Even now in some humble home, there is a youth, a mere child with
possibilities unknown to him or to you, who may develop into a leader.
Many great men have sprung from such sources, and made the world ring
with their exploits. What has been done can be and will be done again.
It is not fate, nor is it perhaps destiny as some may think, it is
opportunity.
Do you suppose that the poor child who looks on at the amazing things of
life, the things going on around him, does not think about them and feel
ambitious to be or do something that will make as good a showing?
It may be that he plods back and forth after his morning chores, to some
little elementary school with his few books under his arm, and which he
has pored over the night before or in the early morning. He knows that
he is learning, and his small ambition leads him to learn more. His
interest is aroused and he represents the seed, the foundation of a
leader or of some of our leaders who will make their mark, an advanced
man to take the place of some who will soon pass away.
He may have left the plow and the little elementary school to go to
college; there are opportunities for this, and when he gets to this
college, his mind expands, and he becomes fertile in resources to
embrace opportunities before him. The more he learns, the more rapidly
does his mind quicken, and the more his mind quickens the more he
advances along the goal.