"We have no secret," he said, "but this,--
we always try to beat our last batch of rails." Competition is good,
but it has its danger side. There is a tendency to sacrifice real worth
to mere appearance, to have seeming rather than reality. But the true
competition is the competition of the individual with himself,--his
present seeking to excel his past. This means real growth from within.
Self-reliance develops it, and it develops self-reliance. Let the
individual feel thus as to his own progress and possibilities, and he
can almost create his life as he will. Let him never fall down in
despair at dangers and sorrows at a distance; they may be harmless,
like Bunyan's stone lions, when he nears them.
The man who is self-reliant does not live in the shadow of some one
else's greatness; he thinks for himself, depends on himself, and acts
for himself. In throwing the individual thus back upon himself it is
not shutting his eyes to the stimulus and light and new life that come
with the warm pressure of the hand, the kindly word and the sincere
expressions of true friendship. But true friendship is rare; its great
value is in a crisis,--like a lifeboat.
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