Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was a preeminent minister and inspirational speaker and a celebrated author best known for his famous book, “The Power of Positive Thinking,” an inspirational classic.
First published in 1952, to date it has sold 20-million copies in 42-languages. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it to you as a quick and easy read, entertaining and chock full of uplifting stories and advice.
But here’s a secret few people know. Publisher after publisher rejected Dr. Peale’s manuscript and he became so discouraged from all those rejections he threw his manuscript in to the trash can, expecting it would never again see the light of day.
He thought he was done with “The Power of Positive Thinking” but fate intervened. It seemed the manuscript had one other believer, one other person who thought it was special, Dr. Peale’s wife, Ruth Stafford Peale. She lifted it out of the trash can and wouldn’t let him give-up on it.
She persuaded him to contact at least one more publisher, and with her encouragement he finally did. And eventually Dr. Peale convinced a publisher to take a chance with it.
Sales of “The Power of Positive Thinking” took off, and from that point, Dr. Peale became a best-selling author, publishing numerous books. It took his life to new and exciting places and through “The Power of Positive Thinking” and other writings, speeches and sermons, he helped to uplift vast numbers of lives, perhaps your life being one of them.
