If people ask me for the ingredients of success, I say one is

Hear, O seekers of triumph, the words of Fred Saberhagen, who declared: “If people ask me for the ingredients of success, I say one is talent, two is stubbornness or determination, and third is sheer luck. You have to have two out of the three. Any two will probably do.” This saying is not the idle musing of a storyteller but a recipe distilled from the struggles of life. It proclaims that success is not won by a single force, but by a weaving together of gifts, endurance, and fortune. Like a rope of three strands, strength is found when at least two are bound together.

The first ingredient is talent—the natural gift, the spark placed in the soul at birth. Talent is the hand of the craftsman that moves with ease, the ear of the musician that hears melodies in silence, the vision of the leader who sees paths where others see only wilderness. Without talent, the journey is hard, yet not impossible. For there are those who, lacking great gifts, still climb high by sheer will and fortune’s hand. But when talent is present, it is as though the winds of destiny already favor the traveler.

The second ingredient is stubbornness—that holy determination that refuses to yield. For what is talent without endurance? Many are gifted, but they fall when hardship rises, when rejection stings, when the road grows long. But the stubborn one, though his talent be modest, presses forward when others have given up. He is like the tortoise in the ancient fable, slow yet relentless, and in the end, he finds victory where the swift but careless falter. Determination is the furnace in which even small gifts are made mighty.

The third ingredient is luck—that mysterious favor of fortune, that turning of chance that no man can command. Some call it providence, others fate. It is the meeting of the right person at the right hour, the opportunity that appears like a door in a wall, the accident that turns to blessing. Without it, the gifted and the determined may still struggle unseen; with it, the smallest spark may ignite into a flame. Yet as Saberhagen wisely said, one need not have all three—for luck may amplify talent, or stubbornness may overcome the lack of luck. Two may suffice where three are rare.

Consider the tale of Thomas Edison, who possessed only modest talent, but endless stubbornness. He failed thousands of times in his quest for the light bulb, yet each failure he greeted not as ruin but as discovery. Luck, too, favored him when the world cried out for light, and so his name endures. Or think of Mozart, whose blazing talent needed little stubbornness, yet who found luck in patrons who recognized his genius. Each life, whether of artist, warrior, or scholar, shows the dance of these three forces—none all-powerful alone, but together a key to greatness.

The lesson is plain: seek not perfection in all three, but cultivate what you can. If you are gifted with talent, sharpen it with labor. If you are blessed with stubbornness, wield it as your shield against despair. If fortune grants you luck, be ready with hands prepared to grasp it. And if one of these is denied you, despair not—for any two may yet suffice to carry you to the gates of success.

Practical wisdom calls you to action: know yourself and identify which of the three you hold. Are you rich in talent? Then do not waste it. Are you steadfast in determination? Then press forward until the world must acknowledge you. Have you been touched by luck? Then honor it by making the most of it. Combine what you have, and trust that life rewards those who weave their gifts with persistence.

Thus, beloved, remember the wisdom of Saberhagen: success is not born of a single force, but of the interplay of talent, stubbornness, and luck. Cultivate what is in your hand, await what the heavens send, and walk steadfastly upon the road. For in the union of these powers lies the destiny of the great.