Take two boys， as nearly alike as possible. Place one in the country away from the hothouse culture and refinements of the city， with only the district school， the Sunday school， and a few books. Remove wealth and props of every kind； and， if he has the right kind of material in him， he will thrive. Every obstacle overcome lends him strength for the next conflict. If he falls， he rises with more determination than before. Like a rubber ball， the harder the obstacle it meets the higher it rebounds. Obstacles and opposition are but apparatus of the gymnasium in which the fibers of his manhood are developed. He compels respect and recognition from those who have ridiculed his poverty. Put the other boy in a Vanderbilt family. Give him French and German nurses； gratify every wish. Place him under the tutelage of great masters and send him to Harvard. Give him thousands a year for spending money， and let him travel extensively.
The two meet. The city lad is ashamed of his country brother. The plain， threadbare clothes， hard hands， tawny face， and awkward manner of the country boy make sorry contrast with the genteel appearance of the other. The poor boy bemoans his hard lot， regrets that he has “no chance in life，” and envies the city youth. He thinks that it is a cruel Providence that places such a wide gulf between them. They meet again as men， but how changed！ It is as easy to distinguish the sturdy， self-made man from the one who has been propped up all his life by wealth， position， and family influence， as it is for the shipbuilder to tell the difference between the plank from the rugged mountain oak and one from the sapling of the forest. If you think there is no difference， place each plank in the bottom of a ship， and test them in a hurricane at sea.
“如果沒有絞刑架，我們的職業將會多麽美好！”兩個強盜恰巧路過一個絞刑架，其中一個如是說。“傻瓜，你真笨！”另一個回答說，“對我們來說，絞刑架必不可少，因為如果沒有它，人人都能做強盜了。”同樣的道理，每一門藝術、一樁買賣或任何領域，都會存在著困難，將那些不值得一提的競爭者嚇跑。