Luck and accomplishment

I wish to express my appreciation of the honor that has been conferred on me by the Institute in awarding me the Lamme Medal for 1941. Naturally, I had been somewhat aware of my contributions to the industry, but I had not realized that they might be of special interest to the Institute. In the past, the awarding of the medal has always suggested achievement and progress to me. Now, I have a more complex reaction to the event, and I am not able to resolve my feelings clearly. At any rate, the award is particularly gratifying to me, because it has encouraged me to entertain the idea that I also may have contributed to the progress of the electrical industry. Realizing, as no one else can, how the turning points of my life depended upon chance events, I feel as thought I were being honored for being lucky.