Essay on Russel Conwell Acres of Diamonds

“An obsession with possessions enslaves us to the demon of worry. Jesus invites us to change our priorities, focus on the kingdom, and share with the needy” (Kraybill, 2011, p.101). A man’s wealth will be measured by the love, kindness and empathy he has for the poor and the hungry in Gods kingdom. For this matter Jesus wants the wealthy to humble themselves and receive their blessing by offering opportunities to the poor instead of being greedy and celebrating their own wealth.

Money brings the inequality of possessions, also called “the haves and the have not’s.” We may all be equal in the eyes of God, but here on earth some eyes grow green with envy. Children come home from daycare complaining that Little Jimmy’s truck was bigger than his, husbands and fathers are forever eying the Jones; new corvette, and entire wars have erupted over the “you have it and I’m gonna get it” mentality. Inequality of possessions is not bad though many passages in the Bible teach that even in heaven there are different degrees of rewards. Even God’s spiritual gifts are not given equally to each of us, but this does not mean He loves one person more than the other. It is what we do with

In the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker”, the author shows greed by the main character selling his soul for a large treasure, being a cheap and greedy moneylender, and the lack of the main character and his wife sharing the wealth between each other in order to show that people will do anything for money and become rich.

One of the emotional essentials of life is to be loved, and there are quite a few cases where material things can hinder receiving this much-needed love, the greatest culprit of all being money. D. H. Lawrence’s short story “The Rocking Horse Winner” tells of a boy, Paul, who desires love and affection from his mother, Hester, but she is so wrapped up in her concerns with money that she does not display any of this needed affection toward her son or any of her children. She has grown unloving and bitter due to her husband’s inability to meet her expectations, and she tells Paul his father is unlucky. Full of curiosity, Paul asks his mother what luck is, and she tells him, “‘It’s what causes you to have money. If you’re lucky you have money. That’s why it’s better to be born lucky than rich. If you’re rich, you may lose your money. But if you’re lucky, you will always get more money” (Lawrence, 2). Paul is quite intuitive and interprets that the only way he can finally obtain love from his mother is if he is lucky, much unlike his father. He proudly shares with his mother that he is lucky, but when she does not take his word seriously, he falls into a blinded rage as he madly rides his rocking horse, hoping it will take him to where the luck is, “‘Now take me to where there is luck!’” (3). By riding his rocking-horse, he knows which horse will win the derby. The association of love with money brings about the idea of a love for money, or greed, which is one of the seven

Conwell begins his speech speaking of how many men make the same mistake when it comes to attaining wealth. Conwell gives many stories and examples of which this has happened. He believes that this universal mistake is not investigating into the surrounding society. For instance, a man creating a business within a society in which there are already many businesses in that area that sell the same thing. Whereas, a man that can understand the needs of a society and create a business accordingly can generate a lot more wealth. In reference to the “acres of diamonds” he is suggested there are immense amount of chances to become prosper but you just have to know how. Conwell’s solution of wealth and poverty is believed to be in the understanding

Money is the supreme power of the world. Its immeasurable power and limitless influence has hacked into our society today, ruining our political democracy, our capitalistic economy, and our chances at achieving the American Dream. Money is handled differently between the rich and the poor. Money in the hands of the poor is spent on essential items necessary for survival, and since money is not abundant in the hands of the poor, every single penny is cherished as a gift from God. However in the hands of the rich, money is used to acquire more money. The urge to succumb to greed influences the rich to use any and all means necessary to grow their wealth, to grow their power, to grow their long lasting influence. We look up to the rich with awe for their ability to achieve the American Dream, but what we are blindfolded from seeing is the true rise to stardom, their true pathway to success. Not all, but some have achieved the American Dream through immoral acts and satanic deeds, swindling the desired ones from their exit of poverty or their chance to enter into reality. In the end of The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald revealed to us the true Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald teaches us that not all people achieve the American Dream immorally, giving the example of Jay Gatsby

Hart describes early Christians as a group of extremists, with an unrealistic set of priorities economically, civically, socially, and even in ways religiously. Hart goes into great detail of his evidence of this by examining the position of the first Christians on the accumulation of wealth. In his findings from the original koine Greek text, Hart points out that the idea that accumulating wealth is not inherently bad as long as we don’t abuse it is not, in fact, the position the first Christians had. While he did concede that modern Christian’s have come to understand this false idea as a “truism”, he points out that the original language and attitude of the first Christians towards

Money and wealth is introduced into the first part of the story as a way to act and carry yourself. How you interact with your peers and how you talk of others. Early on Nick explains his upbringing as a child “I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth.” Nick's dad is basically saying that all rich people aren't nice but some miss that trait while other rich people attain loads of niceness or honestly. Yet people who arent of wealth aren't mentioned in this certain distribution of honesty which is corrupt in itself. When Myrtle Tom and

Greed is a common flaw in all human beings, coaxing individuals to pour in all their effort without ever being satisfied. The ultimate goal for greed is generally achieving affluence. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s insightful novel, The Great Gatsby, wealth is portrayed as the key factor in determining whether one is successful or not. Most people value prosperity over morals and ethics during the heat of pursuing their own ambitions; yet all unscrupulous behaviors do not escape God’s eyes. By utilizing eye motif, repetitions of sight words, and tone changes, F. Scott Fitzgerald justifies that avarice will always end in vain and amoral decisions will always end in regrets.

You ought because you can do more good with it than you could without it. Money printed your Bible, money builds your churches, money sends your missionaries, and money pays your preachers, and you would not have many of them, either, if you did not pay them. I am always willing that my church should raise my salary, because the church that pays the largest salary always raises it the easiest.” (44) He is saying that it is okay to have money, that does not mean that you are automatically an evil person. It’s not how much money you have, but what you choose to do with it. Conwell appeals to the common place idea and value of the American work ethic. If you work hard and do as you’re supposed to, anyone can make it. Having money, one can do good things as well as bad things. That’s when it comes down to the type of person you are. Conwell hooks his audience by telling a story in the very beginning. He continues his speech by diving into another story, keep the audience entertained and gaining their trust with every word. Both stories having the same moral, which is that you must be great where you are now, to be great somewhere else. For example, Conwell says “I say to you that you have ‘acres of diamonds’ in Philadelphia right where you now live.” (35) Conwell says

“It is not the rich man you should properly call happy, but him who knows how to use with wisdom the blessings of the gods, to endure hard poverty, and who fears dishonor worse than death, and is not afraid to die for cherished friends or fatherland.”

Like Winthrop, Russell Conwell, author of Acres of Diamonds, stresses how great America is with emphasis that it somehow ordained from a higher power. However, Winthrop focuses maintaining this status through unselfish means while Conwell uses this as a way to establish individual success. “There never was a place on earth more adapted than the city of Philadelphia to-day, and never in the history of the world did a poor man without capital have such an opportunity . . . Because to make money honestly is to preach the gospel” (Conwell, 179). His argument that Philadelphia is the greatest city on earth ties in with the concept of American exceptionalism. The connection he makes with religion is contrasted to Winthrop since Winthrop argues that America will lose its exceptionality if it does not avoid selfish actions. Conwell argues that God is placing America in such a place that every person has the ability to acquire individual wealth. Though Conwell focuses on the city of Philadelphia, his arguments can be applied to a more general sense in America. His statement that

Although Christianity was well known throughout the affluent classes, Jesus’s philosophies touched the hearts of the plebeians. The self-proclaimed Messiah often spoke of money and riches not being needed in the afterlife, and that God measures you not on how much money you have but on your values you showed throughout your life. This touched the working class’s heart as it informed them that there is hope for a better life that everyone can achieve but not a lot deserve. Therefore, this was the main reason why Christianity was spread as quickly as it could.

Franklin self-consciously promotes himself as the ideal American in his book The Way to Wealth. He does so by creating two fictitious characters, Poor Richard and Father Abraham. Poor Richard is Franklin's pseudonym. He uses this pseudonymous character to inform the American public of industry and frugality. Preaching industry, Poor Richard says "Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all easy." For frugality, he urges people to "suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it." For Father Abraham, he is to laud and promote Poor Richard's maxims, which is Franklin in disguise. The praise from another person is more credible than if Franklin is to praise for

To be rich isn’t only in regards to people, a country can also be rich. Smith stated, “A rich country, in the same manner as a rich man, is supposed