Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell is a powerful book that has made it a #1 bestseller!

The central idea of the work is that one need not look elsewhere for opportunity, achievement, or fortune — the resources to achieve all good things are present in your own community.

Acres of Diamonds began life, according to Russell Conwell, as he was riding in 1870 in a camel caravan along the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia when he heard a guide weave tales to entertain his American tourists.

Conwell, then only 27, was deeply impressed by a legend about a prosperous Persian farmer, Ali Hafed. Lured by the stories of a Buddhist priest, Ali deserted his fruitful lands to search for immense wealth in mythical diamond fields.

Far and wide Ali Hafed roamed, footsore and weary. Youth and wealth disappeared, and he died far from home, an old and disillusioned pauper. Not long afterward, the guide related, acres of fabulous diamonds were found on Ali Hafed’s own land.

To the other tourists, this was just another alluring story, but in Conwell’s mind a great truth had been sown. To him it said:

“Your diamonds are not in far-away mountains or in distant seas; they are in your own back yard if you will but dig for them.”

From this beginning this experience by Conwell became a speech that he delivered over 6,000 times around the world; it was eventually published in book form as delivered, as Acres of Diamonds.

Download Acres of Diamonds as an ebook.

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Russell Conwell served as a Captain, at the age of 20, in the Union Army during the American Civil War becoming a lawyer following the war. He travelled widely around the world. Before founding Temple University he was journalist, writer,and Baptist minister.

Russell Conwell was an outstanding orator and it was his lecture Acres of Diamonds was delivered across the Unted States in more than 6,000 lectures. This lecture was published and remains a best seller.

Russell Conwell was born on February 15, 1843 in South Worthington, Massachusetts. He died December 6, 1925 and was buried in Founder’s Garden at Temple University.

Temple University has an excellent biography of Russell Conwell.

You can download the Acres of Diamonds ebook.

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