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View Full Version : A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband..TRUE STORY



Abdul-Raouf
08-13-2007, 04:19 AM
A TRUE STORY
> >
> > A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband,
> > dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off
> > the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an
> > appointment into the Harvard University President's
> > outer
> > office.
> >
> > The secretary could tell in a moment that such
> > backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard
> > & amp; 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 become discouraged and go
> > away.
> >
> > They didn't, and the secretary grew frustrated and
> > finally decided to disturb the president, even
> > though it was a chore she always regretted.
> >
> > "Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll
> > leave," she said to him!
> >
> > He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his
> > importance obviously didn't have the time to spend
> > with them, and he detested gingham dresses and
> > homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.
> >
> > The president, stern faced and with dignity,
> > strutted toward the couple.
> >
> > The lady told him, "We had a son who attended
> > 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 erect 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 erect a statue. We thought we would like to give
> > a building to Harvard."
> >
> > The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the
> > gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A
> > building! Do you have any earthly 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 wilted 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
> >
> > "People will forget what you said. People will
> > forget what you did."
> > "But people will never forget how you made them
> > feel".
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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snakelegs
08-13-2007, 04:31 AM
great story!
we are much too fast to judge others by looking at the surface instead of what is inside. and we all suffer from many different prejudices that get between us and seeing others for who they are.
personally, i have little formal education or money (but enough to suit me) and i don't pay a whole lot of attention to clothes, because i don't consider them to be important. as i result, i am inevitably judged to be a moron.
thanks.
Reply

Woodrow
08-13-2007, 04:37 AM
Similar events have happened in nearly every generation. Yet, somehow we never learn. How sad it is we judge our fellow humans by what we see as material accomplishments.
Reply

Tania
08-13-2007, 05:45 AM
From a tragedy appeared a faimous university. The clothes are making the people, thats the sad true. :(
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syilla
08-13-2007, 06:13 AM
Lol MashaAllah...great story.

Can you verify the authentic of this cool story.
Reply

AmarFaisal
08-13-2007, 06:48 AM
yes...so inspiring...I just wish we all could, esp the younger generation, could learn how little..... clothes mean in you after life.
Reply

barney
08-13-2007, 09:47 AM
Lovely story. Thanks for sharing.
Reply

chaste
08-13-2007, 12:27 PM
that was really a touching story. it just shows how ppl have little respect for one another
Reply

Mawaddah
08-13-2007, 01:17 PM
Wow that was a really touching story. It happens all too often that we judge the book by it's cover!
Reply

Grace Seeker
08-13-2007, 03:15 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by syilla
Lol MashaAllah...great story.

Can you verify the authentic of this cool story.

Stanford was founded by railroad magnate and California Governor Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane Stanford. It is named in honor of their only child, Leland Stanford, Jr., who died of typhoid just before his 16th birthday.

The story that a lady in "faded gingham" and a man in a "homespun threadbare suit" went to visit the president of Harvard about making a donation, were rebuffed, and then founded Stanford is untrue. (source Wikipedia) For the actual history of Stanford University one can check out that provided by the University itself: Stanford University History.

Though the story appears to be apocryphal, that doesn't make it any less important for us to realize our need not to judge people by outward appearances, nor by what they can do for us. This story is still a good reminder of the truth that we should show love and compassion to all men and women and seek to honor others above ourselves.
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thirdwatch512
08-13-2007, 07:11 PM
Great story! and I think EVERYONE here could learn a lesson from it!

We are all too quick to judge.. If someone is gay, oh! We hate you now! If someone is black.. Oh! you're a criminal now! If someone is Jew.. Oh! You're zionist now.

We all judge people, and we should not. We should leave that to G-d! I think you muslims can agree with me on that!!

Of course all of us judge.. But G-d willing, stories like this will help us reconsider what we say in the future :)
Reply

Gator
08-13-2007, 07:30 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by syilla
Lol MashaAllah...great story.

Can you verify the authentic of this cool story.
Just to follow up on Grace Seeker's comment.

The story is very nice and a good lesson, but of course not true.

From Stanford's site -

The family was in Italy in 1884 when Leland contracted typhoid fever. He was thought to be recovering, but on March 13 at the Hotel Bristol in Florence, Leland's bright and promising young life came to an end, two months before his 16th birthday.

Stanford, who had remained at Leland's bedside continuously, fell into a troubled sleep the morning the boy died. When he awakened he turned to his wife and said,

"The children of California shall be our children."

These words were the real beginning of Stanford University.
The Founding Grant

The Stanfords returned to America in May and, before proceeding to Palo Alto, visited Cornell, Yale, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They talked with President Eliot of Harvard about three ideas: a university at Palo Alto, a large institution in San Francisco combining a lecture hall and a museum, and a technical school. Asked which of these seemed most desirable, Eliot answered, a university. Mrs. Stanford inquired how much the endowment should be, in addition to land and buildings, and he replied, not less than $5 million. A silence followed. Finally, Mr. Stanford said with a smile, "Well, Jane, we could manage that, couldn't we?" and a grave Mrs. Stanford nodded her assent.
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snakelegs
08-13-2007, 10:41 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by Grace Seeker

Though the story appears to be apocryphal, that doesn't make it any less important for us to realize our need not to judge people by outward appearances, nor by what they can do for us. This story is still a good reminder of the truth that we should show love and compassion to all men and women and seek to honor others above ourselves.
you're right, from this standpoint, it doesn't really matter if the actual story wasn't true - it contained truth.
Reply

jannah1
08-14-2007, 02:38 AM
format_quote Originally Posted by Mawaddah
Wow that was a really touching story. It happens all too often that we judge the book by it's cover!

:) :thumbs_up you just take that out of my mouth:D
Reply

rozeena
08-14-2007, 03:19 PM
that was a beautifull story bro thanks 4 sharin
Reply

IbnAbdulHakim
08-14-2007, 03:22 PM
rich couple :uuh:
Reply

Al-Zaara
08-14-2007, 03:22 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by snakelegs
you're right, from this standpoint, it doesn't really matter if the actual story wasn't true - it contained truth.
True say!


I loved the last quote in the end, it made me wake up a long time ago when I realized the great truth in it.

MashaAllah, awesome story.
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