But, whatever you choose, one thing you will need in all things and at all times — concentration of purpose, of thought, of feeling, of action; so that this, like a powerful-magnet, will polarize everything with which you deal. In all the aims of life it is needed for success.

The men who have succeeded in business, social and political life, in art, science and philosophy, in power and virtue, have all been marked out by a constancy of purpose and an easy control of mind. Has it not happened always, is it not happening now, and will it not happen in the future, that so far as human progress is in human hands it is achieved by systematic and persistent activity, control of desires and concentration of mind, and without these it is not achieved ?

Read the lives and philosophy of every type of purposeful men, and you will find this fact recorded in them. The Epicurean of old concentrated his mind upon the present and tried to live in accord with natural laws. He did not allow his mind to dwell with regret upon anything past, nor to have fears or anxieties for the future. The Stoic fixed his attention upon the things which lay in his control, refusing to be disturbed by anything that lay outside his power and purpose, or to waste thought and feeling upon it. The Platonist strove to fix his mind, with reverent inquiry, upon the mysteries of life.

Patanjali, the great master of Indian Yoga, declared that man could come to his own true state only by the successful practice of complete control of mind. The religious devotee strives, by filling his life and surroundings with ceremonies and symbols, and by constantly repeating in thought the names of God, to stimulate his mind to ever stronger and stronger devotional feelings. The successful man of knowledge is so intent upon his purpose that he finds instruction in the most trifling things that he meets. Such is the power of mind that with its aid all things can be bent to our purpose, and such is the power of man that he can bend the mind to his will.

Do we not find that indecision, trepidation, anxiety and worry give rise to bodily ills, weakness, indigestion and sleeplessness? Even in these small matters regular practice of control of mind, in a simple form, acts like a magic cure. It is the best means of escape from envy, jealousy, resentment, discontent, delusion, self-deception, pride, anger and fear. Without it, the building of character cannot be carried on, and with it it cannot fail. Any study is successful in proportion to the mental concentration brought to bear upon it; and the practice largely increases the reproductive powers of memory.

aims, concentration, desires, human progress, magnet, science and philosophy, virtue