Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States and was also one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence. He once said, “I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” There is no doubt that he had to work incredibly hard to achieve the high level of success that he did. Some may say that Thomas Jefferson was lucky for the great opportunities that presented themselves to him and the many accomplishments that he made from those opportunities, but the truth is that everyone is presented with opportunities, but it takes hard work to make accomplishments out of them.

This particular quote stood out to me, as my values reflect the worth of hard work. I spend a great amount of time and effort on my schoolwork, practicing and improving my ringette skills, and doing my best in everything I do. I plan to keep working hard in the rest of my life in order to be successful and achieve my goals and dreams. I also believe that modesty is important, and that even if you are one of the most successful people in the world, you should try not to flaunt it too much. It could be compared to a secret ingredient in a recipe – hard work makes life taste good, even if everyone else thinks that it was just a lucky spill of seasoning into the pot.

ThinkExist. (2010). Thomas Jefferson Quotes. Retrieved September 24, 2010, from ThinkExist.com: http://thinkexist.com/quotation/i-m_a_great_believer_in_luck-and_i_find_the/146613.html