With a dry grin on his face, Ford nonchalantly replied, “I do not know how just many, but I have heard that it was a lot more than ever went back.”

Of course this brought laughter in the whole room. Nobody had expected Ford to give such an answer.

As the line of interrogation continued for another hour or so, Ford finally ran out of patience and rebuked, “If I really want to answer that foolish question you’ve just asked, or any of the other questions you’ve been asking me, , let me remind you that I have a row of electronic push buttons on my desk, and by posting the right button, I can summon to my aid men who can answer any question I desire to ask concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts. Now, will you kindly tell me, why should I clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I require?”.

At that point, everyone in the courtroom realized it was the answer of an educated man. Though Ford was someone whose “formal education” didn’t even reach 6th grade, he was definitely the wisest among them.

(Excerpt from “Think and Grow Rich”)

On the other hand, the hedgehog, being a dowdier creature, looked like a genetic mix-up between a porcupine and a small armadillo. Everyday, he would just waddle along, going about his simple day, searching for food and
taking care of his home.

Finally, the time had arrived. As the fox waited in cunning silence at the juncture in the trail, the hedgehog
had unknowingly walk right into the path of the fox.

“Aha, I’ve got you now!” thought the fox. With that, he leaped out, bounding across the ground, lightning fast. Although slow to respond, the little hedgehog, sensing danger, looked up and thought to himself, “Here we go again. Will he ever learn?” Rolling up into a perfect little ball, the hedgehog instantly became a sphere of sharp spikes, pointing outward in all directions. When the fox saw this, it was too late. Badly injured, the fox quickly retreated back to the forest.

Back in the forest, the fox was demoralized yet determined to launch an attack on the hedgehog again. He began to calculate a new line of attack. Each day, some version of this battle between the hedgehog and the fox would take place, and despite the greater cunning of the fox, the hedgehog was always the winner.

Excerpt taken from philosopher Isaiah Berlin’s famous essay “The Hedgehog and the Fox”

Jean-Dominique was the editor of the French ELLE magazine, living a fast-paced life in the world of fashion when a massive stroke struck him in 1995 and left him paralyzed. He had become a victim of an extremely rare disease known as “Locked-in Syndrome”. While Jean-Dominique’s mind was fully functioning, the blinking of his left eye was his only means of communication. Yet he refused to give in to the circumstances and decided to fight back. Here’s what he did:

1. Accept the situation. Easier said than done, Jean-Dominique realized that lamenting on the situation was not going to change things for the better. As such, he decided he was going to face the challenge courageously.

2. Focus on what he still had and what he could do. Since whatever you tend to focus on usually becomes a reality, Jean-Dominique chose to focus on what he could still do. He could still “write” a book.

3. Setting goals and developing plans to achieve them.

4. Taking action. In order to achieve his outcome, Jean-Domnique knew he had to be more persistent than ever. Nothing could substitute hard work.

What is the challenge you are currently facing in your life? Are you prepared to learn something from it or are you merely a victim of it? What are your plans to overcome this challenge? Are you prepared to take the necessary action to get what you want?

He asked his teacher: “Why most people’s minds are restless, and only a few possess a calm mind? What can one do to still the mind?”

The teacher looked at the disciple, smiled and said, “I will tell you a story. An elephant was standing and picking leaves from a tree. A small fly came, flying and buzzing near his ear. The elephant waved it away with his long ears. Then the fly came again, and the elephant waved it away once more”.

This was repeated several times. Then the elephant asked the fly, “Why are you so restless and noisy? Why can’t you stay for a while in one place?”

The fly answered, “I am attracted to whatever I see, hear or smell. My five senses pull me constantly in all directions and I cannot resist them. What is your secret? How can you stay so calm and still?”

The elephant stopped eating and said, “My five senses do not rule my attention. Whatever I do, I get immersed in it. Now that I am eating, I am completely immersed in eating. In this way I can enjoy my food and chew it better. I rule and control my attention, and not the other way around.”

Upon hearing these words, the disciple’s eyes opened wide and a smile appeared on his face. He looked at his teacher and said, “I understand! If my five senses are in control of my mind and attention, then my mind is in constant unrest. If I am in charge of my five senses and attention, then my mind becomes calm”.

“Yes, that’s right”, answered the teacher, ” The mind is restless and goes wherever the attention is. Control your attention, and you control your mind”.

From unknown source

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest – in perfect peace.

The king chose the second picture.

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

From unknown source

According to Jack, his boss had instructed him to report the incident to his superior. As he recalled, “It was the longest drive and the longest night.” “I learned a lot from that experience. I went down to see him and told him what had happened.”

Yet, to Jack’s surprise, all his boss did was to give him words of encouragement. “He was a Ph.D. chemical engineer, professorial sort of guy, and all he was inquisitive about was what went wrong, and did I understand it, and what could I do about it, and could I design the commercial plant now that I’d blown up the pilot plant.” he said.

Thus, this was to mark the turning point in his life. Through this incident, Jack had learned a valuable lesson: Never ever to go after anybody when they are down. There will come a day when you are going to land yourself in a difficult situation too.

What separates successful people from failures are that successful people are often willing to try, fail and learn from their mistakes. They recognize that this process of falling and learning is the fastest manner to achieve huge success in life.