Modern critics are fond of discriminating between talent and genius.
The fire of _genius_, it seems, will flame resplendent even in spite of
an unworthy possessor's neglect. But the man with _talent_ which must
be carefully cherished and increased if he would attain distinction by
its help--that man is the true self-helper to whom our hearts go out in
sympathy. Every schoolboy knows that Demosthenes practised declamation
on the seashore, with his mouth full of pebbles. This description of
the unlovely old Athenian with the compelling tongue is Plutarch's
contribution to the literature of self-help.