Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Book Reports Russel ConwellAcres of Diamonds Russel ConwellAcres of Diamonds According to Russell Conwell's speech "Acres of Diamonds," wealth is accessible to you no matter who or where you are. The term acres of diamonds doesn't literally refer to acres of diamonds, but is a metaphor used to express the belief that opportunities are endless if you just use your resources. You should also be reasonably ambitious to attain your goals. A man's ambition to attain wealth helps to make him a good man. Opportunities surround us in our everyday lives. It's just a matter of being honest, trustworthy, and hard working. Conwell says "Now then, I say again that the opportunity to get rich, to attain unto great wealth, is here in Philadelphia now, within the reach of almost every man and woman who hears me speak tonight, and I mean just what I say." Conwell feels that if he shares his point of view and experiences, everyone has the opportunity to attain unto great wealth. During Conwell's speech, he shares many stories to try to prove his position. An old guide once told Conwell the story of a Persian man by the name of Ali Hafed, whose story he saves for his particular friends. An old priest tells Hafed the value of a diamond and that diamonds can be found in the river that runs through white sand between two high mountains. The Persian sells his farm, leaves his family in the care of a neighbor, and travels the world in search of the diamonds. In the end, Hafed faces death in a strange land all in search of the diamonds that had been in his own back yard the entire time. The man who bought Hafeds farm was the one who profited from them in the end. The moral of this story is that anyone has the opportunity to become wealthy if they use their resources. Conwell then retold the story he told to the guide, a similar story of a man from California who had a love for gold. He heard that there had been gold found in the South and to the South he went. Like Hafed, this man sold his ranch and the man who bought that ranch made about one hundred twenty dollars in gold every fifteen minutes, sleeping or awake. Once again, anyone has the opportunity to become wealthy if they just use their resources. Conwell told the story of a young man in his theological school who tried to tell him that the holy bible itself states that money is the "root of all evil." The bible did in fact state that money was the root of all evil. What the young man had neglected to read was that the bible said "the love of money is the root of all evil." Conwell further corrected him by adding that the man who loves and worships the dollar instead of thinking of the purposes for which it ought to be used is the root of all evil. In the two previously mentioned stories, the mens love for money was what compelled them to sell their posessions and go in search for their fortunes. These men wanted the money for themselves, not for the good of the world, and in the end, faced their demise. Despite Conwells experiences, his audience repeatedly tried to prove him wrong and noted how awful it was that a Christian minister prefered to advise people to get rich rather than to preach the gospel. But Conwell believed that to make money honestly was to preach the gospel and to be poor was wrong. What the people did not understand was that a wealthy person can also be a pious person. Conwell tells the people that they should have money and it is their Christian and godly duty to do so. To be pious is to be carful of the duties owed by created beings to God; devout, godly, religious¹. The people associated wealth with being dishonest, dishonerable, mean, and contemptible. He told them that to think that to be pious you must be poor and awfully dirty is an terrible misconception. He maked the distinction between money and honesty by saying that one who associates having money with being dishonest, dishonorable, mean, and contemptible is the one who has no money because the foundation of his faith is false. The men who get rich may be the most honest men you'll find in the community. Ninety-eight percent of America's rich men are rich because they are honest, and because they are honest they are trusted with the money. Associating money with dishonesty is from the example set by the rare cases of men who got their money dishonestly. Although he believes it is wrong to be poor, he agrees that we should symapathize with God's poor, but it is only a very small number who should be sympathized with. He belives that "to sympathize with a man whom God has punished for his sins, thus to help him when God would still continue a just punishment, is to do wrong". However, "while we should sympathize with God's poor - that is, those who cannot help themselves - let us remember that there is not a poor person in the United States who was not made poor by his own shortcomings, or by the shortcomings of someone else." As Conwell addresses the issue - is the opportunity to get rich here in Philadelphia, an older gentleman says "I kept a store here for twenty years, and never made over a thousand dollars in the whole twenty years." If that store owner had only asked the people what they needed, he could have supplied them with their needs and had a profit for himself. Like wise, if young Conwell would have only listened to his fathers customers needs, he could have supplied them with jackknives they needed and helped his father gain more profit. The opportunities for more profit were presented, but the resources were not put to use. According to Russell Conwells speech, "Acres of Diamonds", the opportunity to become weathy is always present. Conwell believed that to make money honestly was to preach the gospel and to be poor was wrong. Acres of diamonds is the perfect metaphor for the endless oppotunities within you reach if you are wise and work with the resources you are given. No matter who you or where you are, you have the ability to attain great weath. Bibliography: none Word Count: 1076
Copyright © 2005 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved.