Upon whatever career you may enter , intellectual quickness, industry , and the power of bearing fatigue are three great advantages . But I want to impress upon you , and throught you you upon those who will direct your future course , the conviction which I entertain that , as a general rule , the relative importance of those three qualifications is not rightly estimated ; and that there are other qualities of no less value which are not directly tested by school competition . .
A somewhat varied experience of men has led me , the longer I live , to set the less value upon mere cleverness ; to attach more and more importance to industry and to physical endurance . Indeed , I am much disposed to think that endurance is the most valuable quality of all ; for industry , as the desire to work hard , does not come to much if a feeble frame is unable to respond to the desire . .
Everybody who has had to make his way in the world must know that while the occasion for intellectual effort of a high order is rare , it constantly happens that a man s future turns upon his being able to stand a sudden and a heavy strain upon his powers of endurance . To a lawyer , a physician , or a merchant , it may be everything to be able to work sixteen hours a day for as long as is needful , without yielding up to weariness . .
Moreover , the patience , tenacity , and good humour which are among the most important qualifications for dealing with men , are incompatible with an irritable brain , a weak stomach , or a defective circulation . If any one of you prizewinners were a son of mine , and a good fairy were to offer to equip him according to my wishes for the battle of practical life , I should say , I do not care to trouble you for any more cleverness ; put in as much industry as you can instead ; and , if you please , a broad , deep chest , and a stomach of whose existence he shall never know anything .
