Off topic: Thought for the day!!! Thread poster: Vicky Papaprodromou
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Καλημέρα σε όλους. Μόλις μου έστειλε κάποιος φίλος την ιστορία που ακολουθεί και είναι πραγματική. Νομίζω πως μας ενδιαφέρει όλους: Subject: Thought for the day A lady in a simple dress and her husband, dressed in a simple suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked without an appointment into the Harvard University President's office. The secr... See more Καλημέρα σε όλους. Μόλις μου έστειλε κάποιος φίλος την ιστορία που ακολουθεί και είναι πραγματική. Νομίζω πως μας ενδιαφέρει όλους: Subject: Thought for the day A lady in a simple dress and her husband, dressed in a simple suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked without an appointment into the Harvard University President's office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such poor people had no business at Harvard & probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge. We'd like to see the president, the man said softly. He'll be busy all day, the secretary snapped. We'll wait, the lady replied. For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally go away. They didn't go, and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, "Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave," she said to him! He sighed in exasperation and nodded. The president went out toward the couple. The lady told him, "We had a son who studied here in Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to build a memorial to him, somewhere on campus. The president wasn't touched. He was shocked. "Madam," he said, gruffly,"we can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery." "Oh, no," the lady explained quickly. "We don't want to build a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard." The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at them, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard." For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it cost to start a university? Why don't we just start our own? "Her husband nodded. The president's face fell down in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about. You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them. A TRUE STORY By Malcolm Forbes
[Edited at 2005-04-20 07:37]
[Edited at 2005-04-20 07:39] ▲ Collapse | | |
Elena Petelos United Kingdom Local time: 00:55 English to Greek + ... Lovely thought, but not a true story. :-) | Apr 20, 2005 |
According to Stanford University, this eRumor is not true. Leland Stanford was once governor of California and in 1876, he bought the first of what would become more than 8,000 acres of land on the San Francisco peninsula. Leland and Jane Stanford had one son, Leland, Jr., but he never attended Harvard. He died at the age of 15 on a family trip to Italy, but from typhoid fever, not from an accident. Within a few hours of his son's death, Stanford said to his wife, "The children of California... See more According to Stanford University, this eRumor is not true. Leland Stanford was once governor of California and in 1876, he bought the first of what would become more than 8,000 acres of land on the San Francisco peninsula. Leland and Jane Stanford had one son, Leland, Jr., but he never attended Harvard. He died at the age of 15 on a family trip to Italy, but from typhoid fever, not from an accident. Within a few hours of his son's death, Stanford said to his wife, "The children of California shall be our children." That was the beginning of Stanford University, according to the official account. http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/stanford.htm http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000793 Possibly, appearances can be deceptive, only that was not the case....in this case. http://www.stanford.edu/home/stanford/history/begin.html#Birth
[Edited at 2005-04-20 13:32] ▲ Collapse | | |
Vicky Papaprodromou Greece Local time: 02:55 Member (2004) English to Greek + ... TOPIC STARTER Sometimes thoughts can make stories come true... | Apr 20, 2005 |
Και να που μια eRumor στάθηκε αφορμή να μάθουμε την πραγματική ιστορία. Πάντως κι η αλήθεια κι ο "μύθος" στην περίπτωση αυτή κρύβουν "lovely thoughts". Mακάρι τα αποτελέσματα των σκέψεων να ήταν πάντα τόσο εποικοδομητικά όσο στην περίπτωση των Stanford!!!:-) | |
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I agree with Elena | Apr 25, 2005 |
elena petelos wrote: According to Stanford University, this eRumor is not true. Leland Stanford was once governor of California and in 1876, he bought the first of what would become more than 8,000 acres of land on the San Francisco peninsula. Leland and Jane Stanford had one son, Leland, Jr., but he never attended Harvard. He died at the age of 15 on a family trip to Italy, but from typhoid fever, not from an accident. Within a few hours of his son's death, Stanford said to his wife, "The children of California shall be our children." That was the beginning of Stanford University, according to the official account. http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/stanford.htm http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000793 Possibly, appearances can be deceptive, only that was not the case....in this case. http://www.stanford.edu/home/stanford/history/begin.html#Birth[Edited at 2005-04-20 13:32] According to Stanford handbook the story is as Elena quotes it. The Stanfords approached, on their return from Europe, several universities at the east coast, Harvard among them, and discussed their plans for a college in California. | | |