A woman came out of her house and saw three old men sitting in her front yard. She did not know them. She said, “I don’t think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat.”

“Is the man of the house at home?” they asked. “No, he’s out.” she said. “Then we cannot come in,” they answered.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. “Go and tell them I am home and invite them in!” The woman went out and invited the men in. “We do not go into a house together,” they said. “Why is that?” she asked. One of the old men explained, “His name is Wealth,” pointing to one of his friends. Then he said pointing to another one, “He is Success, and I am Love.” Then he added, “Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home.”

The woman went in and told her husband what they said. Her husband was overjoyed. “How nice!” he said. “Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come in and fill our home with money!”

His wife disagreed. “My dear, why don’t we invite Success?” Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion, “Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!” “Let us follow our daughter-in-law's advice,” said the husband to his wife. “Go out and invite Love to be our guest.”

The woman went out and asked the three old men, “Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest.”

Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success, “I only invited Love. Why are you coming in?”

The old men replied together, “If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would stay out, but since you invited Love, wherever he goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!”

If you lose 12 times, will you just give up? Dale Carnegie, a pioneer in public speaking and self-development, kept trying. And he became famous by showing people how to be successful.

Carnegie was born in 1888 to a poor farming family in the central United States. The boy didn’t see a train until he was 12 years old. In his teens, he had to get up at 4 a.m. every day to milk the cows in his family.

When Carnegie first entered college, he felt hopeless because of his clothes and ordinary looks. His mother encouraged him, “Why not try to be better in other things instead of just dress and good looks?”

Carnegie tried to be more active in college. He joined the debate (辩论) team. But one after another, he lost 12 times. The young man was very upset. He said later that he thought of killing himself after so many failures.

But soon Carnegie was seen practicing public speaking on the riverside. His hard work paid off at last. In 1906, Carnegie won a famous speech contest and became widely known.

The young man made his own words come true, “Believe that you will succeed, and you will”. In order to share his success, Carnegie opened schools and wrote books. His best-sellers include How to Win Friends and Influence People and How to Stop Worming and Start Living. More than 50 million copies of his books have been printed in 38 languages. They are still helping people on the road.