“If equally valuable opportunities do not come to all,” I went on,
“hasn’t an individual a right to complain and justify his failure?”
“We have passed the period when we believe that all men are equal,”
said Mr. Choate. “We know they’re free, but some men are born less
powerful than others. But if an individual does not admit to himself
that he is deficient in strength or reasoning powers, if he claims all
the rights and privileges given others because he is ‘as good as they’
then his success or failure is upon his own head. He should prove that
he is what he thinks he is, and be what he aspires to be.”
“You believe, of course, that an individual may overestimate his
abilities.”
“Believe it,” he answered, with a deprecatory wave of the hand, “trust
the law to teach that. But if a man does overestimate himself he still
owes it to himself to endeavor to prove that his estimate of himself
is correct. We all need to. If he fails, he will be learning his
limitations, which is better than never finding them out. No man can
justify inaction.”
“What do you consider to be the genuine battle of a youth to-day?—the
struggle to bear poverty while working to conquer?”
“Not at all,” came the quick answer. “Poor clothes and poor food and
a poor place to dwell in are disagreeable things and must be made to
give place to better, of course, but one can be partially indifferent
to them. The real struggle is to hang on to every advantage, and
strengthen the mind at every step. There are persons who have learned
to endure poverty so well that they don’t mind it any longer. The
struggle comes in maintaining a purpose through poverty to the end. It
is just as difficult to maintain a purpose through riches.”
“Money is not an end, then, in your estimation.”
“Never, and need is only an incentive. Erskine made his greatest speech
with his hungry children tugging at his coat-tail. That intense feeling
that something has got to be done is the thing that works the doing. I
never met a great man who was born rich.”