○  russell conwell : acres of diamonds  ○

he had told me how to go in and then went out another door to the left and shut that. there i was, in the hallway by myself before the president of the united states of america’s door. i had been on fields of battle, where the shells did sometimes shriek and the bullets did sometimes hit me, but i always wanted to run. i have no sympathy with the old man who says, “i would just as soon march up into the cannon’s mouth as eat my dinner.” i have no faith in a man who doesn’t know enough to be afraid when he is being shot at. i never was so afraid when the shells came around us at antietam as i was when i went into that room that day; but i finally mustered the courage-i don’t know how i ever did-and at arm’s length tapped on the door. the man inside did not help me at all, but yelled out, “come in and sit down!”

well, i went in and sat down on the edge of a chair, and wished i were in europe, and the man at the table did not look up. he was one of the world’s greatest men, and was made great by one single rule. oh, that all the young people of philadelphia were before me now and i could say just this one thing, and that they would remember it. i would give a lifetime for the effect it would have on our city and on civilization. abraham lincoln’s principle for greatness can be adopted by nearly all. this was his rule: whatsoever he had to do at all, he put his whole mind in to it and held it and held it all there until that was all done. that makes men great almost anywhere. he stuck to those papers at that table and did not look up at me, and i sat there trembling. finally, when he put the string around his papers, he pushed them over to one side and looked over at me, and a smile came over his worn face. he said: “i am a very busy man and have only a few minutes to spare. now tell me in the fewest words what it is you want.” i began to tell him, and mentioned the case, and he said: “i have heard all about it and you do not need to say any more. mr. stanton was

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