DailyGood

For the last 27 years, DailyGood newsletters have offered a daily email that inspires you to respond to life with creativity and kindness. To join a community of 148,388 subscribers, subscribe here.

Dec 6, 2003

"Every blade of grass has an angel, that leans over it and whispers "Grow! Grow!"" --The Talmud

Shoe Shiner's Journey

As an impoverished, illiterate shoe-shine boy on the streets of Sao Paulo, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's job was to polish battered shoes and make them appear shiny and new. After winning the presidency in 2002 by the biggest margin in Brazil's history, Lula came closer to realizing his life long mission -- a day when everyone in the world's fifth largest nation can eat three times a day. A former peanut-seller, Lula barely learned to read by the age of 10 and lost his little finger in an accident; in 1969, his wife passed away as well. Yet, despite all the difficulties, he mapped a remarkable journey from abject poverty to presidency of Brazil!