The poet tells us that
"The many fail: the one succeeds." [1]
But this is scarcely true. All succeed who deserve, though not perhaps as they hoped. An honorable defeat is better than a mean victory, and no one is really the worse for being beaten, unless he loses heart. Though we may not be able to attain, that is no reason why we should not aspire.
I know, says Morris,
"How far high failure overleaps the bound
Of low successes."
And Bacon assures us that "if a man look sharp and attentively he shall see fortune; for though she is blind, she is not invisible."
To give ourselves a reasonable prospect of success we must realize what we hope to achieve; and then make the most of our opportunities. Of these the use of time is one of the most important. What have we to do with time, asks Oliver Wendell Holmes, but to fill it up with labor.
"At the battle of Montebello," said Napoleon, "I ordered Kellermann to attack with 800 horse, and with these he separated the 6000 Hungarian grenadiers before the very eyes of the Austrian cavalry. This cavalry was half a league off, and required a quarter of an hour to arrive on the field of action; and I have observed that it is always these quarters of an hour that decide the fate of a battle," including, we may add, the battle of life.
Nor must we spare ourselves in other ways, for
"He who thinks in strife
To earn a deathless fame, must do, nor ever care for life." [2]