Chapter 1
Power of Perception
There is no truth. There is only perception.
—Gustave Flaubert French writer, author of Madame Bovary
How Do You Want to Be Known?
One morning in 1888, a man wakes up and goes outside to retrieve his newspaper. He returns to his home and sits down in his favorite chair as he does every day. He begins reading the newspaper and quickly turns to the obituary section. The man's brother has just died, and he wants to read what was said about him. In the obituary section, he is struck by the large headline: “The merchant of death is dead.” He continues reading. The article tells of a merchant who became “rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before.” He finishes reading the obituary, closes the newspaper, and sits in shock. He is speechless and doesn't move. The obituary is supposed to be about his brother, but it was mistakenly written about him. He is alive—not dead—reading his own obituary.1
This man, the inventor of dynamite, certainly doesn't want to be remembered as a “merchant of death.” He decides to take his fortune and use it to establish awards for accomplishments in various fields that benefit humanity. These awards are eventually granted to such famous people as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, and Nelson Mandela.
The person who established these awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize, was Dr. Alfred Nobel. He is remembered today for establishing the Nobel Prizes—not for his explosive inventions. ...
