Self Help; with Illustrations of Conduct and Perseverance

Self-Help—National and Individual.

“The worth of a State, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it.”—J. S. Mill.

“We put too much faith in systems, and look too little to men.”—B. Disraeli.

“Heaven helps those who help themselves” is a well-tried maxim, embodying in a small compass the results of vast human experience. The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual; and, exhibited in the lives of many, it constitutes the true source of national vigour and strength. Help from without is often enfeebling in its effects, but help from within invariably invigorates. Whatever is done for men or classes, to a certain extent takes away the stimulus and necessity of doing for themselves; and where men are subjected to over-guidance and over-government, the inevitable tendency is to render them comparatively helpless.