Monday, March 24, 2008

An Inspiring Letter by Abraham Lincoln

Hello friends, I am back this time with something new! Recently while flipping through a literary book, a letter caught my attention. This letter was written by the former President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, to the Headmaster of the school in which his son was studying. After reading this letter, it touched the core of my heart and so I thought it best to share it with all of you! I am sure it has something for all of us to learn from….whether young or old, it has a profound message for everyone. Here it goes:

To,
The Headmaster

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,
For every selfish politician,
There is a dedicated leader!

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 to enjoy winning
Steer him away from envy, if you can
And 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 time to ponder over the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
Bees in the sun and flowers on the green hillside
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 into the bandwagon!

Teach him to listen to all men,
But teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth,
And take away 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 of 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 is 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 big order but see what you can do
He is such a fine little fellow, my son!

Yours sincerely,
Abraham Lincoln

This letter by Abraham Lincoln has left me spellbound and speechless. I had read about this great soul; but after reading this, there is more respect and admiration embedded in my heart for this eminent personality.


33 comments:

Anonymous

Thank you Meghna for placing in your post that wonderful letter, which I had never seen or even heard of before now.

You have excelled yet again!

I am a lover of children's literature

Ah, this is a great letter from a very great man. Reading it reminds me why, this president, more than any other, is the greatest of all American presidents and truly, without a doubt, one of the greatest leaders in all of history!

Abraham Lincoln was a simple man, but, at the same time, also a simply brilliant man, a man of God, and a friend of all. My favorite Lincoln quote is this:

"The best way to eliminate your enemy is to turn him into your friend!"

I will always remember that and can testify that the principle works! I tried it and it demonstrated to me the incredible intelligence and wisdom of this remarkable man!

Thanks for bringing this letter to light, as I, like zencath, was not aware of it.

Jaggu

Simple and great letter. Thanks for posting this.

Meghna

Hi Zencath,
I am glad you liked it! Thanks :D

Meghna

Hi Don,
I agree....Abraham Lincoln is one of the finest personalities of America! I have heard of this quote before and am always inspired by it. I am glad you read the letter and found it to your interest!

Meghna

Hi Jaggu,
It is of course simple yet great! I am glad you liked it! :D

JesieBlogJourney

Meghna,
I have never read or heard of this letter. The letter reflects his leadership. I like it.
Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents. There were not many great presidents like him.

broca's area

good one:)...what was the headmasters reaction to this?]

Peter Pie

That really was an exalting letter, Meghna. I enjoyed reading it. Was not aware of such a communication. Today's generation has a lot to learn from this. Thanks for sharing.joxwy

Anonymous

Hey Meghnak!
Thankyou for inspiring me and making me have faith. Thankyou for sharing that with us and for teaching me many things. I love it!!! I loved reading it. It touched my heart and made me think of how sill i was when i fail and i just fall and say i'll never be smart!
But the one that i loved most was how it said there is always a friend in an enemy, always a leader in a bad person.
You inspired me. I enjoyed that.
But is it true? Did he really write it?

--xh--

thnxmeghz for posting this. itz indeed inspirational...

Meghna

Hi jesie,
I agree too. Lincoln was a great man!
Glad you liked it :D

Meghna

Hi pratap,
Glad you liked it too. Great question...I was wondering too but could not find out :(

Meghna

Hi Peter,
I agree , the young generation has a lot to learn from this but the elders can take a lesson too :)

Meghna

Hi nadine,
We both are similar in many ways I believe. This letter inspired and encouraged me to take the right way in life too and I am glad I shared it with you all! I believe he really wrote that letter!

Meghna

Hi BB,
I am glad I did it...I mean posted this :)

Unknown

That was a wonderful find u posted.. An awesomely inspiring start for my day... Thanks Meghs...

Anonymous

Hi Meghna

Thanks for visiting my blog. You are a gifted writer.

This letter left me speechless. I wish everyparent would like Abraham Lincoln

Love
Ananya

Meghna

Hi Hari,
I'm glad I could do that :)

Meghna

Hi Ananya,
The same stands for you too. You are exceptionally talented! I wish so too :)

Stephie

Hi Meghna, this letter is great. It has a lot to learn. Great post!
Congratulations! Thanks for posting this wonderful letter.

Meghna

Hi stephie,
This letter certainly has a lot to learn from and I am glad you liked it :D

Vishesh

i have read that in a lot places...but well schools now days are not like that...

suvaiba

hey meghu
gr8 letter i mean dis he was such a brilliant man
wid his gr8 thoughts, gr8 work,gr8 skillz
just AMAZING
were did you get it frm

Meghna

Hi Vishesh,
Glad to know that you take out time to read such great things...And I think I agree with you. School stress upon material education more than moral education these days.

Meghna

Hi Suvaiba,
Glad you liked it :D He certainly was a remarkable person!
I read it in a literary magazine and then shared it with you all.

gypsy

i love it...

have read it long time back an it is one of my favs...

Meghna

Hi neha,
Glad you liked it :D
Thamanminnks!

Anonymous

Thanks for sharing this. Suddenly, the American man is not ignorant. And I mean this not in a bad way.

Meghna

Hi patlaw,
I am glad to have shared this with you! Thanks :P

Javeed

Hi,
I was looking for a material to write to my daughter.

The material I was looking for was te a kind that will provoke her mind, and tell her that every person is individual and should be treated as such with due respect and attention at the same time not compromising self identity.

On surfing I got to your blog.......sure it is a great place, do keep writting, you got a talent

Ashwini Damani

posted a similar thing on my blog.
check the speech by Azim Premji on my blog

www.goldensilt.blogspot.com

the easy link is
http://goldensilt.blogspot.com/2011/10/excerpts-from-azim-premjis-address-at_14.html

Shor

To my mind during the last couple of centuries many changes have been made in a scientific field of our life. Now the motivation of students that prepare dissertation proposal examples with that site help for the first time or on a regular basis can make them think in alternative way and meaning. We need a custom writing company that can prove its abilities in making structurally perfect ones short stories for my college mates this year or the next.

Blogger template 'YellowFlower' by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008