História verdadeira > Generosidade

Amazing and true story (recebi de minha amiga Samyra Crespo)

This is a true story that had happened in 1892 at Stanford
University. Its moral is still relevant today.

A young, 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. He
was an orphan, and not know¬ing 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 $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. Paderewski performed at Stanford. But
unfortunately, they had not managed to sell enough tickets. The
total col¬lection 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 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
hap¬pen 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 over 1.5 mil¬lion 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 person¬ally 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 in the US. I was one of them.”