Offer Solutions to Current Problems Lord North, former Prime Minister of England, used to sleep during the parliamentary harangues of his adversaries. For his benefit, Sir Grey Copper would note down anything important the speaker had said. During a debate on shipbuilding, a tedious speaker...
Big Speech, Small Impact One hot, sweltering night, Mark Twain went to a church in Hartford to hear the annual report of Mr. Hawley. He was the city missionary who funded those who needed help but didn’t want to ask for it. Hawley began...
The Poor Have Their Self-respect One day, the richest woman in town went to visit a very needy old woman living in a tenement. When the wealthy woman arrived, she noticed that there was no food in the dingy kitchen; there was no money for...
Impressions Last A bus conductor in Bangalore had an argument with a lady passenger and she was incredibly irritated. She let loose with a string of unrepeatable words. Everybody around them was ashamed. When her stop arrived and she got ready to disembark, the...
The Cheapest is Not Always the Best A man was wondering at the watches marked “selling below cost price” in a shop window. He entered the shop and asked the assistant, “If you are selling these below cost, where does your profit come from?”...
A Solution to Marital Problems There was a holy man, believed to have the miraculous power to solve all kinds of problems. He was approached by a woman with a catalogue of complaints against her husband. Apparently, her every effort to reform him had proved...
As You Give, So You Receive The poor beggar lived in abysmal poverty. He wore ragged clothes and often went hungry. Some generous souls would give him grains of rice or copper coins, but nothing more. One day, he learnt that the King himself...
A Letter to God A little boy had heard that God gives us whatever we ask for. Keeping this in mind, when the boy’s family was in great distress, he wrote a letter simply addressed “To God.” He asked God to send him Rs....
Miser’s Logic A rich farmer called on the doctor to attend to his sick wife. The farmer was well known for being tight-fisted. Knowing full well his nature, the doctor demanded the fees in advance. But the farmer assured the doctor, “Whether you cure my...
Don’t Expect Gratitude Samuel Liebowitz has had a long career of snatching killers from the electric chair. He is, however, no admirer of the lot. He considers them unlovable and born ingrates. As an instance, he notes that not one of the 78 men whom...
