"And if you had been buying books and studying them, going to night-school, or taking a correspondence course all these years, you would have had an education by now, wouldn't you?"
"Well, I don't know. Some men are born to succeed. They have more brains than others."
"Who, for instance?"
"Well, there's Edison."
"Yes; and while you were having a good time with the boys, wearing good clothes, and enjoying the comforts of life, Edison was working and studying, wearing shabby clothes and patched shoes, so that he might buy books. What right have you to say that Edison has a better head, naturally, than you until you have done what Edison did to develop his?"
"Well, if you put it that way—none, I guess."
"Then you might have been an Edison if you had sacrificed, worked, and studied as Edison did?"
"Perhaps."
"Then where does the 'hard luck' come in? While you were having a good time, Edison was having a hard time. Isn't that so?"
"Yes, and now Edison is on Easy Street and I am headed for the Bay. I see your point, Mr. Socratic. I guess it isn't luck, after all. It's my fault. But knowing that won't make it any easier for me when I get canned."