Copernicus overthrew superstition and brought in science; Luther gave religion, Gutenberg the printing-press, Calvin individualism, Michael Angelo art and the beautiful, Erasmus critical scholarship; and because the old world was filled with debris, and the new ideas needed room, Columbus gave the new world, offering what Emerson calls "the last opportunity of Providence for the human race." Surely this was a strategic moment in history, giving each citizen unique opportunity.
The strategic element enters into the individual career.

Destiny is determined by our use of our critical hours.

It is as if life's great issues were staked upon a single throw.

Not but that the forces we neglect are permanent.

It is that the strategic condition has passed out of them.