dictionary of the slothful. Dionysius is asked if he is at leisure, and
rebukes the question, saying, "God forbid that it should ever befall me."
The indulgence in the activities of life comprises not only ultimate
accomplishment, but is productive of present enjoyment as well. And not
infrequently does the pursuit of an object give more pleasure than the
possession of it. Expectation often outshines experience. Therefore, all
should cultivate a taste for work, which, through the alchemy of
influence, transmutes duty into privilege.

Moreover, it is fundamental in the law of success that one's pursuit must
be congenial if he is to excel. On the contrary, however, lassitude can
not be condoned if we find ourselves engaged in uncongenial employment. No
kind of work, to the man who possesses dominion over his feelings and his
faculties, is painful but proceeds with pleasure when once the habit of
industry is acquired.

Our efforts should not be casual, but causal. He who does most and does it
well, becomes most. Horatius received as much land as he could plow around
in a day. And you and I get each day just as much as, by putting our hand
to the plow of activity, we are able to encompass by faithful plodding.
Hard work is the price of all that is valuable. All the great strides in
the world's achievements were made possible only by forced activity and
prolonged effort. Spontaneity is a foreign element in the process of
healthy and rugged development. The spider spins its web and the morning
bespangles it with dew, creating a thing of beauty, but valueless. It
would require the entire existence of several hundred silkworms to produce
an equal amount of silk fabric. The mushroom grows up in a night, and dies
in the glare of the morning sun; while the oak, struggling through the
years, battling with the elements, lives a perpetual blessing to man.