Education & Learning

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Lincoln’s letter to his son’s teacher

August 1, 2006 in Education & Learning | 12 comments

Here is the letter that Lincoln wrote to his son’s teacher:

He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true.

But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero.
That for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader.
Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend.
Steer him away from envy, if you can.
Teach him the secret of quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick.
Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books.
But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him it is far 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 to beware of too much sweetness.
Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders but never to 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 have sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order, but see what you can do.
He is such a fine fellow, my son !

Well, I guess there are very few teachers who teach these things now-a-days. In school, I learned mostly about how things work, who invented what, which is the longest river, which is the highest mountain, who won which war and when, and many other useful things.

But it seems that the letter was not originally written by Lincoln himself. The letter first appeared on an Indian website as mentioned by Jose A. Carillo in his articles: part-1 and part-2. But even if it is true, it doesn’t reduce the value of the content.


Becoming an Educated Being

July 27, 2006 in Education & Learning, Personal Development | 15 comments

None of the diplomas/degrees can help you to become an educated being. Unfortunately in our society, education of a person is measured by the degrees he has earned. There are a number of degree holders, like you and I, who are compartmentalized in their field of specialization. We do keep ourselves updated on new technologies, new inventions and discoveries in our field of work, and the current happennings around the world. But not all of us take efforts in educating ourselves at personal level. Our social and economical system preconditions us in a manner that we stop thinking about growing and improving ourselves.

Becoming an educated being means more than simply knowing things. It relates more to how you apply what you know in your daily life even in mundane activities. It means to be able to deal with changes in life and sometimes become the cause of the change. It means to get out of the closed box thinking and open your mind to things not common to you.

Education never stops. In everything we do there is a lesson, it is upto us to recognize and learn it.

Schooling is not necessary to become an educated being. But it definitely provides (or used to) a rich environment to facilitate it. If you go to school just to attend classes, do assignments, and get grades then you are wasting your time. I did. School is not just about grades and degrees. It is a place where you get an opportunity to interact with all sorts of people. You can learn a lot from the experienced ones and shape your personal growth. The other advantage of going to school is that you learn to handle yourself even in unpleasant situations and trust me there can be many. The reward is not the degree, but the person you become at the end of it. The purpose is to learn how to learn.

You are becoming an educated being if you have a desire to learn new things. You are constantly looking to improve yourself in all possible ways. You are always burning with curiosity. You have high self esteem. You don’t have the fear of not being smart enough. You know that you are worth in this world and have the ability to learn anything that is needed to fulfill your purpose.

Being educated means that you can think. You have a mind of your own. You don’t follow the crowd. You look at the problems and ideas differently. You know that there is more to life than job and money, and that’s you. It is all about who you are and what you become.
So, are you one of the well-trained, highly skilled labors or an educated being?


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