Two centuries back a young man of twenty-three sat in the quiet
of the evening--THINKING.
His body was quiet; his vitality, his life, all his powers, were
centred in his brain.
Above, the moon shone, and around him rustled the branches of the
trees in his father's orchard.
From one of the trees an apple fell.
No need to tell you that the young man was Newton; that the fall
of the apple started in his READY brain the thought that led
to his great discovery, giving him fame to last until this earth
shall crumble.
How splendid the achievement born that moment! How fortunate for
the world and for the youth Newton, that at twenty-three his
brain had cultivated the HABIT OF THOUGHT! ----
Our muscles we share with everything that lives--with the oyster
clinging to his rock, the whale ploughing through cold seas, and
our monkey kinsman swinging from his tropical branch.
These muscles, useful only to cart us around, help us to do
slave work or pound our fellows, we cultivate with care.
We run, fence, ride, walk hard, weary our poor lungs and gather
pains in our backs building the muscles that we do not need.
Alone among animals, we possess a potentiality of mind
development unlimited.