“Of course, opportunity is necessary. You couldn’t run a mammoth
department store on the desert of Sahara. But, given the possibility,
the right man can make his opportunity, and should do so, if it is not
at hand, or does not come, after reasonable waiting. Even Napoleon had
to wait for his. On the other hand, if there is no ability, none can
display itself, and the best opportunity must pass by unimproved. The
true way is to first develop your ability to the last ounce, and then
you will be ready for your opportunity, when it comes, or to make one,
if none offers.”
“Is the chance for a youth as good as it was twenty-five or fifty years
ago?”
“Yes, and no! In any country, as it becomes more thickly populated,
the chance for purely individual enterprises is almost sure to
diminish. One notices this more as he travels through other and older
countries, where, far more than with us, boys follow in the footsteps
of their fathers, generation after generation. But for those who are
willing to adapt themselves to circumstances, the chance to-day, at
least from a pecuniary standpoint, is better than ever before for those
starting in life. There was doubtless more chance for the individual
boat-builder in the days of King Philip, when each Indian made his own
canoe, but there is certainly more profit now for an employee of our
firm of boat-builders.”
“Granted, however, that he can find employment, how do his chances of
rising compare with those of your youth?”