SeizeYourOpportunity
奥里森·马登 / OrisonMarden
“WhenIwasaboy，” saidGeneralGrant， “mymotheronemorningfoundherselfwithoutbutterforbreakfast， ， Ioverheardaletterreadfromthesonofaneighbor， whowasthenatWestPoint， ， tookithome， and， withoutwaitingforbreakfastrantotheofficeofthecongressmanforourdistrict.‘，’Isaid， ‘willyouappointmetoWestPoint？’‘No， yourneighbor’ssonisthere， andhasthreeyearstoserve.’‘Butsupposeheshouldfail， willyousendme？’ .‘Ifhedon’tgothrough， nouseforyoutotry， Ugly.’‘Promisemeyouwillgivemethechance， ， anyhow.’， andthecongressman， laughingatmysharpness， ，” saidGrant， “itwasmymother’sbeingwithoutbutterthatmademegeneralandpresident.” ， andthepromptnesstoseizeit， thaturgedhimupward.
“Thereisnobody.” saysaRomanCardinal， “whomFortunedoesnotvisitonceinhis1ife； butwhenshefindsheisnotreadytoreceiveher， shegoesinatthedoor， andoutthroughthewindow.” ， theslow， theunobservant， thelazyfailtoseeit， ， andcatchitwhenonthewing.
Theyouthwhostartsoutinlifedeterminedtomakethemostofhiseyesandletnothingescapehimwhichhecanpossiblyuseforhisownadvancement， whokeepshisearsopenforeverysoundthatcanhelphimonhisway， whokeepshishandsopenthathemayclutcheveryopportunity， whoiseveronthealertforeverythingwhichcanhelphimtogetonintheworld， whoseizeseveryexperienceinlifeandgrindsitupintopaintforhisgreatlife’spicture， whokeepshisheartopenthathemaycatcheverynobleimpulseandeverythingwhichmayinspirehim， willbesuretoliveasuccessfullife； ， nothingcankeephimfromsuccess.
Manyofuswhothinkwearepoorarerichinopportunitiesifwecouldonlyseethem， inpossibilitiesallaboutus， infacultiesworthmorethandiamondbracelets， inpowertodogood.
Inourlargeeasterncitiesithasbeenfoundthatatleastninety-fouroutofeveryhundredfoundtheirfirstfortuneathome， ornearathand， ， ， ， aftertheyhadthrownmostofthepebblesaway， ...
