Be Your Own Right-hand Man.
People who have been bolstered up and levered all their lives, are seldom good for anything in a crisis. When misfortune comes they look around for somebody to cling to or lean upon. If the prop is not there, down they go. Once down, they are as helpless as capsized turtles or unhorsed men in armor, and cannot find their feet again without assistance. Such silken fellows no more resemble self-made men, who have fought their way to position, making difficulties their stepping stones, and deriving determination from defeat, than vines resemble oaks, or spluttering rush-lights the stars of heaven. Efforts persisted in to achievements, train man to self-reliance, and when he has proved to the world that he can trust himself, the world will trust him. We say, therefore, that it is unwise to deprive young men of the advantages which result from their energetic action, by "boosting" them over obstacles which they ought to surmount alone.