17–23 March 1823

. . . One youth among the multitudes of mankind, one grain of sand on the seashore, un- known in the midst of my contemporaries, I am hastening to put on the manly robe. From child- hood the names of the great have ever resounded in my ear, and it is impossible that I should be indifferent to the rank which I must take in the innumerable assembly of men, or that I should shut my eyes upon the huge interval which sep- arates rtie from the minds which I am wont to venerate. Every young man is prone to be mis- led by the suggestions of his own ill-founded ambition, which he mistakes for the promptings of a secret Genius. . . . It is not Time, nor Fate, nor the World, that is half so much his foe as the demon Indolence within him. A man's enemies are those of his own household. But if a man shall diligently consider what it is which most forcibly impedes the natural greatness of his mind, he will assuredly find that slothful, sensual indulgence is the real unbroken barrier, and that when he has overleaped this, God has set no bounds to his progress. The maxim is true to an indefinite extent, " Faber quisque for- tunae suae'' We boast of our free agency. What is this but to say, God has put into our hands the elements of our character, the iron and the brass, the silver and the gold, to choose and to fashion them as we will. But we are afraid of the toil, we bury them in a napkin, instead of mould- ing them into rich and enduring vessels. This view is by far the most animating to exertion. It speaks life and courage to the soul. Mistrust no more your ability, the rivalry of others, or the final event. Make speed to plan, to execute, to fulfil; forfeit not one moment more in the dalliance of sloth ; for the work is vast, the time is short, and opportunity is a headlong thing which tarries for no man's necessities. Habits of labour are paths to heaven. — It commands no outward austerities. Do not put ashes on your head, nor sackcloth on your loins, nor a belt of iron for your girdle. But mortify the mind.