On the first day, as President Abraham Lincoln entered to
give his inaugural address, just in the middle, one man stood up. He was a rich
aristocrat. He said, آ“Mr. Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used
to make shoes for my family.آ” And the whole Senate laughed; they thought they
had made a fool of Abraham Lincoln.
But Lincoln --- and that type of people are made of a totally
different mettle. Lincoln looked at the man and said, آ“Sir I know that my
father used to make shoes in your house for your family, and there will be many
others hereآ…. Because the way he made shoes; nobody else can. He was a
creator. His shoes were not just shoes; he poured his whole soul in it. I want
to ask you, have you any complaint? Because I know how to make shoes myself. If
you have any complaint I can make another pair of shoes. But as far as I know,
nobody has ever complained about my fatherآ’s shoes. He was a genius, a great
creator and I am proud of my fatherآ”.
The whole Senate was struck dumb. They could not understand
what kind of man Abraham Lincoln was. He was proud because his father did the
job so well that not even a single complaint had ever been heard.
Remember:
آ“No one can hurt you without your consent.آ”
آ“It is not what happens to us that hurts us. It is our
response that hurts us.آ”
