crucified upon a rocky headland.

No nation, and least of all the Greeks, would have arrived at this
theory of life and fate, if they had not felt that it was supported
by actual instances. It was of the nature of an inference from the
facts of life; and the explanation undoubtedly is that men do get
betrayed, by a constant experience of good fortune, into rashness
and heedlessness, because they trust to their luck and depend upon
their fortunate star.

But the man who is of an energetic and active type, if he is
haunted by anxiety, if his imagination paints the possibilities of
disaster, takes every means in his power to foresee contingencies,
and to deal cautiously and thoroughly with the situation which
causes him anxiety. If he is a man of keen sensibilities, the
pressure of such care is so insupportable that he takes prompt and
effective measures to remove it; and his fear thus becomes an
element in his success, because it urges him to action, and at the
same time teaches him the need of due precaution. As Horace wrote:


"Sperat infestis, metuit secundis
Alteram sortem."


"He hopes for a change of fortune when things are menacing, he
fears a reverse when things are prosperous." And if we look at the
facts of life, we see that it is not by any means the confident and
optimistic people who succeed best in their designs. It is rather
the man of eager and ambitious temperament, who dreads a repulse and