Rating: 
Summary: Highly, highly recommended
Review: A simple story, yet within is one of the most inspirational messages on achievement - that everything one needs for success is probably right in their vicinity, and all one has to do is to recognise it. Someone once stated that people learn more through a story than from a lecture or cold hard information - here is proof of the validity of that statement.
Rating:
Summary: a gem
Review: Acres of Diamonds is a lecture that Russell Conwell, founder of Temple University, delivered more than 6,000 times across the country. Through this lecture, Conwell debunks the idea that it is noble to be poor, an idea that far too many Christians share. He illustrates that it is our duty as Christians to use our gifts to honestly earn riches, because you can do more good with riches than without.Conwell successfully illustrates the difference between the popular expression "money is the root of all evil" and the complete Biblical passage which states "the love of money is the root of all evil". The love of money is idolatry, but money itself is neither good nor evil. It is simply a tool which may be used for either good or evil. In these pages we learn the virtues of earning money through honest, hard work. We learn to look for opportunities to serve others in our own back yard by simply finding a need and filling it. If you wish to be great, begin with who you are right now, where you are right now. Follow these principles, and you will uncover your own acres of diamonds. Larry Hehn, Author of Get the Prize: Nine Keys for a Life of Victory
Rating: 
Summary: Win or Whine
Review: Be a winner or a whiner. That is the message in this short book. The writing is outdated and dogmatic but the premise is sound--quit looking for greener pastures and blossom where you are planted. Give the people what they want and they will come. Worth a read if you can get past the pontificating. This review refers to the Spire Book version.
Rating:
Summary: Really inspire book
Review: Excellent! This book contain timeless intellegent on how to be a successful person and enterprenuer. Highly recommend!!
I am really inspired by this book.
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Summary: A Unexpected Merger of Religion and Capitalism, Subtly Done
Review: First given as a lecture at the beginning of the 1900's, the inspirational thoughts contained in "Acres of Diamonds" are still as relevant today as ever. Consider how the following passage plays into today's headlines, "I hear sometimes of men that get millions of dollars dishonestly. But, they are so rare a thing, in fact, that the newspapers talk about them all the time as a matter of news until you get the idea that all the other rich men got rich dishonestly." The Reverend Conwell of the Baptist Temple Church in Philadelphia was so successful in attracting people to his "Acres of Diamonds" lectures that he made enough money to found Temple University. How Religion and Capitalism work together and how money could be made right in one's backyard if a person knew of a need and did something to meet that need were the tenets of Conwell's lectures. Conwell's inspirational examples of success are worth a look. Spend a lunch hour, a commute in or back from work or another quiet break in the day to read Conwell's stories of those who missed finding diamonds and gold in their own backyards because they were too busy focusing on finding their fortune in faraway lands. Since the book is under 100 pages, even if you don't find your eyes have been opened a little wider, at least you haven't wasted much time giving the stories a try.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book with practical ideas to succeed in business
Review: So much business wisdom in so little space. There are a number of short stories in this book, which will give anyone reading them excellent business advice. A lot these ideas are now being rediscovered by modern management.This book is also the seminal book for many of our modern "How to" succeed in business books. Mr Conwell's personal story is also extremely interesting and of merit. The funds from the lectures on which this book is based were used to found Temple University in Philadelphia. .
Rating:
Summary: A Small Gem Everyone Should Read
Review: This book is small, eloquent, and easy to understand. It is about life, success, money, and priorities, what these things are and aren't, and will continue to challenge the way most of us choose to live our lives for years. Read this one instead of "Who Moved My Cheese."
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Summary: The Invisibility of the Obvious
Review: Toward the end of his life, Russell H. Conwell (1843-1925) observed, "I am astonished that so many people should care to hear this story over again. Indeed, this lecture has become a study in psychology; it often breaks all rules of oratory, departs from the precepts of rhetoric, and yet remains the most popular of any lecture I have delivered in the fifty-seven years of my public life. I have sometimes studied for a year upon a lecture and made careful research, and then presented the lecture just once -- never delivered it again. I put too much work on it. But this had no work on it -- thrown together perfectly at random, spoken offhand without any special preparation, and it succeeds when the thing we study, work over, adjust to a plan, is an entire failure." He then went on to explain to each audience that "acres of diamonds are to be found in this city, and you are to find them. Many have found them. And what man has done, man can do. [They are] are not in far-away mountains or in distant seas; they are in your own back yard if you will but dig for them." These comments provide an excellent introduction to Conwell's book. As I read it, I thought about Dorothy in L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz. Only after a series of adventures far from Kansas did she realize that "there's no place like home." What Conwell has in mind involves far more than such appreciation, however. The tale he shares in this book, concerning a wealthy Persian named Ali Hafed, demonstrates that almost everything we may seek elsewhere is already in our lives and available to us.
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Summary: You are Here to Be Rich
Review: When you look at what you think that you are not getting in your life --- and you allow yourself to be open to the best that you are really worthy of, you discover ways to stay where you are and to grow. You master being on a path that is made for you. And it is in this awareness you attract all the money that you need. If you are willing to look for opportunities through getting fed up with your greatest pains, I recommend this book.
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Summary: one of the greatest books ever written
Review: Whoever said that great things come in small packages, must have had this book in mind. Conwell tells the story of a man who looked for diamonds and travelled the whole world to find them. After years of searching he came back home empty handed. His wife remarried and he was destitute. By accident one day he found the diamonds in his own backyard. The moral is obvious: Examine all the evidence to find truth. Most of the time its right under your nose. Although conwell uses this story to illustrate some matters of business, the message can be applied to anything. The smartest people in the world use the principles in this book whether they know it or not. The smart and succesful are usually in the minority and probably always will be. Others may not grasp the genius in this book, but the principles of success are here.
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