There is a lesson for us all in this beautiful story of how
Columbus realized his ambition to be a great discoverer.

Men called Columbus a Dreamer--but that is just what folks once
said about Thomas A. Edison and Henry Ford.

The world has a place for Dreamers--if they are Practical
Dreamers.

Columbus was ambitious. Ambition is a great thing if it is
unselfish ambition. By unselfish I mean for the greatest good of
the greatest number. Shakespeare, the great teacher, shows us in
"Macbeth" what happens to the selfishly ambitious man.

Columbus got ahead by paying attention to small details.
Whatever he did, he did to the best of his ability. Even when
engaged in teaching geography to the Queen, Columbus was the best
geography teacher he knew how to be. And before long he was made
Royal Geographer.

In our daily lives let us all resolve to be good teachers of
geography. We may not all become Royal Geographers--but there
will be to us the lasting satisfaction of having done our best.
And that, as a greater than I has said, is "more precious than
rubies--yea, than much fine gold".



Chapter Three