True story.
A young,18 year old student was struggling to pay his fees.He was an orphan,and
not knowing where to turn for money,he came up with a bright idea.A friend and
he decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their
education.
They reached out to the great pianist Ignacy.J.Paderewski.His manager demanded
a guaranteed fee of $2,000 for the piano recital.A deal was struck.And the boys
began to work to make the concert a success.
The big day arrived.Paderewski performed at
Stanford.But unfortunately,they had not managed to sell enough tickets.The
total collection was only $1,600.Disappointed they went to Paderewski and
explained their plight.They gave him the entire $1,600,plus a cheque for the
balance of $400.They promised to honour the cheque soonest possible.
"No" said Paderewski ."This is not
acceptable".He tore up the cheque ,returned the $1600 and told the
boys"Here's the $1600 .Please deduct whatever expenses you have
incurred.Keep the money you need for your fees.And just give me whatever is
left".The boys were surprised,and thanked him profusely.
It was a small act of kindness.But it clearly
marked out Paderewski as a great human being.Why should he help two he did not
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.
Paderewski later went on to become the Prime
Minister of Poland.He was great leader,but unfortunately when the World War
began ,Poland was ravaged.There were over 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 was a man called Herbert Hoover--who later
went on to become the US President.Hoover agree to help and quickly shipped
tons of food grains to feed the starving Polish people.A calamity was averted
Paderwski was relieved.He decided to go across to
meet Hoover and personally thank him.When Paderewski began to thank Hoover for
his noble gesture,Hoover.quickly interjected and said,"You may not
remember this ,but several years ago,you helped two young students go through
college in the US.I was one of them."
The world is a wonderful place.What goes round
usually comes around.
