University of Virginia Library

Successful and Unsuccessful

Two boys start out in the world at the same
time; both have the same amount of education.
After twenty years have passed by, we
find one wealthy, independent. We find him
at the head of a large commercial establishment,
employing from one to a hundred men.
We find the second boy working for, perhaps,
a dollar or a dollar and a half a day, living in a
rented house. When we remember that both
started out in life equal-handed, we remark
that the first boy was fortunate, that fortune
smiled on him; that the second was "unfortunate"
and "unlucky." There is no such
nonsense as that. The first saw how he could
put himself in demand, and he kept rising

from one position to another until he became
independent. The second was an eye-servant
who was afraid he would do more than he was
paid to do,—he was afraid that he would give
forty cents' labor for twenty-five cents. He was
afraid he would work, perchance, one minute
past six o'clock. The first boy did a dollar's
worth of work for fifty cents. He was always
ready to be at the store before time; and then,
when the bell rang to quit work, he would go
to his employer and ask was there not something
he could do that should be done. Thus
the first boy became valuable, and thus
he rose higher. We call him "lucky"
"fortunate." Sunday Evening Tuskegce Talks.