WILL-POWER IN BUSINESS

self for a moment took control of him. His
fears conquered his ambition. But this mood
passed and he soon set out on his way to win
forty great battles and to reconstruct the
greater part of Europe. He was then only an
unknown Corsican lieutenant, but he had a
Purpose-will that he strengthened and made
for a time invincible.
It is a strange fact that a man can suddenly
acquire a strong will-power or he can as sud-
denly lose it. A man may acquire will-power
by reading a book or by listening to a stirring
lecture or by having some dramatic experience
that makes a strong impression upon his mind.

As everyone knows, there is the mysterious
phenomenon of sudden ‘‘ conversion,” as it
is seen in religious revivals. I have seen it
many times in the revivals in Canadian villages.
A man who had been a drunken idler, of no
use to himself or his family, would suddenly
reconstruct himself and become a sober,
industrious and right-living man. A new
Purpose would be created in his mind. Old
habits were broken in a flash and new habits
were started. He was, as people said, ‘‘ born
again.”
The same phenomenon is now and then seen
in business life. A man who has been drifting
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