Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: What Shall A Father Tell His Son?

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Topic: What Shall A Father Tell His Son?

Gerard S. Cohen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 975
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 03-10-2003 09:14 PM

A father sees a son nearing manhood.
What shall he tell that son?
'Life is hard; be steel; be a rock.'
And this might stand him for the storms
and serve him for humdrum and monotony
and guide him amid sudden betrayals
and tighten him for slack moments.
'Life is a soft loam; be gentle; go easy.'
And this too might serve him.
Brutes have been gentled where lashes failed.
The growth of a frail flower in a path up
has sometimes shattered and split a rock.
A tough will counts. So does desire.
So does a rich soft wanting.
Without rich wanting nothing arrives.
Tell him too much money has killed men
And left them dead years before burial:
The quest of lucre beyond a few easy needs
Has twisted good enough men
Sometimes into dry thwarted worms.
Tell him time as a stuff can be wasted.
Tell him to be a fool every so often
and to have no shame over having been a fool
yet learning something out of every folly
hoping to repeat none of the cheap follies
thus arriving at intimate understanding
of a world numbering many fools.

Tell him to be alone often and get at himself
and above all tell himself no lies about himself
whatever the white lies and protective fronts
he may use amongst other people.
Tell him solitude is creative if he is strong
and the final decisions are made in silent rooms.
Tell him to be different from other people
if it comes natural and easy being different.
Let him have lazy days seeking his deeper motives.
Let him seek deep for where he is a born natural.
Then he may understand Shakespeare
and the Wright brothers, Pasteur, Pavlov,
Michael Faraday and free imaginations
Bringing changes into a world resenting change.
He will be lonely enough
to have time for the work
he knows as his own.
—From 'The People, Yes' Carl Sandburg

Thinking of all the fine sons and daughters in our midst,
I dedicate the above lines from one of America's favorite poets,
to them all.
---Gerard

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Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 03-10-2003 10:05 PM

"Be good...or if you can't be good, be careful."

And the ever popular, "Put a helmet on that soldier!"

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Chris Byrne
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 102
From: Kirwan, Australia
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 03-11-2003 10:06 PM

'Take a look at the girl's mother. If you can live with that - go for it!'

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Phil Hill
I love my cootie bug

Posts: 7595
From: Hollywood, CA USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 03-11-2003 11:07 PM

I tried to teach not just my son, but my daughters the following, in no particular order:

1) Always respect people, no matter their station in life, for they are basically just the same as you or me. (I am excluding the radicals that want to kill everyone and/or the corporate jerks/step-on-ladder climbers, and in general the low-lifes…. I'm talkin' "normal" people)!

2) Always stand tall for your beliefs and convictions, even if they are not popular.

3) If someone is un-enlightened, show them your point without specifically demeaning them. If they cannot see your point, agree to disagree.

4) Keep an open mind, keep your morals, and keep your "sense" of what is right.

5) Work hard AND play hard!

6) Be honest in your relationships both in personal and in business issues.

7) Develop and always keep a great sense of humor. Let things "roll off your back". And never take yourself too seriously…life is too short!

8) Be honest to yourself…YOU are the ***ONLY*** ONE that you ALWAYS have to look at in the mirror.

9) Thank your lucky stars you are a citizen of a free country that allows unpopular opinions and dissent without being tortured or executed.

10) And lastly, be appreciative for a life-style and opportunities that MANY of us take for granted and some of us feel that it is "owed" to us!

>>> Phil

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