The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-12-02
PAGAN WORDS y
which Ought to he Abolished
- .-DeslGn I'm Life.

There are two words which Ought
never to be heard by young boy or
girl-"luck" and "chance," the two
verbal scapegoats on which are laid
half the sins and follies of the race. If
there is anything which Is essential to
the moral health and strength OF a
boy or girl, it is to plant deep in the
consciousness the fact that this is an
ordered world; that a man reaps that
which he sows; that he secures the
rewards for which he is willing to
make the effort, and gains the prizes
for which he is willing to pay the price
in labor, seIf-denja and Strength. 1t
is true that there are cases in which
force of circumstances seems to make
it impossible for man to attain the
specific end for which he sets out. In
these cases, however, IT is often OBJ
viously better that he should fail than
that he should succeed, for it often
appears, from later and more far
reaching point of view, that temporary
failure means ultimate success, and
that in missing some one thing on
which man had set his heart he final
ly gained something of far greater
value. What is certain in this nncer-
tain world is that no real success is
ever achieved by accident, chance, or
luck; that is to say, by blind and
brutal play of forces or influences, or
by meaningless combination OF con-
ditions. What appears to be wanton
interference with human plans by
play of blind torcc is often seen, in the
larger circuit of time, to have been
the introduction of a new and higher
purpose. Athens may lose the political
independence upon the preservation OF
which the greatest Of her orators had
set his heart, bnt in parting with for
NAL Independence she became sharer
in a movement which spread her spirit
to the ends Of the earth.
In an those cases, therefore, in
which on first appearance it would
seem as If II mans fate had been taken
out of his hands, or his dearest pur'
poses defeated, il is well to postpone
Judgment until the full evolution of
The niovemcft is seen. In any case, it
is the height OF folly to instiIl into the
mind the idea that Il man is the play
of chance winds Of destiny and not
the master of his own fortune. Spir-
itnn'ly, at least, every man shapes his
own life. The things which come to
him are the things for which he has
prepared himself; the things which
he misses arc the things which he has
Voluntarily re ected. If he fails, ii is
because he lacks ability, force, skill or
Judgment for the specific thing which
he set out TO do: il he succeeds. it is
beca'Ne he hng the quality which COM
mands success. II he is n man who has
taught himself to be honest with him
self. h" never for a moment loses sight
Of his own fundamental responsibility
lie does not permit himself the de-
Iusion that life has cheated him; that
he has failed because conditions were
adverse, or because some one else did
not give him The support which he
ought to have had. The men who are
always making excuses for them
selves. and laying upon others the re-
sponsihility for their own blunders,
folIies and failures, are rarely honest;
they either deceive themselves or they
eyade full, clear recognition of the
facts. The beginning of education is
the acceptance Of the law that man
reaps what he sows, that he is rcspon-
sible for his own career, and that It is
idle to attempt to blind ones eyes to
these fundamental! facts or to Shift the
responsibility of ones failures to
look,