One of the most renowned pianists of the first half of the 20th century was the elegant, mysterious Olga Samaroff. She was the first pianist from her country to receive a scholarship to the prestigious Paris Conservatoire in France. She would perform with the New York Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic in her mid-twenties. Later, her fame would grow as the music critic of the New York Evening Post. Her confident bearing and regal manner were typical of the famed Russian musicians of her time; and that name – Olga Samaroff – flowed mellifluously off the tongue in a manner befitting a member of the Russian aristocracy. But Olga Samaroff was not an aristocrat. Nor was she even Russian. For Olga Samaroff was really a Texan, born a stone’s throw from the Alamo in San Antonio. And her real name, believe it or not, was Lucie Hickenlooper!
Little Lucie Hickenlooper stands today as an excellent example of the simple principle that other people will tend to view you and treat you in a manner that mirrors what you see in yourself. Carry yourself with the posture of a loser, and you will consistently lose, because people will assume that you know yourself better than they do. And who wants to hire, date, marry, befriend, or loan money to a loser? But comport yourself like success, and success will almost certainly follow you! Whatever your attitude – good or bad – it will tend to wrap itself in flesh and become reality within you and around you.
