Chapter 28: Fortune Seed

If a person who has received a comfortable salary for five or ten years suddenly finds himself out of a position, without any money saved up, he is quite likely to blame his luck, instead of looking at the matter with a dispassionate mind and realizing that experience is putting before him, in the most convincing manner, a lesson which he needs to learn by heart.

If, instead of bemoaning his "luck," he will listen, a still, small voice will whisper to him of nickels, dimes, and even dollars foolishly squandered; nickels, dimes, and dollars spent which have not yielded their value in enjoyment. Money spent on legitimate pleasures need never be regretted. Legitimate pleasures are those which do not leave a bad taste in the mouth, but, instead, bestow delightful memories that no amount of hardship can deprive one of.

The writer knows of a person whose income has unexpectedly been cut off, leaving him quite unprepared. For years he has lived up to the limit of his salary giving no thought to the future. “Think of it,” he remarked, desperately, "had I but saved only ten cents a day for the last fifteen years, and I could have done so without ever missing it, I should now have five hundred and forty-seven dollars and fifty cents, not allowing for accrued interest. But I might have saved a great deal more than that, without foregoing any real pleasures. 'T is maddening to think of such folly, and I deserve the hard time I am having.”

But, perhaps, you think that the family of a laboring man could not save ten cents a day without a great deal of self-sacrifice. It is certainly no over-statement of fact to assume that the average working man in this country might save five cents a day without undergoing deprivations. The amount is too small to be worthwhile. Let us see?

Suppose that a young man of twenty-one should make a vow to put away at least five cents a day, each day in the year, and not to touch his savings for ten years. Do you realize that, at the end of that time, he would have one hundred and eighty-two dollars and fifty cents to his credit, as a result of putting away an amount so small that he would never miss it? Many enormous fortunes have grown from a smaller capital than this.

If a man has good brains, energy, and, at the age of thirty-one, a capital of one hundred and eighty-two dollars and fifty cents, there is no reason why, at the age of forty-one, he should not have a very snug nest-egg indeed, if he be a man of ordinary ability.

If, on the other hand, he has the money-making talent, there is no reason why he should not be well started on the road to wealth. If in ten years, his earliest and best years, he can accumulate but five cents a day, he will never become very rich.

The power of small things is one of the most important facts of life and too much stress cannot be laid upon it. It is absurd and illogical to despise the units when there can be no tens and hundreds without them.

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Sir Thomas Lipton