Time and Chance

BY JACK DIONNE

"You write a lot cbout the lundcnnentcls ol sclesmcnrship," writes cn old lumber lriend oI mine lrom Kcnscs City, "but there is one big element I hcrve never seen you discuss, and thct is luck-the'breqks ol the ginne.' Don't you believe chance plcrys cn importcrnt pcrrt in selling, cs well cs in all living?"

Now TIIERE is cr subiect thqt merits cr lot ol tcrlk. I hcve cr collection ol Bibliccrl quotctions, mcrde lrom my own recding, cnd in thct collection HERE is a Bible selection thcrt hcs intrigued me from the time I lirst recd it. It is lrom Ecclesicstes. Ecclesicrstes, be it known to crll, is cr book lrom the Old Testcment that scys little of religion" but much ol homely philosophy, and here is the sentence thct ccrtches my thought especiclly in cmswer to the question cbove:

"I retunred cmd scrw under the sun thct the race is not to ihe swilt, nor the bcrttle to the strong, neither yet brecd to the wise, nor yet riches to men ol understcmding, nor yet lcvor to rren of skill; but TIME cnd CHANCE hcppeneth to them cll."

Thifseemg to indiccte the beliel ol the Bibliccl writer thct "time cnd chcrnce," (which I interpret to meqn luck, the li-e element, cnd the "brecks oI the gcune"), crre more importcurt thcn speed, strength, wisdom,. understcmding, crnd skill fur the bcttle ol lile. Inot indorsing thcrt opinion, but simply offering it lor whcrt it is worth to those who like to tqcHe interesting thinking problems.

"Time crnd Chcnce"l What ccr interesting pdirl All business efiorts cre necesscnily bcsed on the tirne element. When you get there iust in time to see cr competilor wclking off with cr big order, Time hcrs done you in When a flcrt tire or c broken down ccrr or cr bad tummy cche is the ccruse oI your fcriling to get there in time, hcrs been your chiel eneEY.

How olten hcve you hecrrd one smcrt mcrn crnolher: "I would rcther hcve his luck thcm cr Governrnent permit to isn't ioking. He mecrns it. .I hcrve known cr lot oI slncnt men in my lile. theoutstcrnding man I ever knew in his pcrrthat one mcm got the brecks csrd the other ticulqr line of effort, believed v did not. Yet that mcn wcs to being c genius thcm cny man I ever knew. And his whole lile, csrd linclly his decth, bore out his ovenrhelning belief thcrt cr mcrn is cr dry led blown crbout by the winds oI "Time cnd Chcrnce." I didn't cgree with him, clwcrys lcughed ct his seriousness in the mcrtter, but t'll have to cdmit thct his bcrd luck continued to the end. Perhcrlrs it wcs iust cr ccrse where "thct which Job lecrred ccnne upon him."

I've told cr story lor untold yecrs thcrt illustrctes crbout the scme beliel thct lriend oI mine hcd. A young mccr with c! overpowering beliel in Luck crs the primcry element in humcn success, ioined lhe Ncvy trt the stcrrt of the first World Wcr. In cr Iew dcys he picked c fight wjth the biggest, toughest sailor within recch. Our hero (?) wcs q mcrn of modest size qnd lighting cbility, cnd took cr terrilic becting. A week later he tried it crgcrin on qnother big lellow who enlirely outclcrssed him. Agcrin he got bcrdly whipped. When he tried the third big sqilor with the scmre results, cm officer cclled him on the ccrrpet to lind out whcrt it wcs all cbout, qnd recrd him cr lecture on his complete loolhcrdiness.

"Aw, Lieutencrnt," scid the smcll scilor who believed in Chcnce. "You don't understcrnd. I'm iust not getting the brecrks. Some oI these dcys I'm going to START FIGHTING LUCKY AND I'IT WHIP EVERY BIG SO-AND-SO IN THIS MAN'S NAVY."