“Nothing comes to us on a platter in this world. One has to labour and earn anything he needs, be it knowledge, or money or fame.”

Success demands singleness of purpose. The only way to succeed in anything is to give it everything. The road to accomplishment, it is said, beckons only those who can preserve and persist.

It would be germane to narrate some interesting incidents that happened in the life of some great personalities like Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas Alva Edison, Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi, in the order.

As a soldier, Napoleon used to spend the available leisure time by doing some useful things like reading, writing, planning and so on, unlike his colleagues, who spent their time drinking, playing, etc. During one such time, a lady vendor, who happened to come that way, asked Napoleon: “Why don’t you, being so young, go and enjoy with others?” Napoleon preferred to keep quiet than to answer her. Ten years later, he became the emperor of France. He distinctly remembered the lady and the question. He sent word for her to visit his palace. When she arrived, Napoleon politely told her that he had the answer for the question she voiced 10 years ago. He continued, “When the soldiers were playing and drinking, I worked hard. I’m the emperor and they still remain as soldiers.”

Thomas Alva Edison, who invented the electric bulb, worked for nearly 18 hours a day. While doing research work, he noticed to his astonishment and dismay that many filaments did not burn. At last one burnt. But, it must be noticed that he didn’t give up his attempt till he succeeded in the invention of electric bulb. To quote Edison: “I never did anything doing by accident, nor did any of my invention come by accident, they came by work.”

Abraham Lincoln, who was born into a poor woodcutter’s family, faced a lot of difficulties and hardships in his life, but worked hard and surmounted them with his tremendous willpower and rose to the highest position in the United States of America- President.

Mahatma Gandhi relentlessly worked for India’s freedom. In the process, he sacrificed a lot of his personal comforts and enjoyments. A gentleman once asked Mahatma Gandhi,

“Why don’t you take a little time off to visit a waterfall nearby?”
Gandhi, in turn, asked him “How is the waterfall formed?”
“Due to rain,” the man answered.

“When we are able to see the rain, there is no need for us to see the waterfall,” Gandhi equipped.
Industriousness, selflessness, and dedicated efforts made Gandhi a Mahatma.

Nothing comes to us on a platter in this world. One has to labour and earn anything he needs, be it knowledge, or money or fame. As John Ruskin had correctly put it: “If you want knowledge, you must toil for it. If food, you must toil for it and if pleasure, you must toil for it, as toil is a law.”

“Success demands singleness of purpose. The only way to succeed in anything is to give it everything. The road to accomplishment, it is said, beckons only those who can persevere and persist.”

By Swati Dhingra, askMamu.com