The Turning-Point of my Life by Mark Twain

If I understand the idea, the _Bazar _invites several of us to write upon the above text. It means the change in my life's course which introduced what must be regarded by me as the most _important _condition of my career. But it also implies-without intention, perhaps-that that turning-point _itself _was the creator of the new condition. This gives it too much distinction, too much prominence, too much credit. It is only the _last _link in a very long chain of turning-points commissioned to produce the cardinal result; it is not any more important than the humblest of its ten thousand predecessors. Each of the ten thousand did its appointed share, on its appointed date, in forwarding the scheme, and they were all necessary; to have left out any one of them would have defeated the scheme and brought about _some other_ result. I know we have a fashion of saying "such and such an event was the turning-point in my life," but we shouldn't say it. We should merely grant that its place as LAST link in the chain makes it the most _conspicuous _link; in real importance it has no advantage over any one of its predecessors.

Perhaps the most celebrated turning-point recorded in history was the crossing of the Rubicon. Suetonius says: