There is no man whom Fortune does not visit at least once in his life;
but when she does not find him ready to receive her, she walks in at the
door, and flies out at the window.
--_Cardinal Imperiali._
1476
_Didn't Know the Place._--A young man who left his native city to study
medicine in Paris, and had been applying his time and the paternal
remittances to very different purposes, received a visit from his
father, who intended making a short stay in the capital to inspect its
wonders. During an afternoon stroll together, the day after the elder's
arrival, the father and son happened to pass in front of a large
colonnaded building. "What is that?" said the senior, carelessly. "I
don't know, but we'll inquire," answered the student. On the query being
put to an official, he shortly replied: "That? It is the School of
Medicine."
1477
The opportunity is often lost by deliberating.
--_Syrus._
1478
We must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.
--_Shakespeare._
1479
Four things come not back.
The spoken word,
The sped arrow,
The past life,
And the neglected opportunity.
1480
To-day is the opportunity for enjoyment and work; knowest thou where
thou wilt be to-morrow? Time flies swiftly away, and we with it.
--_Gleim._
1481