He knew that an animal with a split hoof must live upon grass and grain,
or other kind of vegetation, and would not be inclined to eat flesh,
dead or alive, so he considered himself perfectly safe. The possession
of a perfect knowledge of your business is an absolute necessity in
order to insure success.

Among the maxims of the elder Rothschild was one, all apparent paradox:
"Be cautious and bold." This seems to be a contradiction in terms, but
it is not, and there is great wisdom in the maxim. It is, in fact, a
condensed statement of what I have already said. It is to say; "you must
exercise your caution in laying your plans, but be bold in carrying them
out." A man who is all caution, will never dare to take hold and be
successful; and a man who is all boldness, is merely reckless, and must
eventually fail. A man may go on "'change" and make fifty, or one
hundred thousand dollars in speculating in stocks, at a single
operation. But if he has simple boldness without caution, it is mere
chance, and what he gains to-day he will lose to-morrow. You must have
both the caution and the boldness, to insure success.

The Rothschilds have another maxim: "Never have anything to do with an
unlucky man or place." That is to say, never have anything to do with a
man or place which never succeeds, because, although a man may appear to
be honest and intelligent, yet if he tries this or that thing and always
fails, it is on account of some fault or infirmity that you may not be
able to discover but nevertheless which must exist.

There is no such thing in the world as luck. There never was a man who
could go out in the morning and find a purse full of gold in the street
to-day, and another to-morrow, and so on, day after day: He may do so
once in his life; but so far as mere luck is concerned, he is as liable