Failure is man's inability to reach his goals in life, whatever they may be. In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in the difference of their habits.
Good habits are the key to all success.
Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. I have surrendered my free will to the years of accumulated habits and the past deeds of my life have already marked out a path which threatens to imprison my future. My actions are ruled by appetite, passion, prejudice, greed, love, fear, environment, habit, and the worst of these tyrants is habit. Therefore, if I must be a slave to habit, let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed.