Youth: Passion, Spirit, Truth

You will make all kinds of mistakes, but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. She was made to be woed and won by youth. ~ Winston Churchill

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is a matter of the will, quality of the imagination, a vigour of the emotions; it is the freshness in the deep springs of life. ~ Samuel Ullman

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer too much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Forgive me for being sentimental again. As a retiring teacher I have experienced a succession of lasts: last parental interview, last issue of our student news magazine, last major test, last supervision, last essay evaluation, last lesson plan, and today last class. All that remains is the last set of examinations.

And I wrote one last quote on the board. Actually before I wrote one, I contemplated the top three. They all came from, quite ironically perhaps, a marketing campaign by Abercrombie and Fitch some 8 - 10 years ago. I saw one of the quotes on my daughter's T shirt and found out that there were several others...

All of the quotes target youth, their vitality and energy. The tone is positive and dynamic. Youth, the world is yours; take your fate in your own hands, and make something of yourself and the world around you. Don't succumb to failure, be persistant, resilient; avoid mediocrity and safety, and seek personal and social triumph.

Of the three above which did I write on the board? It was the last one, mainly because too many people seek the safety of mediocrity, the status quo, and are afraid to take chances and possibly fail. My students provided all the right answers when asked to reflect on the quote.

Also I like the second quote, especially considering my status as a 'retired' teacher: youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. Mind over body...

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