Acres of Diamonds

John was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content, and he was content because he was happy. One day a wise man come to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. the wise man said, “If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could buy your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own country.” and then the wise man left. That night, John couldn’t sleep. He was unhappy and discontented. 

image source: Wikimedia Commons

The next morning John made arrangement to sell his farm, took care of his family, and went off in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn’t find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn’t find any. By the time he got to Spain, he was emotionally, physically, and financially depleted. He was so disheartened that he committed suicide by throwing himself into the Barcelona River. 


Back home, the person had bought his farm was watering the camels at the stream that ran through the property. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought the stone would look good in his living room. He picked up the stone and put it on his mantle piece. That afternoon, the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, “Is John back?” The new owner said, “No, why do you ask?” The wise man said, “Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see one.” The man said, “No, that’s just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come I’ll show you. There are many more.” They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres of diamonds.

*Adapted from Russell Cornwell, Acres of Diamonds. Cornwell founded temple University based on this lecture.*

source: You can win, By Shiv Khere