If a man honestly seeks to live his best at all times, that
determination is visible in every moment of his living, no trifle in
his life can be too insignificant to reflect his principle of living.
The sun illuminates and beautifies a fallen leaf by the roadside as
impartially as a towering mountain peak in the Alps. Every drop of
water in the ocean is an epitome of the chemistry of the whole ocean;
every drop is subject to precisely the same laws as dominate the united
infinity of billions of drops that make that miracle of Nature, men
call the Sea. No matter how humble the calling of the individual, how
uninteresting and dull the round of his duties, he should do his best.
He should dignify what he is doing by the mind he puts into it, he
should vitalize what little he has of power or energy or ability or
opportunity, in order to prepare himself to be equal to higher
privileges when they come. This will never lead man to that weak
content that is satisfied with whatever falls to his lot. It will
rather fill his mind with that divine discontent that cheerfully
accepts the best,--merely as a temporary substitute for something
better.

The man who is seeking ever to do his best is the man who is keen,
active, wide-awake, and aggressive. He is ever watchful of himself in
trifles; his standard is not "What will the world say?" but "Is it
worthy of me?"

Edwin Booth, one of the greatest actors on the American stage, would
never permit himself to assume an ungraceful attitude, even in his
hours of privacy. In this simple thing, he ever lived his best. On the
stage every move was one of unconscious grace. Those of his company who
were conscious of their motions were the awkward ones, who were seeking
in public to undo or to conceal the carelessness of the gestures and