arning; who
loves his work and has industry enough to persevere in it; who
appreciates the necessity of self-restraint in all things, and who
tempers his social life to those habits which refresh and not impair
his constitution. That is luck,--the luck of having common sense. That
is the only luck there is,--the only luck worth having; and it is
something which every right-minded young man may have if he goes about
it the right way.

Things in this world never just happen. There is always a reason for
everything. So with success. It is not the result of luck; it is not a
thing of chance. It comes to men only because they work hard and
intelligently for it, and along legitimate lines.

* * * * *

Now a word about a young man's salary. It is human nature to wish to
make all the money we honestly can: to get just as large a return for
our services as possible. There is no qualifying that statement, and as
most of the comforts of this life are had through the possession of
sufficient money, it is perfectly natural that the subject of what we
earn should be prominent in our minds. But too many young men put the
cart before the horse in this question of salary. It is their first
consideration. They are constantly asking what salaries are paid in
different business callings, and whether this profession or that trade
is more financially productive. The question seems to enter into their
deliberations as a qualifying factor as to whether they shall enter a
certain trade or profession. I never could quite see the point of this
nor the reason for it. Of what significance to you or to me are the
salaries which are paid to others? They signify nothing. If the highest
salary paid to the foremost men in a certain profession is $10,000 per
year, what does that fact prove? There is no obstacle to some one's
else going into that same profession and earning $25,000. The first
consideration, when a young man thinks of going into business, is not
which special trade or profession is most profitable, but which
particular line he is most interested in and best fitted for. What
matters it to a man that fortunes are made in the law if he has
absolutely no taste or ability for that profession? Of what value is it
to a young man who loves mechanical engineering to know that there are
doctors who earn large incomes? What difference do the productive
possibilities of any line of work make to us if we are not by nat