We must not flatter ourselves with coming to the end of our journey in
time, if we sleep by the way; and unnecessary delays, in all pressing
affairs, are just so much time lost. Action is an important part of the
business of life; and “up and be doing” is a motto we ought to keep
in mind, as it has guided many a plain plodding man, with steady aim,
to carry his point effectually in making his own fortune, and at the
same time gaining the esteem of the world. Industry and application to
business make amends for the want of a quick and ready wit; but men of
great natural abilities, and vivacity of imagination, often presume too
much upon the superiority of their genius, and if to this presumption
they add pride and conceit, they despise the drudgery of business, and
suffer their affairs to go to disorder or ruin, through idleness and
neglect.
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