Maddy+Woodmen+Speech+09

What would it mean to you to see what the world really thought of you? Would you use that as a learning experience, or would you pass it by as if it were nothing at all? For one man, it was a second chance. A chance, meant to be used prudently. A chance, to make people think reverentially on his behalf. **A chance**, that would never pass him by again. That man was Alfred Nobel. Now you may not know the odd story of how a man who created dynamite ended up as the founder of the Nobel prize, and you may not even know what a Nobel prize is, but thanks to Google and my ability to tell stories, I think I can help you with that.....**it starts like this........**

//Alfred was very weak from the time he was born because of a health problems, and he was often very shy and lonesome, but he was very intelligent. He grew up in a family consisting of two parents and three brothers. His mother's focus was on keeping her frail son alive and his father's focus was on trying to invent explosives. As soon as Alfred was old enough, he started working in his father's factory. Working in the factory was dangereous. On one occasion, his brother and a few workers died in an explosion. Alfred later discovered how to make nitroglycerin safer, thus inventing dynamite. Though this path had much trial and error and took the life of his brother, Alfred had great success and soon had a fortune of his own. Then one morning, in 1888, a little while after his brother had died, Alfred was horrorstruck as he was reading the newspapers and found his own obituary! His obituary was put in the newspapers after a French journalist carelessly misinterpreted which Nobel had died. Other than being astonished by the fact that the world thought he was dead, there was something else that troubled him far greater. Because of his background in dynamite, people felt that he was a monster who supported war. He did not want this to be his last impression in the world. He was determined to do something that would show his true intentions.//

Today, it is shown in Alfred's will that each year dedicated men and women will receive a portion of his wealth for making an advancement or discovery in one of the following catagories: **science, physics, economy, peace, medicine, and literature.** People like the Dalai Lama who is a buddist monk, who has shown leadership in finding solutions to international conflicts, human rights issues and global environmental problems around the world has received the Nobel prize, and since the first award ceremony years ago, hundreds of other people have received the Nobel prize too. Most of these people have used their prize money to secure loans for research.

Reflecting back on the topic "A person who has touched many lives," I want to make it clear why Alfred Nobel **IS** that person who has touched many lives. You may think he would not be the best choice for this topic because the lives of people he has touched is limited to only those selected each year, but what better person to choose than a person whose gift gives on every single year? Those people who received Nobel prizes have made our lives better! Alfred Nobel has insured that the award will be distributed for many years to come, so there will always be that chance that fate, fortune, or destiny will play its role in the lives of those who have made a new discovery in science, a new chance at peace, a lifesaving medicine,a novel,or a new start to the economy created by the everyday man.