Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make read more

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them.

Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories read more

Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem a turned it into an opportunity.

Our opportunities to do good are our talents.

Our opportunities to do good are our talents.

"Oh, ship ahoy!" rang out the cry;
"Oh, give us water or we die!"
A voice came read more

"Oh, ship ahoy!" rang out the cry;
"Oh, give us water or we die!"
A voice came o'er the waters far,
"Just drop your bucket where you are."
And then they dipped and drank their fill
Of water fresh from mead and hill;
And then they knew they sailed upon
The broad mouth of the Amazon.

This could but have happened once,
And we missed it, lost it forever.

This could but have happened once,
And we missed it, lost it forever.

Subtract from the great man all that he owes to opportunity, all that he owes to chance, and all that read more

Subtract from the great man all that he owes to opportunity, all that he owes to chance, and all that he gained by the wisdom of his friends and the folly of his enemies, and the giant will often be seen to be a pygmy.

Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not read more

Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them, they will make them.

I knock unbidden once at every gate--
If sleeping, wake--if feasting, rise before
I turn away--it is read more

I knock unbidden once at every gate--
If sleeping, wake--if feasting, rise before
I turn away--it is the hour of fate,
And they who follow me reach every state
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe
Save death, but those who doubt of hesitate,
Condemned to failure, penury and woe,
Seek me in vain and uselessly implore,
I answer not, and I return no more.

The actual fact is that in this day Opportunity not only knocks
at your door but is playing an read more

The actual fact is that in this day Opportunity not only knocks
at your door but is playing an anvil chorus on every man's door,
and then lays for the owner around the corner with a club. The
world is in sore need of men who can do things. Indeed, cases
can easily be recalled by every one where Opportunity actually
smashed in the door and collared her candidate and dragged him
forth to success. These cases are exceptional, usually you have
to meet Opportunity half-way. But the only place where you can
get away from Opportunity is to lie down and die. Opportunity
does not trouble dead men, or dead ones who flatter themselves
that they are alive.