investment in him, his dereliction is justly punished by failure in
life. Sometimes he even forfeits the right to live.

[Sidenote: Success Cannot be Copied]

Many ambitious people, who recognize their duty to succeed but do not
know how to go about it, make a common mistake in thinking. They believe
the secret of certain success can be learned from _examples_; that
success can be _copied_. So men who have succeeded conspicuously are
often asked to state and explain their rules, for the benefit of other
men who regard them as oracles.

[Sidenote: Other Men's Formulas]

Doubtless you have read much about Marshall Field, J. Pierpont Morgan,
Charles M. Schwab, and similar outstanding business men. You have
studied their principles of success. You have tried to practice their
methods. But somehow the most careful following of their directions has
not made you a multi-millionaire, nor can you see riches as a prospect.
Naturally you are both disappointed and puzzled. Perhaps you have tested
faithfully for years various formulas of success extracted from the
advice of successful men. Yet _you_ have failed, or have achieved only
partial and unsatisfying success. You have been unable to solve the
problem that you once felt so sure could be worked out by the rules you
mastered.

Maybe you have become discouraged and have given up, in disgust, your
ambition for achievement. Very likely you have said to yourself,
"Success is so much a matter of luck and circumstances, there's no way
to make sure of it. I've done everything that Marshall Field, J.