第20章AdvicetoYouth(1)

第20章advicetoyouth(1)

·donald·

beingtoldiwouldbeexpectedtotalkhere，iinquiredwhatsortoftalkioughttomake.theysaiditshouldbesomethingsuitabletoyouth—somethingdidactic，instructive，orsomethinginthenatureofgoodadvice.verywell.ihaveafewthingsinmymindwhichihaveoftenlongedtosayfortheinstructionoftheyoung；foritisinone’stenderearlyyearsthatsuchthingswillbesttakerootandbemostenduringandmostvaluable.first，then.iwillsaytoyoumyyoungfriends—andisayitbeseechingly，urgingly.

alwaysobeyyourparents，whentheyarepresent.thisisthebestpolicyinthelongrun，becauseifyoudon’t，theywillmakeyou.mostparentsthinktheyknowbetterthanyoudo，andyoucangenerallymakemorebyhumoringthatsuperstitionthanyoucanbyactingonyourownbetterjudgment.

berespectfultoyoursuperiors，ifyouhaveany，alsotostrangers，andsometimestoothers.ifapersonoffendyou，andyouareindoubtastowhetheritwasintentionalornot，donotresorttoextrememeasures；simplywatchyourchanceandhithimwithabrick.thatwillbesufficient.ifyoushallfindthathehadnotintendedanyoffense，comeoutfranklyandconfessyourselfinthewrongwhenyoustruckhim；acknowledgeitlikeamanandsayyoudidn’tmeanto.yes，alwaysavoidviolence；inthisageofcharityandkindliness，thetimehasgonebyforsuchthings，leavedynamitetothelowandunrefined.

gotobedearly，getupearly—thisiswise.someauthoritiessaygetupwiththesun；somesaygetupwithonething，otherswithanother.butalarkisreallythebestthingtogetupwith.itgivesyouasplendidreputationwitheverybodytoknowthatyougetupwiththelark；andifyougettherightkindoflark，andworkathimright，youcaneasilytrainhimtogetupathalfpastnine，everytime—it’snotrickatall.

nowastothematteroflying.youwanttobeverycarefulaboutlying；otherwiseyouarenearlysuretogetcaught.oncecaught，youcanneveragainbe，intheeyesofthegoodandthepure，whatyouwerebefore.manyayoungpersonhasinjuredhimselfpermanentlythroughasingleclumsyandillfinishedlie，theresultofcarelessnessbornofincompletetraining.someauthoritiesholdthattheyoungoutnottolieatall.thatofcourse，isputtingitratherstrongerthannecessary；still，whileicannotgoquitesofarasthat，idomaintain，andibelieveiamright，thattheyoungoughttobetemperateintheuseofthisgreatartuntilpracticeandexperienceshallgivethemthatconfidence，elegance，andprecisionwhichalonecanmaketheaccomplishmentgracefulandprofitable.patience，diligence，painstakingattentiontodetail—thesearerequirements；theseintime，willmakethestudentperfect；upontheseonly，mayherelyasthesurefoundationforfutureeminence.thinkwhattediousyearsofstudy，thought，practice，experience，wenttotheequipmentofthatpeerlessoldmasterwhowasabletoimposeuponthewholeworldtheloftyandsoundingmaximthat“truthismightyandwillprevail”—themostmajesticcompoundfractureoffactwhichanyofwomanbornhasyetachieved.forthehistoryofourrace，andeachindividual’sexperience，aresewnthickwithevidencesthatatruthisnothardtokill，andthataliewelltoldisimmortal.thereisinbostonamonumentofthemanwhodiscoveredanesthesia；manypeopleareaware，intheselatterdays，thatthatmandidn’tdiscoveritatall，butstolethediscoveryfromanotherman.isthistruthmighty，andwillitprevail?ahno，myhearers，themonumentismadeofhardymaterial，butthelieittellswilloutlastitamillionyears.anawkward，feeble，leakylieisathingwhichyououghttomakeityourunceasingstudytoavoid；suchalieasthathasnomorerealpermanencethananaveragetruth.why，youmightaswelltellthetruthatonceandbedonewithit. afeeble，stupid，preposterousliewillnotlivetwoyears—exceptitbeaslanderuponsomebody. itisindestructible，then，ofcourse，butthatisnomeritofyours.afinalword:beginyourpracticeofthisgraciousandbeautifulartearly—beginnow. ifihadbegunearlier，icouldhavelearnedhow.