Lesson from Acres of Diamonds

This story was told by Mr. Conwell more than 6,000 times between the years of 1877 and 1925.

Upon publication, it became an immediate bestseller and a classic in inspirational literature.

The story is about a Persian farmer named Ali Hafed, who sold his farm and left his family to travel the world in search of wealth. He desired diamonds and looked everywhere, but could never find what he lusted for. He ended his own life, alone, destitute, a homeless pauper. His hopeless search for riches simply consumed him.

The man who had bought Ali Hafed’s farm, however, worked hard, grateful beyond belief for every inch of dirt he now owned. He had his family around him, plenty of food, and total contentment.

One day, he made an amazing discovery. The backyard that Ali Hafed had deserted contained a diamond mine, quite literally acres of diamonds.
Mr. Conwell used this simple story to illustrate a point and to teach us all a valuable lesson. Abundance begins inside each of us and opportunities await us, right where we are, sometimes right in our own backyard.

We have to lavish attention, loving care, labor, blood, sweat and tears on our dreams; invest our passion to see those dreams come to pass.

“What we are waiting for — peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance — it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart,” - Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance.