Orison Swett Marden：Pushing to the Front, Excerpt 86

Mr. Wilson determined never to lose an opportunity for self-culture or self-advancement. Few men knew so well the value of spare moments. _He seized them as though they were gold_ and would not let one pass until he had wrung from it every possibility. He managed to read a thousand good books before he was twenty-one--what a lesson for boys on a farm! When he left the farm he started on foot for Natick, Mass., over one hundred miles distant, to learn the cobbler's trade. He went through Boston that he might see Bunker Hill monument and other historical landmarks. The whole trip cost him but one dollar and six cents. In a year he was the head of a debating club at Natick. Before eight years had passed, he made his great speech against slavery, in the Massachusetts Legislature. Twelve years later he stood shoulder to shoulder with the polished Sumner in Congress. With him, _every occasion was a great occasion_. He ground every circumstance of his life into material for success.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21291
Locator：Excerpt 86 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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