If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and there

Hear, O seekers of purpose and builders of dreams, the words of Harvey S. Firestone, the tireless pioneer who turned thought into empire: “If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and there isn’t any limit to what you can do with your business and your life. Ideas are any man’s greatest asset.” In this simple yet thunderous truth lies the eternal law of creation — that all progress, all wealth, all triumph begins not with gold or tools, but with the invisible spark of an idea. For the mind that dares to think boldly possesses riches that no thief can steal, and the soul that believes in its own vision holds power greater than kings.

Firestone, born in a modest farmhouse in Ohio, rose from humble beginnings to build one of the greatest industrial enterprises of his age — the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. Yet he began with little more than imagination, courage, and an idea. He saw a world in motion — carriages turning into automobiles, horses yielding to engines — and he envisioned tires that could carry humanity into a new century. Where others saw uncertainty, he saw opportunity; where others hesitated, he dreamed. His wealth was not in factories or machines, but in the ideas that gave them purpose. It was those ideas, shaped by perseverance, that turned a farm boy into a legend.

In this, he stands with the great dreamers of history. Thomas Edison, his close friend, lit the world not with electricity alone, but with imagination. Henry Ford, his companion in industry, revolutionized travel not because he had resources, but because he had vision. These men shared a creed that Firestone would later voice — that an idea is the seed of all transformation. Gold rusts, power fades, structures crumble, but ideas endure. The empires of the mind outlast the empires of the sword.

For an idea is not a fleeting thought; it is the breath of the soul, the whisper of possibility that challenges the impossible. When the world says “no,” the idea says “what if?” When darkness gathers, the idea shines like a lantern in the night. Every invention, every movement, every act of greatness began with a single, fragile spark — a thought in the heart of someone who refused to doubt. The true asset of man is not in what he owns, but in what he envisions. The poor man with a great idea is wealthier than the rich man without one.

Yet know this, O listeners: ideas alone are not enough. They must be nurtured, refined, and brought into being through labor and courage. Many have dreamed, but few have dared to act. The idea is the seed; work is the soil in which it grows. Firestone himself said, “Success is the sum of details.” He knew that even the grandest vision must take form through daily effort and perseverance. The dreamer must become the builder, the thinker must become the doer. For an unacted idea is like a bird that never learns to fly — beautiful, but bound to perish.

Consider the tale of the Wright brothers, who gazed upon the birds and asked, “Why not us?” They had neither fortune nor fame, only a workshop, a few tools, and a burning idea — that man could soar like the eagle. Through failure after failure, they persisted, guided by that spark of belief. And when at last their fragile machine lifted from the sands of Kitty Hawk, they proved forever that ideas can conquer even the heavens. Their success was not born from wealth, but from the wealth of the mind.

So, my children of tomorrow, take this truth to heart: your greatest asset is not what lies in your hands, but what stirs in your imagination. Guard your ideas as treasure, yet share them boldly with the world. Do not wait for permission to dream, nor fear the laughter of the doubtful. The world’s progress depends on those who dare to see differently, to think beyond the visible. Cultivate your mind as a garden of invention, and let every failure become the soil from which your ideas bloom stronger.

And remember the wisdom of Harvey S. Firestone: that the power of an idea knows no limit, and that your mind is your most precious asset. Wealth fades, buildings crumble, titles vanish — but the idea, born from conviction and carried by courage, endures forever. So think boldly. Dream greatly. Create unceasingly. For in the realm of ideas, every man is a king, and through them, you may build not only your fortune, but your legacy.