“In what part of the country do you think the best chances for young
men may be found?”
“The best place for a young man to make money is the town in which
he was born and educated. There he learns all about everybody, and
everybody learns about him. This is to his advantage if he bears a good
character, and to the advantage of his townspeople if he bears a bad
one. While a young man is growing up, he unconsciously absorbs a vast
deal of knowledge of people and affairs, which would be equal to money
if he only has the judgment to avail himself of it. A knowledge of men
is the prime secret of business success. Upon reflection, how absurd it
is for a man to leave a town where he knows everything and everybody,
and go to some distant point where he doesn’t know anything about
anybody, or anything, and expect to begin on an equal footing with the
people there who are thoroughly acquainted.”
“What lesson do you consider best for young men to learn?”
“The lesson of humility;—not in the sense of being servile or
undignified, but in that of paying due respect to men who are their
superiors in the way of experience, knowledge and position. Such a
lesson is akin to that of discipline. Members of the royal families
of Europe are put in subordinate positions in the navies or armies of
their respective countries, in order that they may receive the training
necessary to qualify them to take command. They must first know how to
obey, if they would control others.”