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Speaker 1: Chapter thirty. Will training. It is of the utmost importance

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that the individual develop, cultivate, and train his will, so

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as to bring it under the influence of the higher

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part of his mental and moral being. While the will

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is used most effectively in developing and training the intellect

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and building character, it itself must be trained by itself

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to habitually come under the guidance of the intellect and

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under the influence of that which we call character. The

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influence of the trained will upon the several mental faculties

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is most marked. There are no faculties which may not

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be cultivated by the will. The first and great task

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of the will in this direction is the control and

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direction of the attention. The will determines the kind of

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interest that shall prevail at the moment, and the kind

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of interest largely determines the character of the man, his tastes,

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his feelings, his thoughts, his acts. He says, co operating

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with a pre existing influence, the will can make a

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weaker one prevail over a stronger. He determines which of

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pre existing influences shall have control over the mind. Moreover,

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concentrated and continued attention depends entirely upon the exercise of

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the will as God. He says, if the will relaxes

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its hold upon the activities of the mind, the attention

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is liable to be carried away by any one of

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the thousands of ideas that the laws of association are

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constantly bringing into our minds. Even in the matter of

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mental images, the will asserts its sway, and the imagination

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may be trained to be the obedient servant of the

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developed will. Regarding the influence of the will upon character,

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Davidson says, it is not enough for a man to

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understand correctly and love duly the conditions of moral life

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in his own time. He must still further be willing

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and able to fulfill these conditions, and he certainly cannot

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do this unless his will is trained to perfect freedom,

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so that it responds with the utmost readiness to the

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suggestions of his discriminating intelligence and the movements of his

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chastened affections. Halleck says, we gradually make our characters by

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separate acts of will, just as a blacksmith, by repeated blows,

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beats out a horseshoe or an anchor from a shapeless

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mass of iron. A finished anchor or horseshoe was never

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the product of a single blow. Training the will, perhaps

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the best way to train the will is to use

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it intelligently and with a purpose. The training of any

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faculty of the mind is at the same time a

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training of the will. The attention being so closely allied

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to the will, it follows that a careful training of

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attention will result in a strengthening of the will. The

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training the emotional side of one's nature also brings results

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in the strengthening of the will. Halleck gives his students

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excellent advice regarding the training of the will. It would

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be hard to find anything better along these lines than

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the following from his pen. Nothing schools the will and

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renders it ready for effort in this complex world, better

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than accustoming it to face disagreeable things. Professor James advises

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all to do something occasionally for no other reason than

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that they would rather not do it, if it is

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nothing more than giving up a seat in a street car.

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He likens such effort to the insurance that a man

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pays on his house he has something that he can

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fall back on in time of trouble. A will schooled

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in this way is always ready to respond, no matter

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how great the emergency. While another would be crying over

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spilled milk, the possessor of such a will is already

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found another cow. The only way to secure such a

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will is to practice doing disagreeable things. There are daily opportunities.

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A man who had declared his aversion to what he

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deemed the dry facts of political economy, was one day

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found knitting his brow over a chapter of John Stuart Mill.

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When a friend expressed surprise, the man replied, I am

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playing the schoolmaster with myself. I am reading this book

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because I dislike it. Such a man has the elements

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of success in him. On the other hand, the one

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who habitually avoids disagreeable action is training his will to

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be of no use to him at a time when

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supreme effort is demanded. Such a will can never elbow

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its way to the front. In life habits habits are

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the beaten track over which the will travels. The beaten

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path of habit is the line of least resistance to

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the will. One who would train his will must needs

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pay attention to providing it with the proper mental paths

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over which to travel. The rule for the creation of

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habits is simply this travel over the mental path as

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often as possible. The rule for breaking undesirable habits is

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this cultivate the opposite habit. In these two rules is

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expressed the gist of what has been written on the subject.

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Professor William James has left to the world some invaluable

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advice regarding a cultivation of right habits. He bases his

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rules upon those of Professor Bain, elaborates these and adds

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some equally good ones. We herewith quote freely from both

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James and Baine on this subject. It is the best

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ever written regarding habit building. One, in the acquisition of

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a new habit or the leaving off of an old one,

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launch yourself with as strong and decided an initiative as possible.

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This will give your new beginning such a momentum that

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the temptation to break down will not occur as soon

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as if other wise might. And every day during which

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a breakdown is postponed adds to the chances of it

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not occurring at all. James two, never suffer an exception

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to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in

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your life. Every lapse is like the letting fall of

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a ball of string which one is carefully winding up.

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A single slip undoes more than a great many turns

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will wind again, James. It is necessary, above all things,

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in such a situation never to lose a battle. Every

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gain on the wrong side undoes the effect of many

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conquests on the right. The essential precaution is so to

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regulate the two opposing powers, that the one may have

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a series of uninterrupted successes until repetition has fortified it

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to such a degree as to enable it to cope

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with the opposition under any circumstances. Bain three. Seize the

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very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make,

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and on every emotional prompting you may experience in the

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direction of the habits you aspire. Again, it is not

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in the moment of their forming, but in the moment

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of their producing motor effects, that resolves and aspirations communicate

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their new set to the brain, James. The actual presence

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of the practical opportunity alone furnishes the fulcrum upon which

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the lever can rest, by which the moral will may

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multiply its strength and raise itself aloft. He who has

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no solid ground to press against will never get beyond

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the stage of empty gesture making Bain four. Keep the

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faculty alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day,

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that is, be systematically ascetic or heroic in little unnecessary points.

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Do every day something for no other reason than that

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you would rather not do it, so that when the

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hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you

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not unnerved and untrained to stand the test. The man

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who has daily inured himself to habits of concentrated attention,

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energetic volition, and self denial in unnecessary things will stand

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like a tower when everything rocks around him, and when

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his softer fellow mortals are winnowed like chaff in the

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blast James end of Chapter thirty Chapter thirty one will Tonic.

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In addition to the general rules for developing and training

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the will given in the preceding chapter, we ask you

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to tone up and strengthen the will by the inspiration to

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be derived from the words of some of the world's

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great thinkers and doers. In these words, there is such

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a vital statement of the recognition, realization, and manifestation of

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that something within which we call will, that it is

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a dull soul, indeed, which is not inspired by the

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contagion of the idea. These expressions are the milestones on

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the path of attainment, placed by those who have preceded

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us on the journey. We submit these quotations without comment.

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They speak for themselves, words of the wise. They can

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who think they can. Character is a perfectly educated will.

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Nothing can resist the will of a man who knows

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what is true, and wills what is good in all difficulties,

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advance and will, for within you is a power, a

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living force, which, the more you trust and learn to use,

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will annihilate the opposition of matter. The star of the

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unconquered will. It rises in my breast, serene and resolute,

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and still and calm and self possessed. So now is

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Grandeur to our dust, Sir, Near is God to man.

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When duty whispers low, thou must, the youth replies, I can.

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The longer I live, the more certain I am that

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the great difference between men, between the feeble and the powerful,

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the great and the insignificant, is energy, invincible, determination, a purpose,

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once fixed, then death or victory. That quality will do

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anything that can be done in this world, And no talents,

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no circumstances, no opportunities will make a two legged creature

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a man without it, Buxton the human will, that force, unseen,

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the offspring of a deathless soul, can hew a way

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to any goal. Though walls of granite intervene. You will

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be what you will to be. Let failure find its

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false content in that poor word environment. But spirit scorns

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it and is free. D It masters time, it conquers space,

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It cows at boastful trickster chance, and bids the tyrant

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circumstance uncrown and fill a servant's place. Resolve is what

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makes a man manifest, Not puny resolve, not crude determinations,

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not errant purpose, but that strong and indefatigable will, which

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treads down difficulties in danger, as a boy treads down

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the heaving frost lands of winter, which kindles his eye

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and brain with a proud pulse. Beat toward the unattainable.

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Will makes men giants. Donald g. Mitchell. There is no chance,

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no destiny, no fate can circumvent or hinder or control

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the firm resolve of a determined soul gifts count. For

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nothing will alone is great. All things give way before

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it soon or late. What obstacle can stay the mighty

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force of the sea seeking river in its course, or

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cause the ascending orb of day to wait? Each well

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born soul must win what it deserves. Let the fool's

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prate of luck. The fortunate is he whose earnest purpose

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never swerves, whose slightest action or inaction serves the one

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great aim. Why even death itself stands still and waits

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an hour sometimes for such a will, Ella Wheeler Wilcox,

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I have brought myself, by long meditation, to the conviction

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that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it,

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and that nothing can resist a will which will stake

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even existence upon its fulfillment, Lord Beaconsfield, a passionate desire

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and an unwearied will can perform impossibilities, or what may

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seem to be such to the cold and feeble Sir

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John Simpson, it is wonderful how even the casualties of

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life seem to bow to a spirit that will not

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bow to them, and yield to subserve a design which

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they may, in their first apparent tendency, threaten to frustrate.

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When a firm, decisive spirit is recognized, it is curious

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to see how the space clears around a man and

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leaves him room and freedom. John Foster. The great thing

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about General Grant is cruel persistency of purpose. He is

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not easily excited, and he has got the grip of

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a bull dog. When he once gets his teeth in,

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nothing can shake him off. Abraham Lincoln. I am bigger

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than anything that can happen to me. All these things

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are outside my door, and I've got the key. Man

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was meant to be, and ought to be, stronger and

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more than anything that can happen to him. Circumstances, fate,

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luck are all outside, and if he cannot change them,

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he can always beat them. Charles F. Lummis the truest

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wisdom is a resolute determination. Impossible is a word found

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only in the Dictionary of Fools. Circumstances. I make circumstances, Napoleon,

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He who fails only half wills so worrow. That which

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the easiest becomes a habit in us is the will.

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Learn then to will strongly and decisively. Thus fix your

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floating life, and leave it no longer to be carried

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hither and thither like a withered leaf by every wind

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that blows. Man Owes his growth chiefly to that act

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of striving of the will that encounter, which we call effort.

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And it is astonishing to find how often results apparently

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impracticable are thus made possible. It is will force of

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purpose that enables a man to do or be whatever

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he sets his mind upon being or doing. A strong,

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defiant purpose is many handed and lays hold of whatever

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is near that can serve it. It has a magnetic

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purpose that draws to itself whatever is kindred. Let it

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be your first study to teach the world that you

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are not wood and straw, that there is some iron

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in you. Munger, it's duggard, as does it Yorkshire proverb.

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One talent with a will behind it will accomplish more

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than ten without it. As a thimbleful of powder in

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a rifle, the bore of whose barrel will give it direction,

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will do greater execution than a carload burned in the

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open air. O. S. Marden. Will may not endow a

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man with talents or capacities, but it does one very

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important matter. It enables him to make the best, the

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very best of his powers. Fothergill tender handed stroke a nettle,

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and it stings you for your pains, Grasp it like

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a man of metal and its soft as down remains.

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Don't flinch, don't fowl, but hit the line hard, Roosevelt.

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The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without,

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the more significant, and the higher an inspiration his life

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00:16:29,799 --> 00:16:30,159
will be