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Children can teach you a very excellent lesson in the de- velopment of the imagination. Philipp Frank, in his book: Einstein, His Life and Times (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1953), tells this story: People in Princeton tell many anecdotes about Einstein. It is related that one of his neighbors, the mother of a ten-year-old girl, noticed that the child often left the house and went to Einstein's home. The mother wondered at this, whereupon the child said: "I had trouble with my homework in arithmetic. People said that at #112 there lives a very big mathematician, who is also a very good man. I went to him and asked him to help me with my homework. He was very willing and explained everything very well. It was easier to understand then when our teacher explained it in school. He said I should come whenever I find a problem too difficult." The girl's mother was alarmed at the child's boldness, and went to Einstein to apologize for her daughter's behavior. But Einstein said: "You don't have to ex- cuse yourself. I have certainly learned more from the conversa- tion with the child than she did from me." There is an old Chinese proverb that says: "It is only the great that truly appreciate that the real great always remain as children." A valuable lesson may be gained by observing IMAGINATION YOUR JUNIOR SALESMAN 149 the vivid way which children demonstrate their imagina- tion. Picture a child who is expecting Santa Claus. So vivid is his imagination that he seems to hear the clicking hoofs of the reindeers, and the gliding tune of the sleigh as it swiftly cuts its way. He can actually visualize old Santa him- self sliding gracefully down the chimney, silently leaving his little bundle of joy and departing with the same grace with which he came. The child is free from doubt, free from dread, free from distortion, and free from inhibitions; he is able to give free range to the imagination. Therefore, the moral is to purge your consciousness, clear it, clean it, pur- ify it, and separate it from all the mental vagabonds of worry, dread, discouragement, stubbornness, and skepticism that are only wasting your time and imagination. Get rid of all the sordid gang, and make room for your imagination. Let it really prove to you what it can do to increase your power and demonstrate your efficiency as a real creative salesman. Every now and then I take my little six-year-old grand- daughter, Lindy, out for a stroll. It is certainly a source of great delight to travel with her. She observes so many things, and her imagination visualizes them into some very fetching pictures. She teaches me not only to observe more things, but she gives me a lesson on how to visualize them. Only the other Sunday we were strolling down Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, when she suddenly stopped, pointed her finger into the air and shouted: "Look, Pop-Pop." People stopped on the street and craned their necks in the direction her finger was pointing. By this time, "Pop-Pop" was strain- ing his neck to the point of breaking and yet I could see nothing. Finally, up about four stories, perched on the eaves of the building, I saw a flock of pigeons. I thought: And a little child shall lead them, especially into the kingdom of imagination. 150 IMAGINATION YOUR JUNIOR SALESMAN |
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