"John Jacob Astor had practical talent in a remarkable degree. During a storm at sea, on his voyage to America, the other passengers ran about the deck in despair, expecting every minute to go down; but young Astor went below and coolly put on his best suit of clothes, saying that if the ship should founder and he should happen to be rescued, he would at least save his best suit of clothes."

That's an excerpt from Orison Swett Marden's classic 'Pushing to the Front' [page 263 of my copy]. 

When I read that paragraph, it sent a shiver down my spine.

I immediately set down the book and went to Wikipedia...to look up John Jacob Astor. My memory was accurate, John Jacob Astor perished with the sinking of the Titanic, during its maiden voyage to America.

I remembered that because John Jacob Astor was one of the world's richest men during the late-19^th and early-20^th Centuries. 

The Titanic sank on April 15^th, 1912...this weekend marks the 100th anniversary of that enormous tragedy.  

The reason for the shiver down my spine...the book was published before the sinking of the Titanic.

'Pushing to the Front' was written in the mid-1890's and published later. Apparently the original manuscript was lost in a fire and the author had to spend another year re-writing it. Then, after being shelved for a period of time, it was published. My copy was printed in 1911, the year before the sinking of the Titanic. [see 'Pushing to the Front']

Synchronicity, serendipity, and such things always catch my attention.

PS: It is possible Orison Swett Marden was referring to one of John Jacob Astor's namesakes ...after all, he was John Jacob Astor IV. Either way, it is rather chilling to read those words, created by Orison Swett Marden in an effort to motivate and inspire young people during the difficult economic times of the later 1890's...knowing that John Jacob Astor IV perished at sea shortly after the book was published, during Orison Swett Marden's lifetime.