The Art of Manliness blog has a list of “20 classic poems every man should read“.

Some are familiar, although I’m embarrassed to have read so few.

However, the following seemed particularly apt for the Sovereign Professional:

Master of human destinies am I;
Fame, love and fortune on my footsteps wait.
Cities and fields I walk. I penetrate
Deserts and seas remote, and, passing by
Hovel and mart and palace, soon or late,
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 hesitate
Condemned to failure, penury and woe,
Seek me in vain, and uselessly implore.
I answer not, and I return no more.

John James Ingalls (1833 – 1900), Opportunity

Now,there’s a lesson to remember.