Cleanliness is the morale of the body and the mind.  The man who is careful of his linen and who does not neglect his morning plunge is not apt to be gloomy and morose.  We notice him in the car or on the street in the morning.  He comes striding along, fresh and full of the zest of living.  His mind is clear and unclouded.  His eyes are full of that vigorous light of conscientious desire to win and do so honestly.  He has none of the hypocritical elements in his nature strong enough to rule him.  There may be and probably are many weaknesses in his character.  His very strength consists in his ability to crush them and make them his slaves.

The man who has taken his morning plunge and dressed himself agreeable to comfort and grace, has his battles of the day won in advance.  He knows the value of keeping himself in trim.  He does it for the sake of his own feelings.  Our approval of his appearance goes without saying.  If a man thinks well of himself in matters of appearance his general deportment is likely to coincide.  Such men never overdo.  They are at ease with themselves and thus impart ease to others who come in contact with them.  They have, in other words, a distinction of their own and their distinction is their power.  They know that the highest moral law of nature is that of cleanliness, that filthiness should not be allowed to dominate any man’s ethics or physical condition.  They rule such things out of their lives.

A vast magnetic force comes out of those friends of ours who are doing things and making the world sit up and take notice.  The mere fact that we live near to them, know them and associate with them is proof-positive that we, too, shall go through life with clean minds and bodies.  They would not tolerate us if we were to slip into shoddy ways.  Nothing is revealed quicker to our intimates than the losing of ambition ... the slipping into careless habits.  We cannot conceal it from them.  We fool only those who brush by.  The loss of this self-respect has a terrible effect upon the system and every tendency toward success is thereby stunted and weakened. We have fallen into unclean ways! It will not be long before we sink to the bottom or else remain among the vast crowd who have neither the courage to fall nor the courage to rise.

Nothing produces failure quicker than filthiness of mind and body.  Those who are successful keep away from the very thought of such a condition.  They live as much as possible in the open.  They take morning and evening exercises.  They read good books, attend good plays and are continually in touch with the finer developments of thought and art in the world.  Their faces are open and full of sunlight.  They are determined that life will not beat them in a game that only requires sureness of aim and the ability to take advantage of the thousand and one opportunities that surround them on every side.