He is distinguishable from the rest of the world by his perennial
cheerfulness, his undaunted courage under difficulties, and his ready
sympathy and helpfulness; yet he is at the same time emphatically a man who
takes life seriously, who recognizes that there is much for everyone to do
in the world, and that there is no time to waste. He knows with utter
certainty that he not only makes his own destiny but also gravely affects
that of others around him, and thus he perceives how weighty a
responsibility attends the use of his power.

He knows that thoughts are things and that it is easily possible to do
great harm or great good by their means. He knows that no man liveth to
himself, for his every thought acts upon others as well; that the
vibrations which he sends forth from his mind and from his mental nature
are reproducing themselves in the minds and the mental natures of other
men, so that he is a source either of mental health or of mental ill to all
with whom he comes in contact.

This at once imposes upon him a far higher code of social ethics than that
which is known to the outer world, for he knows that he must control not
only his acts and his words, but also his thoughts, since they may produce
effects more serious and more far-reaching than their outward expression in
the physical world. He knows that even when a man is not in the least
thinking of others, he yet inevitably affects them for good or for evil. In
addition to this unconscious action of his thought upon others he also
employs it consciously for good. He sets currents in motion to carry mental
help and comfort to many a suffering friend, and in this way he finds a
whole new world of usefulness opening before him.

He ranges himself ever on the side of the higher rather than the lower
thought, the nobler rather than the baser. He deliberately takes the