A great man is made up of qualities that meet or make great occasions.

Circumstances do not confer stature; they reveal what was already assembled. Someone who has spent years building judgment, nerve and the habit of finishing things will be ready when a large moment arrives, and will sometimes create the moment, because those qualities do not sit quietly. The people who seem to have been lucky were usually prepared in a way that was invisible beforehand.

Stop waiting for the occasion that will show what you are capable of. Build one of the qualities you would need, in ordinary conditions this week, so that it is already there when something larger asks for it.