Values for Americans

One of the most basic moral values for Americans is honesty. The well-known legend about George Washington and the cherry tree teaches this value clearly. Little George cut down his father’s favorite cherry tree while trying out his new hatchet. When his father asked him about it, George said, “I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my hatchet.” Instead of punishment, George received praise for telling the truth. Sometimes American honesty–being open and direct–can offend people. But Americans still believe that “honesty is the best policy.”

Another virtue Americans respect is perseverance. Remember Aesop's fable about the turtle and the rabbit that had a race? The rabbit thought he could win easily, so he took a nap. But the turtle finally won because he did not give up. Another story tells of a little train that had to climb a steep hill. The hill was so steep that the little train had a hard time trying to get over it. But the train just kept pulling, all the while saying, “I think I can, I think I can.” At last, the train was over the top of the hill. “I thought I could, I thought I could,” chugged the happy little train.

Compassion may be the queen of American virtues. The story of “The Good Samaritan” from the Bible describes a man who showed compassion. On his way to a certain city, a Samaritan man found a poor traveler lying on the road. The traveler had been beaten and robbed. The kind Samaritan, instead of just passing by, stopped to help this person in need.

Compassion can even turn into a positive cycle. In fall 1992, people in Iowa sent truckloads of water to help Floridians hit by a hurricane. The next summer, during the Midwest flooding, Florida returned the favor. In less dramatic ways, millions of Americans are quietly passing along the kindnesses shown to them.

The lesson of a tree

I should not take either the biggest or the most picturesque tree to illustrate it. Here is one of my favorites now before me, a fine yellow poplar, quite straight, perhaps 90 feet high, and four thick at the butt. How strong, vital, enduring! how dumbly eloquent! What suggestions of imperturbability and being, as against the human trait of mere seeming. Then the qualities, almost emotional, palpably artistic, heroic, of a tree; so innocent and harmless, yet so savage. It is, yet says nothing. How it rebukes by its tough and equable serenity all weathers, this gusty-temper’d little whiffet, man, that runs indoors at a mite of rain or snow. Science （or rather half-way science） scoffs at reminiscence of dryad and hamadryad, and of trees speaking. But, if they don’t, they do as well as most speaking, writing, poetry, sermons—or rather they do a great deal better. I should say indeed that those old dryad-reminiscences are quite as true as any, and profounder than most reminiscences we get. （“Cut this out,” as the quack mediciners say, and keep by you.） Go and sit in a grove or woods, with one or more of those voiceless companions, and read the foregoing, and think.

One lesson from affiliating a tree—perhaps the greatest moral lesson anyhow from earth, rocks, animals, is that same lesson of inherency, of what is, without the least regard to what the looker on （the critic） supposes or says, or whether he likes or dislikes. What worse—what more general malady pervades each and all of us, our literature, education, attitude toward each other, （even toward ourselves,） than a morbid trouble about seems, （generally temporarily seems too,） and no trouble at all, or hardly any, about the sane, slow-growing, perennial, real parts of character, books, friendship, marriage—humanity’s invisible foundations and hold-together?

The joys of writing

The fortunate people in the world—the only reallyfortunate people in the world, in my mind, are those whose work is also their pleasure. The class is not a large one, not nearly so large as it is often represented to be; and authors are perhaps one of the most important elements in its composition.They enjoy in this respect at least a real harmony of life. To my mind, to be able to make your work your pleasure is the one class distinction in the world worth striving for; and I do not wonder that others are inclined to envy those happy human beings who find their livelihood in the gay effusions of their fancy, to whom every hour of labour is an hour of enjoyment, to whom repose—however necessary—is a tiresome interlude. And even a holiday is almost deprivation. Whether a man writes well or ill, has much to say or little, if he cares aboutwriting at all, he will appreciate the pleasures of composition. To sit at one's table on a sunny morning, with four clear hours of uninterruptible security, plenty of nice white paper, and a Squeezer pen—that is true happiness. The complete absorption of the mind upon an agreeable occupation—what more is there than that to desire? What does it matter what happens outside？The House of Commons may do what it likes, and so may the House of Lords. The heathen may rage furiously in every part of the globe. The bottom may be knocked clean out of the American market. Consols may fall and suffragettes may rise. Nevermind, for four hours, at any rate, we will withdraw ourselves from a common, ill-governed, and disorderly world, and with the key of fancy unlock that cupboard where all the good things of the infinite are put away.

Three passions

Three passions, simple but overwhelming strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course ,over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy----ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours for this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness-----that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what---at last---I have found.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I can’t, and I too suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

The Americans

Americans are a peculiar people. They work like mad, then give away much of what they earn. They play until they are exhausted, and call this a vacation. They live to think of themselves as tough-minded business men, yet they are push-overs for any hard luck story. They have the biggest of nearly everything including government, motor cars and debts, yet they are afraid of bigness. They are always trying to chip away at big government, big business, big unions, big influence. They like to think of themselves as little people, average men, and they would like to cut everything down to their own size. Yet they boast of their tall buildings, high mountains, long rivers, big state, the best country, the best world, the best heaven. They also have the most traffic deaths, the most waste, the most racketeering.

When they meet, they are always telling each other, "Take it easy," then they rush off like crazy in opposite directions. They play games as if they were fighting a war, and fight wars as if playing a game. They marry more, go broke more often, and make more money than any other people. They love children, animals, gadgets, mother, work, excitement, noise, nature, television shows, comedy, installment buying, fast motion, spectator sports, the underdog, the flag, Christmas, jazz, shapely women and muscular men, classical recordings, crowds, comics, cigarettes, warm houses in winter and cool ones in summer, thick beefsteaks, coffee, ice cream, informal dress, plenty of running water, do-it-yourself, and a working week trimmed to forty hours or less.

They crowd their highways with cars while complaining about the traffic, flock to movies and television while griping about the quality and the commercials, go to church but don't care much for sermons, and drink too much in the hope of relaxing － only to find themselves stimulated to even bigger dreams.

There is of course, no typical American. But if you added them all together and then divided by 226 000 000 they would look something like what this chapter has tried to portray.

The English

The contrasting English and American patterns have some remarkable implications, particularly if we assume that man, like other animals, has a built-in need to shut himself off from others from time to time. An English student in one of my seminars typified what happens when hidden patterns clash. He was quite obviously experiencing strain in his relationships with Americans. Nothing seemed to go right and it was quite clear from his remarks that we did not know how to behave. An analysis of his complaints showed that a major source of irritation was that no American seemed to be able to pick up the subtle clues that there were times when he didn’t want his thoughts intruded on. As he started it, “I’m walking around the apartment and it seems that whenever I want to be alone my roommate starts talking to me. Pretty soon he’s asking ‘What’s the matter?’ and wants to know if I’m angry. By then I am angry and say something.”

It took some time but finally we were able to identify most of the contrasting features of the American and Britain problems that were in conflict in this case. When the American wants to be alone he goes into a room and shuts the door---he depends on architectural features for screening. For an American to refuse to talk to someone else present in the same room, to give them the “silent treatment,” is the ultimate form of rejection and a sure sign of great displeasure. The English, on the other hand, lacking rooms of their own since childhood, never developed the practice of using space as a refuge from others. They have in effect internalized a set of barriers, which they erect and which others are supposed to recognize. Therefore, the more the Englishman shuts himself off when he is with an American the more likely the American is to break in to assure himself that all is well. Tension lasts until the two get to know each other. The important point is that the spatial and architectural needs of each are not the same at all.

Advice to Youth

Being told I would be expected to talk here, I inquired what sort of talk I ought to make. They said it should be something suitable to youth-something didactic, instructive, or something in the nature of good advice. Very well. I have a few things in my mind which I have often longed to say for the instruction of the young; for it is in one’s tender early years that such things will best take root and be most enduring and most valuable. First, then. I will say to you my young friends—and I say it beseechingly, urgingly—

Always obey your parents, when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run, because if you don’t, they will make you. Most parents think they know better than you do, and you can generally make more by humoring that superstition than you can by acting on your own better judgment.

Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any, also to strangers, and sometimes to others. If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. That will be sufficient. If you shall find that he had not intended any offense, come out frankly and confess yourself in the wrong when you struck him; acknowledge it like a man and say you didn’t mean to. Yes, always avoid violence; in this age of charity and kindliness, the time has gone by for such things. Leave dynamite to the low and unrefined.

Go to bed early, get up early- this is wise. Some authorities say get up with the sun; some say get up with one thing, others with another. But a lark is really the best thing to get up with. It gives you a splendid reputation with everybody to know that you get up with the lark; and if you get the right kind of lark, and work at him right, you can easily train him to get up at half past nine, every time—it’s no trick at all.

Companionship of books

A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.

A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.

Men often discover their affinity to each other by the love they have each for a book -------just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both have for a third. There is an old proverb: “love me, love my dog.”But there is more wisdom in this: “love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.

“Books”， said Hazlitt, “wind into the heart; the poet’s verse slides in the current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be had very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books.”

A good book is often the best urn of a life, enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.

“They are never alone,”said Sir Philip Sidney, “that are accompanied by noble thoughts.”

The good and true thought may in times of temptation be as an angel of mercy purifying and guarding the soul. It also enshrines the germs of action, for good words almost always inspire to good works.

Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.

Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.

The great and good do not die ever in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of old. The imperial intellects of the world are as much alive now as they were ages ago.

A tribute to the dog

1. The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter whom he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith.

2. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolute, unselfish friend a man may have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog.

3. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground when the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer. He will lick the sores and wounds that come in the encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince.

4. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth, an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes and death takes its master in its embrace and the body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there, by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness faithful and true even to death.

Three days to see

Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista. So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.

…

I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would tech him the joys of sound.

Now and them I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friends who had　just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed "Nothing in particular, " she replied. I might have been incredulous had I not been accustomed to such reposes, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.

How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In the spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter's sleep. I feel the delightful, velvety texture of a flower, and discover its remarkable convolutions; and something of the miracle of Nature is revealed to me. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have the cool waters of a brook rush thought my open finger. To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. To me the page ant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama, the action of which streams through my finger tips.

Thick Description

I cut lines of ink as I read through the night.
 I imagine the margins1 on pages are slim wings
 between plankton2 and stars. I find what I need
 in far sources. I make them intimate,

I make them mine with the speed of light.

He was seventeen, just a man, still a boy and ready to die.
 A true sacrifice, a living encounter --
                                                      This father has paid
 the sum of a daughter's dowry for his son to be consecrated
 with a rod through his cheeks and tongue. The boy's face,
 his mouth pierced and gaping3, hangs on the page, helpless.

His clove-jelly eyes float and metamorphose into my mother's
 eyes, eyes I can't possibly remember without images like his --
 images forbidden, seized and smuggled4 into my life.
 I can make anything mean what I need to find.

The stolen scrap5, the plosive glance saturated6 in
 longing is not looking at me: I am looking at it.
 Every description is thick with a will to revivify --
 reclaim, renounce7, rename what is sought.

Blind hunger drives when I read. A scream, the echo of
 a scream, hangs over that Nova Scotian village ... and bit
 by bit a village I've never seen swells8 into me. The ovoid
 mouth of my mother's life, its slivering9 silence exists

in that scream -- unheard, in memory. She came alive
forever -- not loud, just alive forever redeemed10 from her never
 with no speech. A noun transformed to modify
 action revived her, returned her to me.

The words as they lay may refuse to say what you need.
 Drop to your knees. Crawl beneath the overhanging,
 the dangling11 down. Stroke the described,
 from underneath12. It reeks13 of the atavistic

to live. It survives by swallowing.

Honeymoon

We didn't have one, unless you count Paris,
 20 years later, after we'd almost given up on the idea.
 We'd imagined one, long nights beneath
 a warm celestial2 sky; him growing his beard,
 me in a silk turquoise3 robe, floating, billowing,
 on a deserted4 beach foraging5 for whole sand dollars,
 jelly fish washed up on the shore, their glittering insides
 visible, still pulsing through flesh made of glass,
 but it never happened. We had to work through
 our vacations, refinance the house, find someone
 to cut down the cedar6 that threatened to bury us
 with each storm. We wanted to make up
 for the wedding, or lack of one, the granite
 courthouse steps, the small room with a desk,
 the flimsy document stamped with a cheap gold seal.
 Even then we meant to have a party on the deck,
 cheese and crackers7, fruit plates, sparkling
 grape cider in plastic cups, our friends on the lawn
 calling you the Big Kahuna, me Mrs. Dynamite,
 me calling you my Sweet Dragon, you calling me
 your little Red Corvette. Instead, time found a way
 to demand each minute, until one night,
 after you'd gotten a small windfall in the mail,
 you turned to me and said, I'm going to take you to Paris,
 me in my ratty robe and floppy8 slippers9, you
 in your flannel10 pj bottoms and black wife beater,
 muting the clicker when I said "What?"
 and saying it again. Then we were there,
 in our 60s, standing11 below the dire12 Eiffel Tower,
 its 81 stories of staircases we couldn't possibly climb,
 its 73 thousand tons of puddled iron, you
 taking my picture for posterity13, me
 kissing you beneath the pathway of arched trees,
 our voices echoing against the six million skulls
 embedded inside the stone catacombs, me
 saying, I guess you weren't kidding, you
 taking my hand in the rain.

Obama speech to reshape the American economy

Elkhart, Indiana was the first town I visited as President. I'd been on the job for three weeks, and we were just a few months into the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. Elkhart was hit harder than most. Unemployment there peaked at nearly twenty percent shortly after my visit. Nearly one in five people there were out of work.

This week, I returned to Elkhart. Unemployment there has now fallen to around four percent. More families are back on sturdy ground; more are covered by health insurance; more of their kids are graduating from high school. And it's no accident - it's because people there worked hard, and sacrificed, and looked out for each other.

But it's also because we made a series of smart decisions early in my presidency1. To rescue the auto2 industry. To help families refinance their homes. To invest in things like high-tech3 manufacturing, clean energy, and the infrastructure4 that creates good new jobs - not to mention the job training that helps folks earn new skills to fill those jobs.

The results are clear. America's businesses have created 14.5 million new jobs over 75 straight months. We've seen the first sustained manufacturing growth since the nineties. We've cut unemployment by more than half. Another 20 million Americans have health insurance. And we've cut our deficits5 by nearly 75 percent.

We haven't fixed6 everything. Wages, while growing again, need to grow faster. The gap between the rich and everyone else is still way too wide. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly blocked investments and initiatives that would have created jobs faster. But the middle class isn't getting squeezed because of minorities, or immigrants, or moochers, or anyone else we're told to blame for our problems. If we're going to fix what needs fixing, we can't divide ourselves. We've got to come together, around our common economic goals. We've got to push back against policies that protect powerful special interests, and push for a better deal for all working Americans.

That's the choice you'll get to make this year. Between policies that raise wages, and policies that won't. Between strengthening Social Security and making it more generous, or making it harder to help people save and retire. Between strengthening the rules we put on Wall Street to prevent another crisis, or dismantling7 them. Between a tax code that's fair for working families, or wasteful8 tax cuts for a fortunate few at the very top.

Over the past seven years, we've proven that progress is possible. But it's not inevitable9. It depends on us. It depends on the choices we make. And if we come together, around our common values, and our belief in opportunity for everyone who puts in the effort - then we'll deliver on a brighter future for all of us. Thanks, and have a great weekend.

2016 NPC wonderful quotation 08

Many countries, such as France, Japan and the US, celebrate both their own reading festivals and the World Reading Day, and that China should follow the trend, especially when its population reads far less than other countries. Reading plays a critical role in shaping of national literacy1 and improving people's cultivation2.

Zhu Yongxin, deputy3 secretary general of the CPPCC

The majority of Chinese middle school students are suffering from lack of sleep every day, and this could hurt their health. To get their homework done, many students cannot go to bed until 11 pm or even later. And they have to get up around 5:30 am to ensure they get to school before 7 am. Under pressure from their parents, teachers or even themselves, many students sacrifice their sleep for good performances on tests. I suggest schools start classes after 7:30 am, and nail down a deadline for when students must be dismissed4.

Dong Hengyu, member of the CPPCC National Committee and member of the Standing Committee of the China Democratic League Central Committee

12 reasons to study more

1. You will optimize1 your brain power

This shouldn't come as a shock, but studies suggest reading makes you smart. Unlike watching television, which requires no thought process, reading is an active learning experience that will keep your mind sharp (even in old age).

2. You will increase your odds2 of success

The more books you read, the more knowledge you will have, the more strategies and resources your brain will store, the more likely you will succeed.

3. You will immerse yourself in a new world

Sometimes our daily life can start to feel dull, dry or depressing -- I know it, you know it, we all know it. At times like this, I like to dive into a good fiction book for a much-needed escape into another world, where I can forget about whatever problems are stressing me out. Whether you want to travel to the land of the Hobbits, a galaxy3 far away or a tropical destination in a steamy romance novel is up to you. You'll come back refreshed after your mini-vacation to a fresh and exciting place in the world of words.

4. You will improve your vocabulary

The more words you're capable of using, the better you will become at expressing your thoughts and feelings. I couldn't imagine how I would write articles like this if I didn't actively4 aim to expand my vocabulary, because using the same few words to express myself would get awfully5 boring in a hurry (don't you agree?).

5. You will have things to talk about at parties

Reading more books will enable you to say the sentence, "Did you know ______?" more often, making it easier to start conversations with strangers (or, as I like to say, "People who aren't my friends yet").

6. You will entertain yourself for a low price

If you're looking for entertainment on a budget, you can't beat books. Thanks to the popularity of electronic reading devices like the Kindle6 and re-selling websites like eBay, it's never been easier to entertain yourself for hours at a time, for the low cost of a few dollars.

7. You will discover surprising new ideas that are interesting and engaging

Reading introduced me to concepts like mindful eating, relaxation7 exercises, and the importance of loving yourself. If I didn't read, I wouldn't even be aware of these ideas, which have defined my entire coaching philosophy. If you don't read, you could be missing out on intriguing8 ideas that would likewise re-define your personal purpose or business philosophy.

8. You will eliminate boredom9 during down-time

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a waiting room, bored out of your mind, with nothing to read but gossip magazines? If so, you should know that it is wise to keep a book in your purse or car at all times, as you never know when you'll find yourself with some time to kill. Even if you just take a few minutes to read a chapter during your commute10 and lunch break every day, those minutes will quickly turn into hours if repeated consistently.

9. You will strengthen your patience muscles

We live in a society that expects instant gratification, which is anything but a blessing11 for most people's success in life, as there is nothing "quick" or "easy" about losing weight or starting a successful business. While it might be "easier" to watch a two-hour movie, it is far more beneficial to spend forty-eight hours reading a book. Opting12 for the book over the TV will strengthen your patience muscles over time, resulting in more success in business and life.

10. You will become an expert in your field

Don't you think reading academic journals, articles, and books by experts in your field might make you better at what you do? If you can't be bothered to learn more about your profession, then your lack of passion could be a sign that you're in the wrong field.

11. You will reduce stress and unwind into a good night's sleep

Exposing yourself to artificial light on your cellphone, TV or tablet reduces your body's production of melatonin, which can make it difficult to get a good night's sleep, if you do so late at night. You would be wise to cut off all electronics at least an hour before bed, and replace that with a good book, which is a much better sleep-friendly alternative.

12. You will change your life

I firmly believe that if it wasn't for books, I wouldn't have achieved an awful lot in my life; nor would I have the knowledge, imagination or creativity that I depend on as a writer, business owner, and coach. I hope these reasons to read more books encourage you to unlock your potential with the power of reading.