It is those of great promise who are more often
disappointing in failing to realize what they might do with their richer
endowments; they fail in strength of will.
Now if we want a girl to grow to the best that a woman ought to be it is
in two things that we must establish her fundamentally--quiet of mind and
firmness of will. Quiet of mind equally removed from stagnation and from
excitement. In stagnation her mind is open to the seven evil spirits who
came into the house that was empty and swept; under excitement it is
carried to extremes in any direction which occupies its attention at the
time. The best minds of women are quiet, intuitive, and full of
intellectual sympathies. They are not in general made for initiation and
creation, but initiation and creation lean upon them for understanding
and support. And their support must be moral as well as mental, for this
they need firmness of will. Support cannot be given to others without an
inward support which does not fail towards itself in critical moments.
The great victories of women have been won by this inward support, this
firmness and perseverance of will based upon faith. The will of a woman
is strong, not in the measure of what it manifests without, as of what
it reserves within, that is to say in the moderation of its own
impulsiveness and emotional tendency, in the self-discipline of
perseverance, the subordination of personal interest to the good of
whatever depends upon it for support.
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