Kansas University Weekly.
11
So young ladies and gentlemen, the outcome of your college life will not turn on your endowments but on your application; not on your opportunities but on your improvement of them. It will not depend on your teachers so much as yourselves, not on how they teach so much as how you learn. It will not depend on the books you read so much as the way you read them; not on the things you see so much as on the way you look at them. Your knowledge of books will not turn on the size or character of your library, but on the spirit and method of your reading. Your scholarship will not turn on your schools or your teachers but on your own fidelity.
Let us look a moment at the Student's Aim. We have considered the gifts and the training, and we now come to the motive of it all. What endowment has he? What is he making of it? and what will he do with it? If you would know how much a man is worth to the world, you must consider all these. You must consider his original capacity, the training he has had, and the motive that controls him. Here is an instrument of steel. You can see that the steel is of the best. The temper and form are of the finest. But you cannot judge of it till you know what it is for. Is it a surgical instrument to relieve pain and save life, or is it a murderous instrument to cause pain and destroy life! You may see a man has talent; you may see he has culture, but you must know what he is aiming at. You are a banker, and a young man applies for the position of cashier. You can see he is gifted; you can see he is a trained expert; but you cannot tell what he would be worth to you till you you know whether he is honest. You must know his character as well as his ability and training. A thousand diplomas would not be worth considering if he were not honest. A life without an aim is without power. A life with a vicious aim is a menace and a curse. A life that pours into itself will stagnate. If one lives merely to make a living it is not worth while living. A life that would be of any value to itself or the world must apply its powers and its training to
a worthy end. It is a great thing to be nobly endowed. It is a great thing to be finely cultured. But it is a greater thing to be well ballasted and rightly poised. Gifts and training are wasted if not used. Gifts and training are worse than wasted if perverted to evil. You cannot tell a man's value by measuring his capacity, or testing his culture. You still ask, "what will he do with them?" It is not a question of power but the application of power. It is not a question of gifts but of the use of gifts. It is not a matter of capacity but of character. Paul and Ceasar were both gifted, and they each conquered the world. One conquered it for himself with the sword. The other conquered it for Jesus with the truth. The world measures them each by his purpose.
And the world has always honored men for their purpose rather than their power. Great power has impressed men but high motive has won men. Men love to remember those who have blessed mankind. The best things and the highest honor come in the line of the best service. The world honors the men who have done something for men.
Five years ago when in London I strolled one day through Westminister Abbey. I was interested to notice what monuments attracted most attention. There were monuments of great kings who had tried hard to be remembered; and there were monuments of great warriors who had fought great battles by sea or land. Some of these monuments were very costly and some of them were very magnificent. Money and genius had combined to make them impressive and imposing so that they should catch the attention of the passers by. At many of these monuments visitors would stop to admire the beauty and grandeur of the work. But as a rule people passed rapidly, only stopping a moment now and then for a second glance at some work of special significance. But if you want to find where the crowd is you will go to the poets' corner. Here men come and keepcoming and come again. Here they linger and wait and look back as they leave as if reluctant to go. Here are the