- A little boy got angry with his mother and shouted at her, "I hate you, I hate you." Because of fear of reprimand, he ran out of the house. He went up to the valley and shouted, "I hate you, I hate you," and back came the echo, "I hate you, I hate you." This was the first time in his life he had heard an echo. He got scared, went to his mother for protection and said there was a bad boy in the valley who shouted "I hate you, I hate you." The mother understood and she asked her son to go back and shout, "I love you, I love you." The little boy went and shouted, "I love you, I love you," and back came the echo. That taught the little boy a lesson that our life is like an echo: We get back what we give. Benjamin Franklin said, "When you are good to others, you are best to yourself."
Whether it is our thoughts, actions
or behavior, sooner or later they return and with great accuracy. Treat people
with respect on your way up because you will be meeting them on your way down.
The following story is taken from The Best of. . . Bits & Pieces.*
Many years ago two boys were working their way through Stanford University. Their funds got desperately low, and the idea came to them to engage Ignacy Paderewski for a piano recital. They would use the funds to help pay their board and tuition.
The great pianist's manager asked for a guarantee of $2,000. The guarantee was a lot of money in those days, but the boys agreed and proceeded to promote the concert. They worked hard, only to find that they had grossed only $1,600.
After the concert the two boys told the great artist the bad news. They gave him the entire $1,600, along with a promissory note for $400, explaining that they would earn the amount at the earliest possible moment and send the money to him. It looked like the end of their college careers.
"No, boys," replied Paderewski, "that won't do." Then, tearing the note in two, he returned the money to them as well. "Now," he told them, "take out of this $1,600 all of your expenses and keep for each of you 10 percent of the balance for your work. Let me have the rest."
The years rolled by. World War I came and went. Paderewski, now premier of Poland, was striving to feed thousands of starving people in his native land. The only person in the world who could help him was Herbert Hoover, who was in charge of the US Food and Relief Bureau. Hoover responded and soon thousands of tons of food were sent to Poland.
After the starving people were fed, Paderewski journeyed to Paris to thank Hoover for the relief sent him.
"That's all right, Mr. Paderewski ," was Hoover's reply. "Besides, you don't remember it, but you helped me once when I was a student at college, and I was in trouble."
Many years ago two boys were working their way through Stanford University. Their funds got desperately low, and the idea came to them to engage Ignacy Paderewski for a piano recital. They would use the funds to help pay their board and tuition.
The great pianist's manager asked for a guarantee of $2,000. The guarantee was a lot of money in those days, but the boys agreed and proceeded to promote the concert. They worked hard, only to find that they had grossed only $1,600.
After the concert the two boys told the great artist the bad news. They gave him the entire $1,600, along with a promissory note for $400, explaining that they would earn the amount at the earliest possible moment and send the money to him. It looked like the end of their college careers.
"No, boys," replied Paderewski, "that won't do." Then, tearing the note in two, he returned the money to them as well. "Now," he told them, "take out of this $1,600 all of your expenses and keep for each of you 10 percent of the balance for your work. Let me have the rest."
The years rolled by. World War I came and went. Paderewski, now premier of Poland, was striving to feed thousands of starving people in his native land. The only person in the world who could help him was Herbert Hoover, who was in charge of the US Food and Relief Bureau. Hoover responded and soon thousands of tons of food were sent to Poland.
After the starving people were fed, Paderewski journeyed to Paris to thank Hoover for the relief sent him.
"That's all right, Mr. Paderewski ," was Hoover's reply. "Besides, you don't remember it, but you helped me once when I was a student at college, and I was in trouble."
It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no
man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. --Ralph Waldo
Emerson
Goodness has a way of coming back; that is the nature of the beast. One doesn't have to do good with a desire to get back. It just happens automatically.
Goodness has a way of coming back; that is the nature of the beast. One doesn't have to do good with a desire to get back. It just happens automatically.
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