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ACRES OF DIAMONDS |
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There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he |
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was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to him |
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and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The |
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wise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own |
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city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own |
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country." And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappy |
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and he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontent |
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because he was unhappy. |
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The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and |
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went in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked all |
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through Europe and couldn't find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally, |
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physically and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the |
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Barcelona River and committed suicide. |
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Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream |
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that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and |
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made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantle piece. He |
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picked up the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man came and |
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saw the stone sparkling. He asked, "Is Hafiz back?" The new owner said, "No, why do |
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you ask?" The wise man said, "Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see |
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one." The man said, no, that's just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I'll show |
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you. There are many more." They went and picked some samples and sent them for |
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analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed |
covered with acres and acres of diamonds.
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What is the moral of this story? |
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There are five morals: |
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1. When our attitude is right, we realize that we are all walking on acres and acres of |
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diamonds. |
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Attributed to Dr Russel Conwell . |
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to do is recognize it. |
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2. The grass on the other side always looks greener. |
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3. While we are dyeing the grass on the other side, there are others who are dyeing the |
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grass on our side. They would be happy to trade places with us. |
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4. When people don't know how to recognize opportunity, they complain of noise when it |
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knocks. |
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5. The same opportunity never knocks twice. The next one may be better or worse, but it |
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is never the same one. |