The daily silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1903-1907, 1905-02-02
T
LUCK IN BUSINESS.

'1~
Successful business men commonly say
that there is no such thing as luck. In
the sense In which they mean It this Is
not correct. for every one of them may
be matched by a dozen unsuccessful men
of equal ability and industry. To a large
degree, business success depends upon the
same element of mathematical chance In
a single instance as is noted in lotteries,
drafts. etc. except that for the simple
machinery of the latter, which allows the
estimation of the chances In advance, we
have a complicated human structure
which does not permit a definite state
ment of the chances of success or failure.
Many conservative business men owe
their first opportunity to a speculation
which involved the same element of
chance as the falling of a die. but have
been shrewd enough not to incur a sim
liar risk after securing a sufficient cap.
ital for business on ordinary lines.
1t would be too broad an assertion to
say tina business success is entirely spec
ulative or based on chance, Indeed, when
the successful man says that there is no
such thing as luck, and means that his
success is the logical reward of industry
and good judgment, not to forget self
denial and economic living, he is often
right. Still. 1t is apparent that chance
and onnortnnffv nave much IN do with
the outcome. To a very large degree,
business and social success depend upon
physical endowments which are inherited
or are, at least. eongenital Even agree
able manners. tact, pleasant ways of ut.
tering trivial thoughts. facial expression.
grace of movement. temperament and the
like, are essentially due to anatomic en-
dowment at birth. One man charms you
with his voice. another repels you; there
Is a trifing difference In the musculature
of the respective larynxes, in the smooth
ness of the vocal cords. in the shape and
size OF the resonant air-chambers of the
skull. These minor differences represent
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ocrity or failure in the ministry. the law.
and politics. Even in vocations in which
oratory has no place they play a consid.
cradle part. In many businesses, includ-
ing politics. one man makes friends right
and left simply because he can remem-
Der names and faces. Another. with ten
tt~as nc r,,.rh h,,p,an S+rn,athu ivnnrDS
old acquaintance on the street because
his eyes are a millimeter longer than the
formers. or he cannot readily remember
faces ana names because of The lack OF
certain groups of brain cells.
In general. we find that the element of
luck exists only from the narrow view
point of the individual. Even when We
are utterly unable to solve the problems
of chance mathematically, we can usu-
ally do so by empiric observations. We
cannot tell when a man $ house will burn
but we can calculate within a small vari-
alton how much each one of a hundred
thousand will have to pay to insure him
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Insurance on a definite basis. but we can
prophesy how many of an average thou
sand will die in a year. and. excluding
epidemics and great disasters, we ca
even state quite definitely how many will
die of this or that disease, Few laws are
so definite and ~irrevocahle as the law of
chance. 1t is only when we turn 20 the
individual that we lose sight of the indis-
soluble connection between cause and ef-
feet. The individual is. so to speak,
crushed by the weight of the aggregate,
IL is small wonder that. without such in
formation as comes from the careful
study OF the aggregate, the individual
loses his reasoning power, covers before
a force which he does not comprehend
and personiaes it as a fate or mastering
supernatural being, or creates an imper-
sonai force which he calls luck.
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