Smith attributed this saying to his father, using it to reinforce his second college lesson: never give up your dream. The maritime metaphor captured a truth about success that many people miss — it's not enough to wait for opportunity; you have to create the conditions for opportunity to find you. Smith illustrated this through the stories of his college friends. His buddy Nick, who 'wasn't interested in how things should be done, but why things should be done,' became a noted author and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Idaho. Ralph, who 'was only interested in birds' and nearly failed his morning classes because he was in the field expanding his 'life list,' became the Curator of Birds at the Smithsonian. Both had sent their ships out early — pursuing their passions with the same single-minded focus as Smith's grandmother splitting shingles in the Canadian wilderness. The ships came in, but only because they had been launched decades earlier by young people who refused to give up on what they loved.