by Napoleon Hill
Available in 122 free installments
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As a young man of twenty-five, Benedum courteously gave his seat on a train to an elderly stranger. To Benedum it was the obvious thing to do. And the elderly stranger turned out to be John Worthington, General Superintendent of the South Perm Oil Company. In the conversation that followed, Worthington offered Mike Benedum a job. Benedum accepted and eventually became "the discoverer of more oil than any other single individual who ever lived."
Some people say you can judge a man by the philosophy by which he lives. Mike Benedum's philosophy about money went something like this: "I'm just a trustee for it and will be held accountable for the good I can accomplish with it, both in the
community as a whole and in behalf of opportunities for people coming up ? even as I was given an opportunity, back when."
Like so many others with a Magnificent Obsession, Benedum lived to a ripe old age. On his eighty-fifth birthday, he said: "I have been asked how I keep going at my age. My formula is to keep busy so that the years go by unnoticed. To despise nothing except selfishness, meanness, and corruption. To fear nothing except cowardice, disloyalty, and indifference. To covet nothing that is my neighbor's except his kindness of heart and his gentleness of spirit. To think many, many times of my friends and, if possible, seldom of my enemies. As I see it, age is not a question of years. It is a state of mind. You are as young as your faith, and today I think I have more faith in my fellow man, in my country, and in my God than I have ever had."
You live longer with a Magnificent Obsession. Of course, it's the old story: the man who has something to live for lives longer. We realized this when we became well acquainted with men like the Honorable Herbert Hoover and General Robert E. Wood, who were doing so much for American youth when they shared their time and money with the Boys Clubs of America. And they were long-lived because of their Magnificent Obsessions. They devoted their thinking and time to projects that benefited others and, because their lives were the good lives of men with Magnificent Obsessions, they experienced the pleasure and therapeutic value of the esteem and love of their fellow men.
Of course, you may not have the material wealth of an Andrew Carnegie or a Michael L. Benedum but that does not deprive you of building your own Magnificent Obsession. At least, it didn't Irving Rudolph.
They're all in jail but my brother and me! Irving devoted his life to helping boys in blighted neighborhoods. This work was in
gratitude for having been saved by a new Boys Club in the rough neighborhood in which he was raised.
How did Irving Rudolph get started in Boys Club work?
He lived in a poor neighborhood ? North Avenue and Halsted Street in Chicago. He traveled with a tough crowd. There was plenty of trouble. Plenty of things for boys to get into that they shouldn't. And not much to occupy their time to keep them out of trouble. One day a Boys Club was started in an abandoned church in the neighborhood.
"My brother and I were the only two fellows in our gang who visited the Club," Irving explained. "They're all in jail but my brother and me. If it hadn't been for the Lincoln Unit Boys Club, we'd be there, too."
Irving was grateful for what the Boys Club did for him and his brother. And he devoted his life to helping boys in blighted neighborhoods. Through his enthusiasm and zeal, large donations were received to support the Chicago Boys Clubs. Through him, men and women of influence were attracted to this cause.
"I feel that my work is only a token payment of my gratitude to a Higher Power for bringing me and my brother under this influence," Irving explained. Then he added, "Just visit a Boys Club. See for yourself the good work that is being done. You will then feel a part of what I feel for the kids who have the need I had."
Now there are thousands of men and women who are fulfilling their Magnificent Obsessions in sacrificing time and money to help the Boy Scouts of America. Your life has benefited from their Magnificent Obsessions if...
If you do your best to try never to violate your honor by lying or
cheating and always try to fulfill the responsibility with which
you are entrusted...
If you keep clean in thought and body ? if you exemplify clean
habits, clean speech, clean sport ? if you associate with a clean
crowd...
If you stand up for the rights of others against the undesirable influence and coaxing of friends and threats of enemies ? if defeat inspires you to try to succeed ? if you have the courage to face danger in spite of fear...
