It had long since come to my attention that people of

Elinor Smith, the fearless aviator who at seventeen became the youngest licensed pilot in the world, once declared: “It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” In these bold words, she revealed the essence of courage and the heartbeat of destiny: that greatness does not drift upon the winds of chance, but must be seized, commanded, and shaped by the will of those who dare.

To be a person of accomplishment is not to wait passively for fortune’s favor. The one who sits idle, hoping for opportunity to knock, waits in vain, for opportunity seldom calls upon the unready. The accomplished do not wait for the storm to pass—they spread their sails into it. They do not bow before circumstance—they bend circumstance to their design. Smith herself knew this, for she dared to take to the skies in an age when few women were even allowed near the cockpit. She did not let history happen to her; she happened to history.

The power of this quote lies in its call to action. Too many live as spectators, watching life unfold from a distance, surrendering their fate to time and chance. But the ones who shape the world—explorers, inventors, leaders, creators—are those who thrust themselves into the current, steering with their own hands. Think of Thomas Jefferson and the American founders, who did not wait for freedom to be granted but declared it boldly, shaping a nation out of their conviction. They did not sit back and hope—they rose, acted, and happened to things.

Elinor Smith herself provides the living parable of this wisdom. At sixteen, she became the youngest ever licensed pilot. At seventeen, she flew under all four bridges of New York City’s East River, an act of daring that no one—man or woman—had ever attempted. The world did not simply open its arms to her; she seized the sky and made it hers. In her life, she proved her own creed: accomplishment comes to those who rise, act, and make their mark, even against the weight of doubt and limitation.

The ancients knew this truth as well. The Romans honored fortuna audaces iuvat—fortune favors the bold. The Greeks told of Odysseus, who did not drift home by accident but carved his way through storm, sea, and trial. To act, to seize, to strive—this is the path of those who would accomplish. Waiting is the companion of mediocrity, but daring is the mother of greatness. Smith’s words echo these eternal truths, dressed in the courage of her own skyward journey.

The meaning, then, is both heroic and demanding. It reminds us that life will not hand us our dreams. To live passively is to wither in obscurity; to live actively is to write one’s name upon the fabric of time. Accomplishment requires not only vision but audacity, not only hope but effort. The one who would rise must not merely wish for change, but become the very instrument of change itself.

For those who hear this teaching today, the lesson is clear: do not wait for your chance—create it. Do not sit back for life to unfold—unfurl it with your own hands. Practical steps follow: define clearly what you desire, take bold action toward it each day, and when obstacles rise, treat them not as walls but as doors to be forced open. Live not as a spectator but as a participant, one who happens to things rather than letting things happen.

Thus Elinor Smith’s words endure like the steady hum of an engine in flight: “People of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” Let this wisdom be your compass. Rise each day not as one waiting for fortune’s mercy, but as one daring to shape the world. For life belongs not to the idle, but to the bold—and those who dare to act will leave their mark upon eternity.