Some of the greatest success stories of history have followed a word of encouragement or an act of confidence by a loved one or a trusting friend.Had it not been for a confident wife,Sophia,we might not have listed among the great names of literature the name of Nathaniel Hawthorne.When Nathaniel,a heartbroken man,went home to tell his wife that he was a failure and had been fired from his job in a customhouse,she surprised him with an exclamation of joy.
"Now," she said triumphantly,"you can write your book!"
"Yes," replied the man,with sagging confidence,"and what shall we live on while I am writing it?"
To his amazement,she opened a drawer and pulled out a substantial amount of money.
"Where on earth did you get that?" he exclaimed.
"I have always know you were a man of genius," she told him."I knew that someday you would write a masterpiece.So every week,out of the money you gave me for housekeeping,I saved a little bit.So here is enough to last us for one whole year."
From her trust and confidence came one of the greatest novels of American literature,The Scarlet Letter.
