167 Spirit of Impulsiveness

It will be a sorry day for this world, and for all the people in it, when everybody makes his moods his masters, and does nothing but what he is inclined to do.

The need of training the will to the performance of work that is distasteful; of making the impulses serve, instead of allowing them to rule, the higher reason; of subjugating the moods instead of being subjugated by them, lies at the very foundation of character.

It is possible to learn to fix the wandering thought, to compel the reluctant mental energy, to concentrate the power upon the performance of a task to which there is no inclination.

Until this victory has been gained, life holds no sure promise; the achievement of this conquest is the condition of future success.

No matter how splendid may be the natural gifts, unless there is a will that can marshal and command them, the life is sure to be a failure.