To be wavering and dilatory is to close opportunity’s gate and not infrequently make life unsuccessful. A young man, the son of an old friend of Mr. Vanderbilt, once solicited his influence in aiding him to secure a certain very desirable clerkship in a railroad office. Mr. Vanderbilt, who liked the young man and believed in his ability, agreed to help him. “Be here to-morrow morning at ten o’clock,” he said, “and I will go with you to see the president of the road and say a good word for you.” The next morning at twenty minutes after ten the young man appeared in the anteroom of Mr. Vanderbilt’s office. He was informed that Mr. Vanderbilt had left fifteen minutes before to attend a meeting. A few days later he called on Mr. Vanderbilt, and said, with a shade of annoyance in his tone: “Why, Mr. Vanderbilt, I was here just after ten.” “But the appointment was ten,” replied Mr. Vanderbilt. “It was only a matter of fifteen or twenty minutes,” said the young man. “Well,” answered Mr. Vanderbilt, “the twenty minutes in your case have lost you the position, for the appointment was made the very day on which you were to have met me. Furthermore, let me tell you, you had no right to assume that twenty minutes of my time was of so little value that I could afford to wait for you. Why, sir, I managed to keep two other appointments of importance within that time.”
Be prompt. Keep in mind the words Edmond Burke wrote on a tablet for the Marquis of Rockingham, “Remember-Resemble-Persevere.” Judson when completing the translation of the Bible into the Burmese language said, “Thanks be to God, I can now say I have attained.” Arago, the great French astronomer, tells how he became so discouraged in the study of mathematics that he almost resolved to abandon his efforts. He was just about ready to give up when he happened to notice something printed or written under the paper binding of his book. He unfolded the leaf, and found it was a letter from D’Alembert, which read, “Go on, sir; go on! The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Persevere, and the light will dawn and shine with increasing clearness upon your path.” This striking passage made an impression upon the young mathematician’s mind which he never forgot. It was a perpetual spur to his ambition, and came to him just in the nick of time. He resolved then and there that he would surmount every difficulty; that he would become a great mathematician and ere long Fame crowned him as one of the greatest astronomers of his time. Go on, my boy! There’s not a profession or business but
—“Wants a lad who has no fear
Of steady, plodding work;
Who does not wait for luck or fate
Who scorns a task to shirk.
Who slowly, surely, digs his way
Through problems hard a score,
And still has grit and courage left
To try as many more.