CHAPTER I.--INFLUENCE OF CHARACTER.



"Unless above himself he can
Erect himself, how poor a thing is man"--DANIEL.

"Character is moral order seen through the medium, of an
individual nature.... Men of character are the conscience of
the society to which they belong."--EMERSON.

"The prosperity of a country depends, not on the abundance of its
revenues, nor on the strength of its fortifications, nor on the
beauty of its public buildings; but it consists in the number of
its cultivated citizens, in its men of education, enlightenment,
and character; here are to be found its true interest, its chief
strength, its real power."--MARTIN LUTHER.


Character is one of the greatest motive powers in the world. In
its noblest embodiments, it exemplifies human nature in its
highest forms, for it exhibits man at his best.

Men of genuine excellence, in every station of life--men of
industry, of integrity, of high principle, of sterling honesty of
purpose--command the spontaneous homage of mankind. It is
natural to believe in such men, to have confidence in them, and to
imitate them. All that is good in the world is upheld by them,
and without their presence in it the world would not be worth
living in.