A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, in a threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, USA and walked timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer office. "We want 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 they’d go away. They didn't and she finally decided to disturb the president. "Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave," she said to him. He sighed and nodded. The president, stern faced, strutted toward the couple. The lady said, "We had a son who attended Harvard University for a year. He loved Harvard. But a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus." The president was shocked."Madam," he said, gruffly, "we can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard University and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."
"Oh, no," the lady explained. "We don't want to erect a statue. We’d like to give a building to Harvard." The president exclaimed, "Do you have any idea how much a building costs? We have 7½ 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 costs to start a university? Why don't we just start our own?" Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in 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 University no longer cared about.
Never judge a book by its cover nor under-estimate the potential of anyone.
Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover
