A career in journalism

Henry Adams was probably the best-connected American journalist in history -- the grandson and great-grandson of presidents, the son of a Congressman and ambassador. But this is what he had to say about his own unfocused abilities and his subsequent slide into journalism:

"No young man had a larger acquaintance and relationship than Henry Adams, yet he knew no one who could help him. He was for sale, in the open market. So were many of his friends. All the world knew it, and knew too that they were cheap, to be bought at the price of a mechanic."