Last week, I saw copies of the book by Russell H. Conwell and got one. It surprised me to know that the story was first published in 1915! And the author delivered the story as an inspirational lecture more than 6,000 times before his death in 1925. Anyway, just in case you haven't heard the story, here's the gist:
There was once an ancient Persian named Ali Hafed who owned a very large farm. He had money, was wealthy and a contented man. He was contented because he was wealthy, and wealthy because he was contented.
One day, an old Persian farmer (a Buddhist priest) told the farmer how the world was made. How God turned a bank of fog into a ball of fire that rolled through the universe which resulted to condensation and caused heavy rains and cooled the earth's crust. Internal molten mass came bursting out very quicky became granite; less quickly, copper; less quickly, silver; less quickly, gold; and after gold, diamonds.
The priest told Ali Hafed that if he had one dioamond the size of a thumb,he could purchase the county and if he had a mine of diamonds, he could place his children upon thrones through the influence of great wealth. That night, Al Hafed went to bed a poor man. He had not lost anything but he was poor because he was discontented, and discontented because he was poor. He wanted a mine diamonds.
The next day, he asked the priest where to find them. The priest said that if he could find a river that runs through white sands between high mountains, he would find diamonds in the white sands.
Ali Hafed sold his farm and went in search of diamonds. He wandered in Palestine and Europe until his money was all spent. He was in rags and so poor that one day, he just threw himself into an incoming tide.
The man who purchased Ali Hafed's farm on the other hand, took his camel one day to drink in a stream in the garden. He noticed a flash of light from the white sands of the stream. He pulled a black stone and took it home and placed it on the mantel.
A few days later, the old priest came to visit Al Hafed's successor. When he entered the house, he caught the flash of light on the mantel and shouted, “Here's a diamond! Has Ali Hafed returned?” The man said “Oh no, he hasn't returned and that's not a diamond. That's nothing but a stone we found right out here in our garden.” The priest said it's positively a diamond and together they went to the garden stream and stirred the white sands to find more diamonds and gems.
And this, Conwell says, was a historically true story - how the diamond mine of India's Galconda was discovered.
The book, which is actually Conwell's lecture, also cites the Vanderbilt Story (which I remember hearing from the tour guide when we visited the Vanderbilt Mansion “The Breakers” at Rhode Island).
One day, the Vanderbilt son asked his father, “Did you earn all your money?”
The father said “I did, son. I began to work on a ferryboat for 25 cents a day.” Then the son said “I will have none of your money” and he tried to get employment on his own at a ferryboat.
The father said “I did, son. I began to work on a ferryboat for 25 cents a day.” Then the son said “I will have none of your money” and he tried to get employment on his own at a ferryboat.
Conwell says, “If a rich man's son will do that, he will get the discipline of a poor boy that is worth more than a university education to any man. He would then be able to take care of the millions of his father. But as a rule, the rich men will not let their sons do the very thing that made them great.” He further says, “It is no help to a young man or woman to inherit money, but if you leave them education, if you leave them Christian and noble character, if you leave them a wide circle of friends, if you leave them an honorable name, it is far better than that they should have money.”
But the line which I think encapsulates everything from Conwell's lecture is -
“Greatness consists not in the holding of some future office,but really consists in doing great deeds with little means and the accomplishment of vast purposes from the private ranks of life.”
“Greatness consists not in the holding of some future office,but really consists in doing great deeds with little means and the accomplishment of vast purposes from the private ranks of life.”
Wow, a real classic.:)
