A letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the Headmaster of a school in which his son was studying. It contains an advice, which is still relevant today for executives, workers, teachers, parents and students.
Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend.
It will take time, I know; but teach him, if you can, that a dollar earned is of far more value than five found.
Teach him to learn to lose and also enjoy the winning.
Steer him away from envy, if you can .
Teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Let him learn early that bullies are easiest to lick.
Teach him if you can the wonder of books…but also give him quiet time to ponder over the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on the green hill-side.
In school teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat.
Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong.
Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough.
Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon.
Teach him to listen to all men but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.
Teach him if you can how to laugh when he is sad.
Teach him there is no shame in tears.
Teach him to scoff at cynics and be aware of too much sweetness.
Teach him to sell of his brawn and brain to the highest bidders; but never put a price tag on his heart and soul.
Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob…and to stand and fight if he thinks he’s right.
Treat him gently; but do not cuddle him because only the test of fire makes fine steel .
Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind.
This is a big order; but see what you can do…he is such a fine little fellow, my son
~Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln's letter to headmaster
Marlon Shirley
At the age of 5 when all kids should and laughing with friends and family, Marlon Shirley was living on streets and being moved in and out of orphanages. Shirley's story is all the more impressive because of what he's overcome. Marlon Shirley saw his fair share of struggles as a young boy, living with his mother who was gone a lot and moved frequently to keep trouble from catching up with her. Marlon was five years old when he was picked up by social services and dropped off at an orphanage where he began the “pinball life of an institutional orphan.” In 1984, Marlon lost his foot in an accident with a lawnmower. The caretaker of the orphanage was letting the kids jump on an off the riding lawnmower while he mowed the lawn around the facility. Marlon slipped and the caretaker ran over his leg where the damage was done. Marlon later woke up with an amputation above the ankle.
Marlon bounced around to various foster homes over the years until he was adopted by a family from Utah in 1987. He took the Shirley’s last name and feels blessed to have been found by them.
Marlon struggled through high school, trying to overcome the habits and tendencies of his past—of simply trying to survive. Mid-way through his senior year in 1997, close to flunking out and humiliated, Marlon had had it. He decided to do something with his life and signed up to participate in the Simplot Games in Idaho, the largest open high school indoor track meet west of the Mississippi. He hoped to get offered a college scholarship, but the odds were against him. Marlon had little track experience and was hobbling on crutches due to a fractured bone in his leg he obtained from dunking a basketball a few weeks earlier.
Marlon felt he had to do it. He entered the high jump, where he hopped over on his good leg and dove headfirst over the bar. He cleared 6’6”, which just happened to be the Paralympic world record. A month later, Marlon competed in the Disabled Sports USA track meet in California, where he left $13,000 richer.
Marlon Shirley has endured many situations which would have brought the average person to shambles. He has not only found a way to prevail, but has also found a way to be a world class athlete. He owns two world records: the 100-meter dash and the long jump. In 2000, at the Para-Olympic Games in Sydney he won the 100m dash and took silver in the high jump. Since then, not only has he become the first and only lower leg amputee to break the 11.00 seconds mark (10.97), Marlon has also run the fastest 200m dash to date.
At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Marlon Shirley won the Paralympic 100-meter gold medal for the second straight time. He has been called “the world’s fastest amputee.”
Marlon said, "It's something I train for every single day. It's almost just like an automatic movement of my body springing down the track. We all have our own type of disabilities—mine just happens to be physical, and you can see it very easily when I run. But you can't tell it by the time I get done racing."
Shirley's prosthetic foot is made of carbon fiber titanium, materials developed in the aerospace industry. He is clearly testing the limits of what a prosthetic foot can do.
"The feet? They've lasted me forever," he said. "I remember running around on crutches just like I'd run around if I had another foot," he said. "I definitely never looked at myself any differently than anyone else."
Marlon is a 10-time World Champion and Olympic Champion. He is the spokesperson for the Paralympic Movement and other sponsors. Marlon’s biggest and most desirable goal is to be the first amputee to qualify for the 100m dash at the US Nationals against athletes with all limbs. Marlon Shirley is the fastest amputee in the world. Not only is he fast, but he also jumps farther than any other amputee.
Marlon is an avid pilot with training and schooling in Aeronautical Engineering and also helped design the sprint foot that he and many of the T44 athletes use in competition around the world. Still a kid at heart, he enjoys designing and flying R/C airplanes, helicopters and trucks. Other hobbies include: golf, flying, motorcycles, snowboarding and anything else people tell him he can't do!
A True Story
A n atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem
science has with God, the Almighty. He asks one of his new students
to stand and.....
PROF: So you believe in God?
STUDENT : Absolutely, sir.
PROF: Is God good?
STUDENT : Sure.
PROF: Is God all-powerful?
STUDENT : Yes.
PROF: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal
him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God
didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?
(Student is silent.)
PROF: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. IsGod
good?
STUDENT : Yes.
PROF : Is Satan good?
STUDENT : No.
PROF : Where does Satan come from?
STUDENT : From...God.. .
PROF : That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
STUDENT : Yes.
PROF : Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything.
Correct?
STUDENT : Yes.
PROF : So who created evil?
(Student does not answer.)
PROF : Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these
terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
STUDENT : Yes, sir.
PROF: So, who created them?
(Student has no answer.)
PROF: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe
the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
STUDENT : No, sir.
PROF: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
STUDENT : No, sir.
PROF: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God?
Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
STUDENT : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
PROF: Yet you still believe in Him?
STUDENT : Yes.
PROF: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,
science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
STUDENT : Nothing. I only have my faith.
PROF: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
STUDENT : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
PROF: Yes.
STUDENT : And is there such a thing as cold?
PROF: Yes.
STUDENT : No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
STUDENT : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat,
mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have
anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no
heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing
as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat.
We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of
heat, sir, just the absence of it.
(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
STUDENT : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as
darkness?
PROF : Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
STUDENT : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of
something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light,
flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have
nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness
isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't
you?
PROF: So what is the point you are making, young man?
STUDENT : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
PROF: Flawed? Can you explain how?
STUDENT : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue
there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You
are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can
measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses
electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully
understood either one.To view death as the opposite of life is to be
ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.
Now tell me, Professor.Do you teach your students that they evolved
from a monkey?
PROF: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes,
of course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize
where the argument is going.)
STUDENT : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at
work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor,
are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a
preacher? (The class is in uproar.)
STUDENT : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the
Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)
STUDENT : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's
brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so.
So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable,
demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain,sir.
With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face
unfathomable. )
PROF: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
STUDENT : That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH. That
is all that keeps things moving & alive.
NOTE : I believe you have enjoyed the conversation. ..and if
so...you'll probably want your friends/colleagues to enjoy the
same...won't you?.... this is a true story, and the student was none
other than...
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the present president of India
