unprofitable speculation is only another term for idiocy. but, on the other hand, profitable speculation leads to prosperity, public esteem, and the ability to keep a team. we may distinguish the one from the other by means of ascertaining the difference between them. if one finds on waking up in the morning that he experiences a sensation of being in the poor-house, he may almost at once jump to the conclusion that the kind of speculation he selected was the wrong one.