Over the years, a lot of things are said to young students about to leave school and embark upon a lifelong journey of learning and growing in the real world. It would be near-futile to try to capture two thousand years-plus of wisdom and boil it down to a 300-word article. But I’ve done it anyway.
“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” Francis Bacon.
This philosopher/humanist of the Renaissance was undoubtedly trying to say that whatever we accomplish in life is determined more by our own individual will rather than circumstance. And those are inspiring words to live by. Of course, this is the guy who caught pneumonia trying to freeze a chicken in the snow and subsequently died, but he was on to something. We make our own way in the world. As long as we remember to wear a winter coat. Or come in from out of the cold and warm up. Or, you know, not die freezing chickens.
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” Henry Ford.
Now here’s a maxim we can all adapt. Anyone who ever had aspirations can’t be daunted by anything, but rather focus on what can be done to make them happen. Especially a guy like Ford. Eliminating bathroom breaks and forbidding loud conversation in the lunch room enabled him to build 10,000 cars a day in his manufacturing plant and find himself time for his true life’s goal: publishing anti-Semitic newspaper articles in the Dearborn Independent.
“Courage is the price the world exacts for peace of mind.” Amelia Earhart.
Totally a fair point. In order to stand for what you believe in, you can’t wait for convenience, and you can’t be beholden to the opinions of others. It takes a lot of courage to uphold one’s convictions. Earhart wasn’t afraid of tackling the odds and attempting to circumnavigate the globe in an airplane. And she…oh yeah...
“Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.” Jedi Master Yoda.
The little guy could fight pretty good, after all. Okay, I’m going with this one.
So out of those two millenia of learning, wisdom, accomplishment and industry we’ve got, what, one wrinkled green hand puppet who’s worth listening to? Yeah, that sounds about right. So long, losers.
