Encouragement 

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 exclamation¹ of joy. 

"Now," she said triumphantly², "you can write your book!" 

"Yes," replied the man, with sagging³ confidence, "and what shall we live on while I am writing it?"

 To his amazement⁴, 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 Scarlet⁵ Letter. 

　　编者按：当一个人陷入困境时，来自所爱的人或是朋友的鼓励与信任有着另人难以想象的强大力量。作家纳撒尼尔-霍桑在妻子的鼓励下成功写出世界名著《红字》的故事就是一个有力的说明。

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