The Man Who "Thought" His Way into Partnership with Thomas A. Edison

Here are the two lessons I have learned from this story.

When this DESIRE, or impulse of thought, first flashed into his mind, he was in no position to act upon it. Two difficulties stood in his way. He did not know Mr Edison, and he did not have enough money to pay his railroad fee to Orange, New Jersey.

These difficulties were sufficient to have discouraged the majority of men from making any attempt to carry out the desire. But his was no ordinary desire! He was so determined to find a way to carry out his desire that he finally decided to travel by way of "blind baggage," rather than be defeated.

Years later, Mr Edison said, "He stood there before me, looking like an ordinary tramp, but there was something in the expression of his face that conveyed the impression that he was determined to get what he had come after."

Lesson #1 - A person with a BURNING DESIRE does not allow difficulties to hinder his progress, and will do whatever it takes to get to the things that he is looking for.

When the opportunity came, it appeared in a different form and from a different direction than Barnes had expected. That is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in the back door, and often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize opportunity.

Mr Edison had just perfected a new office device, known at that time, as the Edison Dictating Machine. His salesmen were not enthusiastic over the machine. They did not believe it could be sold without great effort. Barnes saw his opportunity.

He did sell the machine. In fact, he sold it so successfully that Edison gave him a contract to distribute and market it all over the nation.

Lesson #2 - Successful people are the ones who could recognize the silver lining (opportunity) in every cloud (obstacles).