WILL-POWER IN BUSINESS

an optimist without the ‘‘ mist.” He knows the
difficulties, but he believes that they can be
overcome.

The pessimist is the man who thinks he is
going to fail before he starts. He prophesies
failure. He expects it and he gets it. A pessimist
 is a destroyer of values. He is worse than
the complacent man, because he resists progress.
 He is a pull-back. He always says—"* It
can’t be done.’

We must get rid of complacency and pessimism,
 both. They are like the dead wood on
a growing tree. They must be cut off. The one
thing that we need most is intelligent optimism.
We need men who are not living in a Fool’s
Paradise. We need men who know the unpleasant
 facts, and who face them with
courage and confidence. We have had enough
of self-flattery and stagnation. We have a
thousand things to do to prepare this country
for our children. We need more optimists—
sturdy, cheery, fact-facing optimists, who will
dare to overhaul our whole industrial, political
and financial system, and bring prosperity once
more to this island.

We have always been a stoical people, but
for some strange reason our stoicism has
weakened down into a spirit of resignation.
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