But he was not discouraged.
"If I have done anything worthy of being remembered," he wrote, more than
sixty years later, when his name was known over the whole world, "it has
not been through any superiority of gifts, but only through a moderate
portion of them, accompanied, it is true, with energy and the habit of
industry and application. As in the case of every one else, I had for the
most part to teach myself.... Then I enjoyed good health, and health is
more excellent than prizes. Exercise, the joy of interest and of activity,
the play of the faculties, is the true life of a boy, as of a man. I had
also the benefit of living in the country, with its many pleasures and
wonders."
When he was fourteen, he was apprenticed to a physician. In the intervals
of his work, he sought to continue his education by reading. Books were
expensive then, but several libraries were open to him.
The death of his father near the end of his medical course, and consequent
financial reverses, made him hesitate as to the wisdom of finishing his
studies. In speaking of this, he made mention for the first time of his
indebtedness to his mother.
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