development, it liberates a man from dependence upon times, places, and
conditions; it makes privacy possible in crowds, and silence accessible in
tumults of sound; it withdraws a man so completely from his surroundings
that he secures complete isolation as readily as if the magic carpet of
the "Arabian Nights" were under him to bear him on the instant into the
solitude of lonely deserts or inaccessible mountains. More than this, it
enables a man to work with the utmost rapidity, to complete his task in
the shortest space of time, and to secure for himself, therefore, the
widest margin of time for his own pleasure and recreation.

The marked differences of working power among men are due chiefly to
differences in the power of concentration. A retentive and accurate memory
is conditioned upon close attention. If one gives entire attention to what
is passing before him, he is not likely to forget it or to confuse persons
or incidents. The book which one reads with eyes which are continually
lifted from the page may furnish entertainment for the moment, but cannot
enrich the reader, because it cannot become part of his knowledge.

Attention is the simplest form of concentration, and its value illustrates
the supreme importance of that focussing of all the powers upon the thing
in hand which may be called the sustained attention of the whole nature.

Here, as everywhere in the field of man's life, there enters that element
of sacrifice without which no real achievement is possible. To secure a
great end, one must be willing to pay a great price. The exact adjustment
of achievement to sacrifice makes us aware, at every step, of the
invisible spiritual order with which all men are in contact in every kind
of endeavour. If the highest skill could be secured without long and
painful effort it would be wasted through ignorance of its value, or
misused through lack of education; but a man rarely attains great skill