Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 January 1902 — ADVISES YOUNG MEN. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ADVISES YOUNG MEN.

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, JR., TELLS OF THE ROAD TO SUCCESS. Bon of th. Richest Individual In tho World Talk, of the Trials of Hid Own Life —How He Was Convinced of tho Weakness of His Methods. Before a large number of young men, many of them members of his Bible class in New York, John D. Rockefeller, Jr/, delivered a short address on “Opportunity.*' In an earnest manner he expressed the belief that mere chance has little to do in shaping the fortunes of men, and that opportunity must be sought. He based his remarks on the promise given in Matt vii, 7: “Ask, and it shall be given yoq; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." “It often happens," said Mr. Rock*, feller, “that a young man in all earnestness says, 'I want to do something for myself, something for my friends, something for my family and something for my God,* and falls to do anything. Then he sighs and believes that opportunity has never offered itself to him. “I suppose that it often happensthat men are the victims of circumstances, but more often a better explanation for failure can be found. Some say that Hobson did that great deed in the harbor of Santiago because fortune favored him. Others who were there were brave and competent and Just as willing as,Hobson, yet the opportunity was only for him. “The reason that one man finds an opportunity while another fails is that the first seeks while the other waits to be called. It is not always so, but at least ninety-nine times In a hundred fortune favors the persistent hunter' and passes by the laggard. “Christ says, ‘Go and knock on the door if you want to get In. Don’t sit back and wait for the door to open.’ So when a man knocks on the door to success and demands an opportunity, he may be a mighty poor specimen, he may be Ignorant, he may know nothing of the task on the Other side of the door, but the fact that he knocks and

demands admittance shows that he deserves to be tried, and in nearly every case fortune opens the door to him and the opportunity is his. “It has been my experience that, though I have been willing to do church work, and felt it my duty to do it, I failed for a long time. It was because when the request for a teacher came, when there was a call fpr volunteers for mission work, I at once said: 'That isn’t my call. That is for one more experienced than I. I am ready, but the opportunity hasn’t arrived.’ “Then I changed methods. I knocked, and the door was opened. I sought an opportunity and presented myself, admitting my unworthiness. My work has been easier ever since. And so it is with all things in this world. In business and in professional life opportunities must be sought If you find yourself idle while willing to work and you think that opportunity passes you by, stop and consider more carefully. In all probability you will find that the fault is yours. “Opportunity consists of one-tenth circumstance and nine-tenths effort Look at the men and women who succeed in the world.' In a majority of cases success has come, not because opportunity ran against them, but because they ran against opportunity with so much force that they carried everything before them. "I believe that the man who has found his opportunity and has made the most of it is more greatly benefited by the results than the world is benefited by his work.”

John D. Rockefeller, Jr.