Topic : Help
Paderewski
When Jan Paderewski was to leave his native Poland to play his first recital in London, he asked an influential compatriot to give him a letter of introduction to a leading figure in Britain’s musical world, who might be of assistance should anything go amiss. The letter was handed to him in a sealed envelope. He hoped that everything would proceed smoothly and he would not have to use it. He did not; his debut was a success and no snags developed.
Some years later, while going through his papers, he came upon the letter and opened it. It read: “This will introduce Jan Paderewski, who plays the piano, for which he demonstrates no conspicuous talent.”
General Sherman
The soldier’s first article of faith is summed up nowhere more eloquently than in an 1865 letter from William Tecumseh Sherman to U. S. Grant: “I knew wherever I was that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come—if alive.”
People Need People
Laurie was about three when one night she requested my aid in getting undressed. I was downstairs and she was upstairs, and ... well. “You know how to undress yourself,” I reminded. “Yes,” she explained, ‘but sometimes people need people anyway, even if they do know how to do things by themselves.”
