First courage, which must not be confounded either with rashness or with effrontery.
Courage, the perfect manifestation of confidence in oneself.
This quality is at the bottom of all great enterprises, of which all the risks, however, have been carefully considered in advance.
The man of courage does not deceive himself as to the dangers of the deeds he has determined to perform. He accepts them bravely. He has foreseen them all, and he knows how to act in order to turn them to his own advantage.
The coolness characteristic of all men of poise gives them the power of estimating wisely how things are likely to turn out.
They do not fail to appreciate the importance of certain circumstances, to realize their bearing, and to admit the dangers to which they may give rise. Thus they are ready for the fray and are armed at all points for a well-considered defense.
Shame on the superficial people who close their eyes in order not to see the obstacles that their own lack of foresight has prevented them from anticipating.
Let us press back the timid; declare war on the boasters; show our contempt for the inveterately modest (who are only so to flatter their own vanity); express our hatred of the envious, who are always incapable; distrust the slothful; and arm ourselves with a justifiable pride, which, by imparting to us a sense of our merits, will enable us to acquire poise, true index of those who are legitimately sure of themselves and are conscious of their sterling worth.
But, above all, let us raise in our inmost hearts a temple to reason, the author of that quiet confidence that makes success a certainty.
This is the work of the man who has achieved the conquest of poise. It is the one particular evidence of this priceless quality.