Politeness, forbearance and social amenities are the rule in these days, and it is the best policy to assume that distinction even if you do not feel that way. The propensity for making one hand wash the other is more apparent in commercial and trade transactions than in any other. It is in these occupations that the eye beholds dollars or doughnuts at the end of a string, and a gentle pulling in the way of attention and brotherly reciprocation will bring the dollars or doughnuts within reach. Bears and dogs growl and get nasty whenever they feel like it regardless of consequences, for they live in the present entirely and nothing is of any importance to them on the morrow. They do not even know enough to lay in a supply of provisions for a rainy day. A squirrel will do that, but squirrels are not quarrelsome, they are friendly and gentle, they make one paw wash the other. Watch one of them grab for a nut, get it, and beg prettily for another. We must provide for a rainy day, and if we are in business we must have friends and customers to fall back upon for shelter. Waiting until the rain sets in and then beginning, fails—it is then too late, at least for that day, but by beginning you will perhaps be ready for the next rainy day. SUPERSTITION AND LUCK More people are superstitious than are willing to admit the fact. From bygone ages to modern times, both high and low, rich and poor, educated and ignorant, have yielded to some curious vein of fancy that leads them to expect “luck” or success more readily if certain whimsical conditions are complied with. Who has not, at some time, felt the power of one or another of the odd ideas that seem to have such a firm hold on the mind of man? Laugh it off as we will, declare it nonsense as we know it to be, still there is the tendency to put an unreasoning half-belief in it. Do we not all know those who are nervous with fear if salt is spilled; who would go without a meal rather than be one of thirteen at table; who never begin any important work on a Friday; who are careful to take their first sight of the new moon over their right shoulder instead of the left; who rejoice in the finding of a four-leaved clover? “Luck” is a plant that grows from the seed. And the seed sown is the kind of thoughts we entertain; ideas about ourselves, about God, about our work, and about the rest of the world. Thoughts can be chosen. If we think ourselves weak and inferior, we invite failure; because then the work that we do will not be our best, and will be surpassed in value by that of others. If we think instead, “I can do this work better than it has ever been done before—and I will,” the seed will grow and bear fruit in results to ourselves and others. GOOD AND BAD LUCK Your success in life never depends upon the turn of a card or the dice. You can neither dream yourself into good luck, nor dream yourself out of bad luck.