Steel to hold, he is wax to take.

The Daguerrean plate and the Aeolian harp do but meagerly interpret his receptivity.

Therefore, some philosophers think character is but the sum total of those many-shaped influences called climate, food, friends, books, industries.

As a lump of clay is lifted to the wheel by the potter's hand, and under gentle pressure takes on the lines of a beautiful cup or vase, so man sets forth a mere mass of mind; soon, under the gentle touch of love, hope, ambition, he stands forth in the aspect of a Cromwell, a Milton or a Lincoln.
Standing at the center of the universe, a thousand forces come rushing in to report themselves to the sensitive soul-center.

There is a nerve in man that runs out to every room and realm in the universe.