"I think so, sir."

"Well, name it,"

"I have ambition, sir."

"Ah! that is a passion, not an object. Does your ambition point in
one direction? Unless it does, it is objectless."

The youth was silent. The old man proceeded:--

"I am disposed to be severe with you, my son. There is no surer
sign of feebleness than in the constant beginnings and the never
performings of a mind. Know thyself, is the first lesson to learn.
Is it not very childish to talk of having ambition, without knowing
what to do with it? If we have ambition, it is given to us to work
with. You come to me, and declare this ambition! We confer together.
Your ambition seeks for utterance. You ask, 'What sort of utterance
will suit an ambition such as mine?' To answer this question,
we ask, 'What are your qualities?' Did you think, William, that I
disparaged yours when I recommended the law to you as a profession?"

"No, sir! oh, no! Perhaps you overrated them. I am afraid so--I
think so."

"No, William, unfortunately, you do not think about it. If you
would suffer yourself to think, you would speak a different language."

"I can not think--I am too miserable to think!" exclaimed the youth