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62 BYWAYS TO BLESSEDNESS

Without is change and decay and insecurity, within is all surety and blessedness. The soul is
sufficient of itself. Where the need is there is the abundant supply. Your eternal dwelling-place is
within; go there and take possession of your mansion; there you are a king, elsewhere you are a
vassal. Be contended that others shall manage or mismanage their own little kingdom, and see to it
that you reign strongly over your own. Your entire well-being and the well-being of the whole
world lies there. You have a conscience, follow it; you have a mind, clarify it; you have a judgment,
use and improve it; you have a will, employ and strengthen it; you have knowledge, increase it;
there is a light within your soul, watch it, tend it, encourage it, shield it from the winds of passion,
and help it to burn with a steadier and ever steadier radiance. Leave the world and come back to
yourself. Think as a man, act as a man, live as a man. Be rich in yourself, be complete in yourself.
Find the abiding center within you and obey it. The earth is maintaining its orbit by its obedience

to its center the sun. Obey the center of light that is within you; let others call it darkness if they
will. You are responsible for yourself, are accountable to yourself, therefore rely upon yourself. If
you fear yourself who will place confidence in you? If you are untrue to yourself where shall you
find the sweet satisfaction of Truth?
The great man stands alone in the simple dignity of independent manhood; he pursues his own
path fearlessly, and does not apologise or “beg leave.” Criticism and applause are no more to him
than the dust upon his coat, of which he shakes himself free. He is not guided by the changing
opinions of men but guides himself by the light of his own mind. Other men barter away their
manhood for messes of flattery or fashion.
Until you can stand alone, looking for guidance neither to spirits nor mortals, gods nor men,
but guiding yourself by the light of the truth within you, you are not unfettered and free, not
altogether blessed. But do not mistake pride for self-reliance. To attempt to stand upon the
crumbling foundation of pride is to be already fallen. No man depends upon others more than the
proud man. He drinks in their approbation and resents their censure. He mistakes flattery for
sound judgment, and is most easily hurt or pleased by the opinions of others. His happiness is
entirely in the hands of others. But the self-reliant man stands, not upon personal pride, but on an
abiding law, principle, ideal, reality within himself. Upon this he poises himself, refusing to be
swept from his strong foothold either by the waves of passion within or the storms of opinion
without, but should he at any time lose his balance he quickly regains himself, and is fully restored.
His happiness is entirely in his own hands.
Find your center of balance and succeed in standing alone, and, whatever your work in life may
be, you will succeed; you will accomplish what you set your mind upon, for the truly self-reliant
man is the invincible man. But though you do not rely upon others, learn of them. Never cease to
increase in knowledge, and be ever ready to receive that which is good and useful. You can not
have too much humility; the most self-reliant men are the most humble. “No aristocrat, no prince
born to the purple, can begin to compare with the self-respect of the saint. Why is he lowly, but
that he knows that he can well afford it, resting on the largeness of God in him.” Learn of all men,
and especially of the masters of Truth, but do not lose your hold upon the truth that the ultimate
guidance is in yourself. A master can say: “Here is the path,” but he can neither compel you to walk