Acres of Diamonds | The Probabilist . com

Acres of Diamonds January 29, 2007

Posted by The Probabilist in : [Books], Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, Commodities, Vision, Wealth, Assets, History , trackback

Dr. Russell Conwell’s Acres of Diamonds is actually a lecture that he is recorded to have held over 6,000 times. Summing up at 40 pages, this book can also be found as a free e-book at various personal development internet sources.

It starts off with several stories where the main character is ignited with a spark of trying their luck to find wealthy lands filled with resources like gold, diamonds, oil or silver. In every single case, no matter from where this person starts out or where he ends up seeking treasures, he fails miserably. However, the successor who takes over the farm or homestead of the person that sold it all in order to leave and strike it rich, finds loads of the very same form of riches in that particular area of land that was left behind. The moral of these stories is that one should first take a look at what one has, because the acres of diamonds might be there right under our noses.

Continuing on, Conwell expresses his thoughts and responses to the common questions, objections and misconceptions about wealth. Among them he points out that:

98 % of rich people are honest and you should be too.

You should own your own home and pay for it yourself.

Money empowers everything it can be used for.

Poor people are so of their own making, so don’t sympathize.

There’s nothing noble or righteous about being one of Lord’s poor.

The love for money, as stated in the Bible, is the root of all evil.

Earned money is the manifestation of provided value.

It is your duty to get paid for the need you fill and the value you provide.

It doesn’t always take money to make more money.

Don’t let a rich kid get spoiled by wealth, or they’ll never be rich.

Research and invest in human needs and the money will follow.

While every word in the book is that of wisdom, I discovered something of a minor flaw in the introduced stories. Whenever a person went to seek a fortune and left behind a piece of land that turned out to be filled with riches, the successor that discovered the riches actually did the very same thing! They didn’t stay where they were, they were in the lookout for something better as well. They just happened to strike it rich just as the main characters envisioned for themselves. I don’t believe in hiding facts and exploiting opportunities by scheming, but there were nothing of the sorts involved in these stories. Nevertheless, I say wealth can be created anywhere, but there’s a great deal of experience to be gained if one travels the world a bit as well. AoD is a good read, although I suggest you try find this copy someplace for free.