What Good did You do Today? an
inspirational story
(What goes around comes around)
It was 1892. An 18-year-old student at
Stanford University was struggling to pay his fees. He was an orphan, and not
knowing where to turn for money, came up with a bright idea. He and one of his
friend decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their
education.
They approached the great pianist Ignacy J.
Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano
recital. A deal was struck and the boys began to work to make the concert a
success.
But unfortunately, they could not manage to
sell enough tickets. Their total collection was only $1600.
And, the big day arrived.
Disappointed and apprehensive they went to
Paderewski and explained their situation. They gave him their total collection
of $1600, plus a cheque for the balance $400. They promised to pay the balance
as soon as possible.
“No,” said Paderewski. “This is not
acceptable.”
The students now were truly in a fix as to
what the great musician would do.
However much to their surprise and relief,
Paderewski tore up the cheque, returned the $1600 and told the two boys:
“Here’s the $1600. Deduct whatever
expenses you have incurred. Keep the money you need for your fees. And just
give me whatever is left,” Said the great man.
It was a small act of
kindness. But it clearly marked out Paderewski as a great human being.
The boys had no words to thank Paderewski.
Paderewski later went on to become the Prime
Minister of Poland. He was a great leader, but unfortunately when the World War
began, Poland was ravaged. There were more than 1.5 million people starving in
his country, and no money to feed them. Paderewski did not know where to turn
for help. He reached out to the US Food and Relief Administration for help.
The head there was a man called Herbert Hoover
— who later went on to become the US President. Hoover agreed to help and
quickly shipped tons of food grains to feed the starving Polish people.
A calamity was averted. Paderewski was
relieved. He decided to meet Hoover and thank him personally.
When Paderewski began to
thank Hoover for his noble gesture, Hoover quickly interjected and said, “You
shouldn't be thanking me Mr. Prime Minister. You may not remember this, but
several years ago, you helped two young students go through college. I was one
of them.”
But, the real question is:
Why did Paderewski help two people he did not
even know? We all come across situations like these in our lives. And most of
us only think “If I help them, what would happen to me?”
The truly great people
think, “If I don’t help them, what will happen to them?” They don’t do it
expecting something in return. They do it because they feel it’s the right
thing to do. They do it because it is a good thing to do.
So my dear friend,
what good did you do today?
Disclaimer: The original story is available on the internet. I
have slightly modified and edited the story before publishing it. However,
the historical facts about both Herbert Hoover and Ignacy J. Paderewski
are true.
Sarwan Singh
@sarwan_singh
Sunday English Speaking Club,
Fortnightly Executives Development Workshops,
Corporate Training Programs,
Training Programs for Educational Institutes,
Details at: http://bit.ly/sarwansingh
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