You chew cloves to hide the fact that you have taken a drink. Why do you not say that you take a drink occasionally if that is the fact, and not try to hide the odor of the drink behind cloves? Nobody is deceived, and you get the reputation of being a steady drinker, which may be far from the truth. You apply for a job, and you are asked: “Do you drink?” Why not answer bravely: “No, sir, not as a rule. I do take a drink once in a while, but will not do so anymore.” Your probable employer says to himself: “I can trust this man because he does not hide his faults, but confesses them and intends to avoid them.” It is so with other faults that will weigh against you if concealed and found out. DON’T BE A PESSIMIST, BE AN OPTIMIST A pessimist is a man who has a constant grievance against somebody or something. He is forever standing in his own light, and thinks the whole world has picked him out to be the scapegoat for everything that is bad. He says: “Everybody and everything is against me and I can not succeed. It’s no use trying.” Before you give up to despair, friend, bear this in mind: You say you have not the same opportunities every other man has. You will not believe that if you stop to think a moment. The average Colored American has ten times the opportunities his father had, and a hundred times the opportunities his grandfather possessed. You are one of the average Colored Americans, perhaps. Well then, your grandfather had no opportunities at all. If he had one, he was not permitted to grasp it. Your father had more opportunities than his father, but opportunities were just beginning to show themselves. You live in a far advanced age when the very air is full of opportunities, and yet you think you have none. The reason why you are a pessimist is because you want to be. You think it is too much trouble to reach out and take the opportunities offered you, sometimes even forced upon you. Instead of being a pessimist you ought to laugh and thank God that the bright side of life is always turned toward you, and you can see it by merely turning your eyes in its direction. Keep your eyes open; laugh and the world will laugh with you; weep, and you weep alone. DON’T BE A COWARD It is cowardly to “dare” do a wrong thing when the right course would take real moral courage. It is cowardly to “dare” do a foolish thing to avoid being laughed at by “the other fellows.” It is cowardly, and vulgar as well, for a girl to let herself be drawn into a silly flirtation, a course that cheapens her own womanly nature and makes her the toy of the moment, just because “the other girls do it.” It is cowardly for a grocer to give short weight, put sand in his sugar or sell cheap substitutes for pure food, just because his competitors do. It is cowardly for a lawyer, merchant or other business man to indulge in sharp practices because others in the same line of business have set the example.