A true story, happened in 1892 at Stanford University
An 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. He and a friend 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 $2000 for the piano
recital. A deal was struck and the boys began to work to make the concert a
success.
The big day arrived. But unfortunately, they had not
managed to sell enough tickets. The total collection was only $1600.
Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and explained their plight. They gave him
the entire $1600, plus a cheque for the balance $400. They promised to honour
the cheque at the soonest possible.
“No,” said Paderewski. “This is not acceptable.” He
tore up the cheque, returned the $1600 and told the two 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 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.
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 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 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.”
The world is a wonderful place. What goes around comes
around!
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