To the ladder’s very top;
They must slowly climb it, round by round,
With many a start and stop.
And the winner is sure to be the man
Who labors day by day,
For the world has learned that the safest plan
Is to keep on pegging away.
Self-respect,—that corner-stone of all virtues.—John Herschel.
You have read, of course, about the hare
And the tortoise—the tale is old—