the desire to succeed.

In every age the awkwardness born of timidity has served to keep back
those who suffered from it, but this defect has never been so great a
drawback as in the life of to-day.

The celebrated phrase of the ancient Roman writer who said, "Fortune
smiles on the brave," could very well serve as our motto nowadays, with
this slight alteration: "Fortune smiles on those who are possest of
poise."

At this point let us attempt an exact definition of poise.

It is a quality which enables us to judge of our own value, and which,
in revealing to us the knowledge of the things of which we are really
capable, gives us at the same time the desire to accomplish them.

It is not a quality wholly simple. On the contrary, it is a composite of
many others all of which take part in the molding of that totality which
bears the name of poise.

It may be well to pass in review the principal qualities of which it is
composed, that one may characterize as follows:

Will.

Reason.

Knowledge of one's own value.