There is a lesson in the story of the diamond for every man, and there is an ESPECIALLY good lesson for the young man who is succeeding too fast. That diamond became the extraordinarily beautiful stone that we read about, and that many of us would foolishly like to own, because of the trials through which it passed. We do not mean to suggest that men, to succeed, should NECESSARILY undergo repeated poundings and hammerings, although, as a matter of fact, the really great men of the world have undergone such grinding and polishing and hard knocks as no diamond was ever submitted to. But we do say distinctly that almost every man needs in the course of his life a FIRST-CLASS FAILURE. No man is more unfortunate than he who succeeds too quickly and too easily. His success makes him exaggerate his own importance and ability. It makes him underestimate the strength of those who compete with him, and the difficulty of winning in the long run. The world is full of all kinds of disappointed beings--artists, writers, business men--workers of all sorts, who lead disappointed lives. Of these men, a great many started out hopefully and promisingly. But fate failed to do for them the work of the polishing lapidary that we all need. They succeeded too soon, they made money too easily, they rose too suddenly. Failure at the right time would have made them think, work and do better. But failure came too late, and when the energy to fight and overcome was no longer there. If every young man who thinks well of himself will realize that he mistakes good fortune for great ability, and that the failure that has been put off will come sooner or later, unless he thinks of it and struggles to improve himself in spite of success, many disappointments will be saved in the future. Discount your failure. Don't wait for it to discount you. DON'T BE IN A HURRY, YOUNG GENTLEMEN There are many young men on earth who fail because they lack ambition and determination to advance. There are many more whose trouble is hasty ambition. They fail to realize their present chances in their hurried reaching out for something better. You may see in any club, pool-room or other resort for wasting time crowds of young men smoking and deploring their lack of success. "I've been working three years at the same job and the same salary," one will say, "and I don't see what chance I have for getting ahead." The young man who talks in this way does not realize that success depends on developing the qualities which are in him. He can develop them if he will, no matter what his place in the world. Once he is ready to do good work, once he is developed, the work will find him out. ---- When Napoleon Bonaparte was resting from his labors at St. Helena he used to tell this story: