Excerpt from An Average Man He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold I have gained two other talents besides them. - matt. Xxv. 22. As we read over this parable of the talents our atten tion scarcely dwells on the middle character, - the man with two talents. He seems but a lay figure thrown in between to bring out more strongly the con trast between the extremes, the man with five talents and the man with the one; \yet I_ am inclined to suspect that this seemingly neutral and colorless person is the one most important for our consideration, because he represents the average individual, who, while not intrusted with great wealth or brilliant opportunities, is nevertheless not cut off from all Opportunity nor shut out from every field of venture. Here in America the average man is in the majority and few belong to any other category. Some day it flashes upon most of us that we belong to that vast majority. It is a critical moment when the realization is forced home to our minds. Up to that time we have been so full of ambition or conceit as to believe our powers unlimited and everything possible. We have given to our hearts all sorts of excuses for still being unknown or in a minor position. Wait, we have said; our time will come; we are not yet old enough. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.