He fulfilled his contract by night so that he might run his ferry-boat between New York and Brooklyn by day.
The boy who gave his parents all his day earnings and had half of what he got at night, was worth thirty thousand dollars at thirty-five, and when he died, at an advanced age, he left to his thirteen children one of the largest fortunes in America.
Lord Eldon might well have pleaded "no chance" when a boy, for he was too poor to go to school or even to buy books.

But no; he had grit and determination, and was bound to make his way in the world.

He rose at four o'clock in the morning and copied law books which he borrowed, the voluminous "Coke upon Littleton" among others.

He was so eager to study that sometimes he would keep it up until his brain refused to work, when he would tie a wet towel about his head to enable him to keep awake and to study.

His first year's practice brought him but nine shillings, yet he was bound not to give up.
When Eldon was leaving the chamber the Solicitor tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Young man, your bread and butter's cut for life." The boy with "no chance" became Lord Chancellor of England, and one of the greatest lawyers of his age.
Stephen Girard had "no chance." He left his home in France when ten years old, and came to America as a cabin boy.