Monroe Morning World Monroe, Louisiana Saturday, January 14, 1961
Reaching For Stars
People who go through life discouraged because they are not the best in the world may owe their disappointment to those who say anyone can be president if he tries hard enough or that he can be a champion at anything if he is determined enough. Most people can't do those things but they can be good enough to live satisfactory lives. It's all right to hitch your wagon to a star as long as you can keep your feet on the ground at the same time.
A dramatic illustration of the fact that champions have to be born as well as made is found in the person of Bobby Fischer, 17-year-old international chess grand master, who won his fourth United States chess championship in New York recently. The Brooklyn boy is considered the finest American chess player since Paul Morphy in 1850.
When he was scarcely 14 years old, Fischer began pushing the veteran international grand masters around. Some of them had devoted 30 years or more to intensive chess study and play. All of them were natural masters to some extent and had reached the top both through natural ability and constant study. Yet a 14-year-old boy who had been playing only two or three years was able to beat them.
At the time he started beating the grand masters, Fischer played barefooted. He wrapped his feet and legs around the chair legs and bit his nails until he drove his opponents to distraction but they were more worried about his playing ability than his antics. Now he looks and acts a little more like the others when he plays but he still beats them.
This doesn't mean that anyone should not try for the top. It does mean that everyone should try for his own personal full measure and that if he can't beat the rest of the world he should accept his abilities as they are, make the best of them and live a successful life.
