In the light of this truth, what, then, is the meaning of "fighting
against circumstances?" It means that a man is continually revolting
against an _effect_ without, while all the time he is nourishing and
preserving its _cause_ in his heart. That cause may take the form of
a conscious vice or an unconscious weakness; but whatever it is, it
stubbornly retards the efforts of its possessor, and thus calls
aloud for remedy.
Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to
improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. The man who does
not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the
object upon which his heart is set. This is as true of earthly as of
heavenly things. Even the man whose sole object is to acquire wealth
must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he can
accomplish his object; and how much more so he who would realize a
strong and well-poised life?
Here is a man who is wretchedly poor. He is extremely anxious that
his surroundings and home comforts should be improved, yet all the
time he shirks his work, and considers he is justified in trying to
deceive his employer on the ground of the insufficiency of his
wages. Such a man does not understand the simplest rudiments of
those principles which are the basis of true prosperity, and is not
only totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness, but is
actually attracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by
dwelling in, and acting out, indolent, deceptive, and unmanly
thoughts.
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