They did
not understand that while it takes a long time to prepare the soil and
sow the seed, and let it grow to maturity, the ripening of the harvest
comes in a few golden days.
It is true that there are exceptions to the above rule--the rule of
abiding, of standing fast. But the exception is justified only when
you have made so many definite, tangible, and public failures in your
old home that there is absolutely no possibility of further hope. Of
course, if you are a man of lion heart and lion power, this is another
matter. Any place on earth is a fit field for achievement by these
savages of enterprise.
I know one of these who won a fortune, and lost it; won another, and
again lost; and who, finally, with judgments and executions showering
upon him, set his face to a new land and resolved again to conquer
fortune or die. He conquered--of course he conquered--and is now worth
many millions. But if you look into his kindly but deadly blue eye,
and consider the tragic and premature whiteness of his hair, and take
in the whole resistless and compelling personality of the man, you
will see why _he_ succeeded.
We are all familiar with the stirring history of a certain great
American master of millions who is now about sixty-five years of age,
and has amassed his wealth since he was fifty.
Pages:
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380