What's striking here is Alger's claim that optimism isn't merely a feeling but a *duty*—an obligation we owe to ourselves. Most people treat cheerfulness as a luxury, something earned only after circumstances improve, but he inverts that: the work comes first, the brighter mood follows. When you're waiting for your job interview results or sitting in a hospital corridor, the soul's task isn't to feel hopeful naturally (which may be impossible) but to *choose* good cheer as a moral stance, as an act of dignity. That distinction transforms optimism from passive hoping into active resistance.