His hearty grasp of the hand, his genial manner, his entire freedom from conceit, his readiness to help others, made him a general favorite.

Some young men, calling themselves religious, assume a sanctimonious manner, that repels, but James Garfield never was troubled in this way.

He believed that "Religion never was designed To make our pleasures less," and was always ready to take part in social pleasures, provided they did not interfere with his work.
And all this while, with all his homely surroundings, he had high thoughts for company.

He wrote to a student, afterward his own successor to the presidency, words that truly describe his own aspirations and habits of mind.

"Tell me, Burke, do you not feel a spirit stirring within you that longs _to know, to do, and to dare_, to hold converse with the great world of thought, and hold before you some high and noble object to which the vigor of your mind and the strength of your arm may be given?
Do you not have longings like these which you breathe to no one, and which you feel must be heeded, or you will pass through life unsatisfied and regretful?
I am sure you have them, and they will forever cling round your heart till you obey their mandate." The time had come when James was ready to take another step upward.