PREPARE TO THE UTMOST: THEN DO YOUR BEST.
“Of course, opportunity is necessary. You couldn’t run a mammoth department store on the desert of Sahara. But, given the possibility, the right man can make his opportunity, and should do so, if it is not at hand, or does not come, after reasonable waiting. Even Napoleon had to wait for his. On the other hand, if there is no ability, none can display itself, and the best opportunity must pass by unimproved. The true way is to first develop your ability to the last ounce, and then you will be ready for your opportunity, when it comes, or to make one, if none offers.”
“Is the chance for a youth as good as it was twenty-five or fifty years ago?”
“Yes, and no! In any country, as it becomes more thickly populated, the chance for purely individual enterprises is almost sure to diminish. One notices this more as he travels through other and older countries, where, far more than with us, boys follow in the footsteps of their fathers, generation after generation. But for those who are willing to adapt themselves to circumstances, the chance to-day, at least from a pecuniary standpoint, is better than ever before for those starting in life. There was doubtless more chance for the individual boat-builder in the days of King Philip, when each Indian made his own canoe, but there is certainly more profit now for an employee of our firm of boat-builders.”
“Granted, however, that he can find employment, how do his chances of rising compare with those of your youth?”