What truly makes a person successful? It could be simply having luck and being born with a God-given ability or coming from hard work and expanding your knowledge to land a successful job. In some cases people can be born successful through a famous family or through God-given athletic ability, but in most cases success comes from hard work. Success is largely the result of hard work, and a small portion of success is harnessed when “good luck” opportunities arrive. A lesson we are taught from a young age is that nothing comes free in life. From the first day of school to the last, we are taught that only by earning a college degree will we be able to earn a good job and be successful. All these years spent in school, studying, and earning a degree exceed the 10,000 hour rule described by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers where he states, “Ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness” (40). Whether or not 10,000 hours is the true number of greatness, one thing cannot be discussed; the more work you do in a given profession, the more qualified you are and the higher your level of expertise. It has been drilled into our heads that the more time and work you put into a sport, studying, etc., the better you will earn later in life. If a person dedicates his life to hard work and practice, life is bound to reward that person. Ragged Dick is a perfect example of how life has paid off for a man who has worked hard all his life. An opportunity presented itself by chance where a little boy fell from the railing of a boat and Ragged Dick was the one who saved him. Not knowing that this boy was the son of a wealthy Mr. Rockwell, he saved him because it was the right thing to do. There was an offer made by Mr. Rockwell that whoever saved his son would receive $10,000, but Dick didn't.