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Welcome to
B O O K S T O R E
in Melbourne, Australia
A Tribute to
W Clement Stone
1902-2002
 As a testimonial
to the greatness of W Clement Stone, and in memorium of his passing on September
4, 2002, printed below is a copy of his own advice for a fulfilling life as published
in Success Unlimited magazine.
As we pause to reflect on Mr Stone's life mission, the greatest tribute that can
be paid to this gentleman and philanthropist is to emulate his style, grace, and
goodwill. May he rest in peace.
Be Generous!
by W Clement Stone
Be generous! Give to those you love; give to those who love you; give to the fortunate;
give to the unfortunate; yes—give especially to those to whom you don't want to give
...
Your most precious, valued possessions and your greatest powers are invisible and
intangible. No one can take them. You, and you alone, can give them. You will receive
abundance for your giving. The more you give, the more you will have ...
Give a smile to everyone you meet (smile with your eyes)–and you'll smile and receive
smiles ...
Give a kind word (with a kindly thought behind the word)–and you will be kind and
receive kind words ...
Give honour, credit, and applause (the victor's wreath)–and you will be honorable
and receive credit and applause ...
Give time for a worthy cause (with eagerness)–you will be worthy and richly rewarded
...
Give hope (the magic ingredient for success)–you will have hope and be made hopeful
...
Give happiness (a most treasured state of mind)–you will be happy and be made happy
...
Give encouragement (the incentive to action)–you will have courage and be encouraged
...
Give cheer (the verbal sunshine)–and you will be cheerful and cheered ...
Give a pleasant response (the neutraliser of irritants)–you will be pleasant and
receive pleasant responses ...
Give good thoughts (natures character builder)–you will be good and the world will
have good thoughts for you ...
Give prayers (the instrument of miracles) for the godless and the godly–you will
be reverent and receive blessings, more than you deserve ...
Be Generous! Give!
History:
He started out with nothing and built an
insurance empire.
W Clement Stone founded a multibillion-dollar insurance empire with $100 and sought
to buck up the world with the idea that anyone might do the same—all they need is
"positive mental attitude."
"All I want to do is change the world," he said.
The founder of Combined Insurance Company, who through his private foundation passed
along $275 million—especially for education and childhood development—since 1958,
died Tuesday September 4, 2002 of pneumonia at Evanston Hospital. He was a resident
of the North Shore suburb just out of Chicago.
He celebrated his 100th birthday on May 4, 2002 with a gift of $100,000 to the University
of Illinois at Chicago. Famous for his pencil-thin black mustache, his polka-dot
bow ties and a solid fix on motivation as the engine of success, Mr Stone identified
so strongly with PMA–positive mental attitude– that it was the ticker symbol for
his holding company, Combined International Corp, when shareholders formed it in
1980.
Combined insurance merged in 1982 with Ryan Insurance, and in 1987 the name changed
to Aon Corp. Last year, it reported total revenue of more than $2.035 billion.
Mr Stone's notion was that any man can become wealthy "no matter how poor his
start in life."
He wrote books–most famously, with Napoleon Hill, Success Through a Positive Mental
Attitude published in 1960.
His own rags-to-riches story started May 4, 1902, in Chicago, where he was born to
Louis and Anna Gunn Stone. His father, Louis, a clothing manufacturer, died when
he was three. His mother found work as a dressmaker, while the boy, at 6, was on
the streets, hawking The Examiner newspaper to help pay the rent.
At 13, he had his own newsstand at 31st and Cottage Grove, Chicago.
At the age of 16 he joined his mother in Detroit where she ran an insurance agency.
By 20, he had his own agency in Chicago and by 1930 had rounded up 1000 agents.
As a teen, Mr Stone dropped out of Senn High School, but eventually completed a diploma
at YMCA night classes.
Before leaving Senn, he met Jessie Verna Tarson. They married in 1923 when he was
21 and went on to rear three children. He always said she was part of his secret.
He contended that he lived so long "because I was married to the most beautiful
girl in the world, and dancing every chance I could," friends remember him saying.
Even the depression didn't get Mr Stone down. He was quoted in the New York Times
saying it forced good work habits.
He read and then embodied the Horatio Alger books, many of which were shelved at
Combined's office at 5050 N Broadway.
He called his books "inspirational self-help action books" but it was the
bible, he said, was the world's greatest self-help book."
A generous backer of Republicans, he contributed to Richard M Nixon–with whom he
bonded because of interest in the Boys Clubs of America– and was named a trustee
of the Nixon Foundation. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980 for his
philosophy and philanthropy, including the W Clement and Jessie V Stone Foundation.
Survivors include his wife; a son, Norman, 12 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
He is also well known as the manager/promoter of Napoleon Hill, who wrote Think
and Grow Rich; and for rescuing the renowned writer Og Mandino from the alcoholic
scrap heap to eventually become President of Success Magazine–once owned by W Clement
Stone–and then later to become known as one of the greatest inspirational, self-help
writers of all time. |
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and Training Resource Specialists
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