like to do, and then without violence of direction you will move straight
to the goal.

Fear is the rock on which we split, and hate is the shoal on which many a
bark is stranded. When we are fearful, the judgment is as unreliable as
the compass of a ship whose hold is full of iron ore; when we hate, we
have unshipped the rudder; and if we stop to meditate on what the gossips
say, we have allowed a hawser to befoul the screw.

Keep your mind on the great and splendid thing you would like to do; and
then, as the days go gliding by, you will find yourself unconsciously
seizing upon the opportunities that are required for the fulfilment of
your desire, just as the coral-insect takes from the running tide the
elements that it needs. Picture in your mind the able, earnest, useful
person you desire to be, and the thought you hold is hourly transforming
you into that particular individual. Thought is supreme, and to think is
often better than to do.

Preserve a right mental attitude--the attitude of courage, frankness and
good-cheer.

To think rightly is to create.

Darwin and Spencer have told us that this is the method of Creation. Each
animal has evolved the parts it needed and desired. The horse is fleet
because it wishes to be; the bird flies because it desires to; the duck
has a web-foot because it wants to swim. All things come through desire,
and every sincere prayer is answered. Many people know this, but they do
not believe it thoroughly enough so that it shapes their lives.