The Secret of Wealth – Chapter 9

“A man can get anything he wants providing he wants it hard enough and is willing to pay the price.”

SOME men desire wealth and some desire merely peace and comfort and a reasonable degree of financial independence.

Some men desire fame and the applause of the masses while others care merely for the approval of those nearest to them, whether they be employers, relatives or friends.

Some men wish to travel extensively and see the whole world and see all that is in it while others are content to see a few of the most famous or interesting spots and be able to travel just enough to keep in touch with the progress of the Country.

Some men wish and must have for their com­plete happiness a home in the city, a farm in the country, a summer cottage up north and a winter place in the south while some other man would be equally contented with a modest and comfortable home just far enough away from the heart of town to be reasonably quiet and home-like.

Some men want to be members of many clubs, societies and associations and some other man is happy with his one membership in a golf club or an athletic club or in some one lodge or association where he can meet and mingle with the right sort of men.

Some men desire several motor cars of different types with a man to drive them and another to look after them while some other man is just as happy with one car of modest cost and many men have no desire whatever for an automobile.

Some men must have an extensive wardrobe with different clothes for different days and different parts of the day, while some other man is quite content with his everyday suit and a good Sunday and holiday outfit.

Some men want more and some men want less and each man has a right to satisfy his desires and ambitions, if he can. He has a right to work for what he wants and, if he works hard enough, the chances are pretty good that he will get it.

The man who sets a goal and strives for it is likely to get there; he may be late in arriving but he is reasonably sure to arrive.

The man who sets no mark ahead for which to strive is not likely to get very far. His is a purposeless life and he will never be known for the things he has accomplished.

The man was wise indeed who said:

“Aim high and you will surely hit something; aim low and you will surely hit the ground.”

The man who aims high may not reach his goal but he will get a lot nearer to it than the man who aims low or shoots without aiming at all.

Whenever a man makes up his mind that he is going to have a certain thing, he is already about half way on the road to getting it, whether it be wealth, fame, position, a home or merely a job.

When a newsboy walked into a bank in a small city in Wisconsin with sixty-five cents and was informed by a teller that he must have a dollar with which to start an account, he turned and left the bank with a hanging head and one or two people who witnessed the incident said a teardrop hit the stone threshold as he passed out of the side door. In less than five minutes he returned to the bank, walked up to the teller’s window, doffed his cap and said,” Say, Mister, when I own this bank, a feller can come in here and open an account with whatever he’s got and it won’t have to be a dollar, neither.”

In that five minutes, the lad had decided to own that bank and the writer had the wonderful privi­lege of being present at a banquet given to that boy, then 66 years old, when he retired from the presidency of that particular bank in which he has owned the controlling interest for just twenty-five years. It was only fourteen years from the time he dropped the tear, got mad and decided to own the bank until he was holding down an officer’s chair in that institution and had a nice little block of its stock in his safe deposit box.

“After reading countless maxims regarding opportunity–and again opportunity–we come back to the starting-point and realize that our fortunate turns and conditions have been always of our own making.