I just returned from a nearly 3-week journey to Southeast Asia with my daughter Samara (a 19 year-old sophomore at NYU). It was an exceptional trip. We visited parts of the world I’d never been before – Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam and China (Hong Kong) and the exposure to the vast array of cultures and languages in this part …
Memo From Michael: The Best is Yet to Come
Happy New Year. Think of today as the first day of the rest of your life. As I said in my last note, I am committed to prove the best is yet to come and I am beginning this year with an extraordinary experience. I will be leaving tomorrow for a cruise to Southeast Asia with my oldest daughter, Samara …
COMMENTARY 797.5: The Road to Significance
The most traditional way to measure the quality of one’s life is to evaluate success by listing accolades, achievements, and acquisitions. After all, in its simplest terms, success is getting what we want and most people want wealth and status. Yet, as much pleasure as these attributes can bring, the rich, powerful, and famous usually discover that true happiness will …
COMMENTARY 795.1: I Just Talk to People
Marta was a hard-working single mother. When her minister sermonized about “living a life that matters,” she worried that working to raise her kids and going to church wasn’t enough. So, on the bus to work she made a list of other jobs she could do and volunteer work she could try. Sylvia, an elderly woman, saw the worry on …
COMMENTARY 793.1: Tell Someone They’re Valued
The students at Sandy’s high school were badly shaken by the news that a classmate had killed himself. The suicide note said, “It’s hard to live when nobody cares if you die.” Glen, a teacher, realized this was a teachable moment about the importance of making people feel valued. He asked the class to imagine they were about to die …
COMMENTARY 792.5: The Journey Through Adolescence
One of the toughest jobs in the world is being a teenager. Everything is in transition. Everything is intense — even apathy. Kids on the brink of adulthood have to cope with inconsistencies and conflicts. The desire to be special and different clashes with the need to belong and fit in. The desire for independence collides with an aversion to …
COMMENTARY 790.2: Ramadan Kareem
Ramadan Kareem. Ramadan Mubarak. Kul ‘am wa enta bi-khair! (May every year find you in good health!) Please forgive my pronunciation, but I want to respectfully offer warm wishes and greetings to my Muslim brothers and sisters during the holy month of Ramadan. To those whose entire perspective of Islam and the Qur’an is shaped by fear and hatred of Muslim extremists …
COMMENTARY 787.2: Shopping Carts and Rationalizations
When we think about character, we tend to think about big things like taking risks, acting with integrity, displaying generosity, or exhibiting self-sacrifice. These noble choices indicate character, but for the most part, our character is revealed in much smaller events like apologizing when we’re wrong, giving to causes we believe in, being honest when it’s embarrassing, and returning shopping …
COMMENTARY 785.2: The Family Treasure
A 6-year-old girl I’ll call Sarah knocked over a display case that contained a much-cherished vase once owned by her great-grandmother. Her mom loved that vase and frequently referred to it as the family treasure. The vase hit the floor with a loud crash and shattered into pieces. Sarah, shocked and frightened at what she’d done, screamed and began sobbing. …
COMMENTARY 783.1: Experimental Operation
Tess, an earnest eight-year-old was worried. Her little brother was very sick and she overheard her mom crying on the phone: “They say his only chance is an experimental operation but it isn’t covered by insurance and there’s no way we can pay for it.” she sobbed. Tess went to a jar containing all the money she had saved. Though …
COMMENTARY 782.2: Borrowing One Hundred Dollars
Tim knew his father was an important lawyer who worked most nights and weekends. So he was disappointed but not surprised when his father didn’t attend the last soccer game of the season. That night he got up the nerve to interrupt his dad’s work to ask: “How much do lawyers make?” Annoyed, his father gruffly answered, “My clients pay …
FATHERS & FATHERHOOD: Greatest Quotes About Fathers and Fatherhood compiled by Michael Josephson
We are glad you visited us to find this selection quotes on fathers. The Josephson Institute is a nonprofit organization devoted to increasing the ethical quality of individual and personal decision making. I hope you’ll browse our other entries and subscribe to our What Will Matter blog at www.whatwillmatter.com (it’s free) and/or our What Will Matter Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WhatWillMatter?ref=hl. I think …
COMMENTARY 780.1: Keep Singing, Michael
According to a story in Woman’s Day magazine, every day since Michael found out he was going to have a baby sister, he would touch his mommy’s tummy tenderly and sing all the songs he knew. Unfortunately, the baby was born in critical condition and the doctors warned that the little girl would not last through the week. Children are …
Commentary 779.4: Box Full Of Love
Todd was a sadly quiet eleven-year-old struggling to adjust to the death of his mother. His father left long ago and he was living with an aunt who made it known that she resented the responsibility. On several occasions, Sheryl, the boy’s teacher, heard the aunt tell Todd, “If it weren’t for my generosity you would be a homeless orphan.” …
COMMENTARY 779.3: Advice About Teens
Here are three suggestions for the parents of young teens, all learned through my own mistakes: First, remember, with emerging demands for independence, worries about peer acceptance, pressures of school and extra-curricular activities and a continuous search for self-identity, adolescents are on a physical and emotional roller coaster. Like every generation before them (including yours), young teens are often arrogant …
COMMENTARY 779.2: The Blue Stone and the White Lie
When my daughter Abrielle was 4, she came running down the hall screaming. “I don’t want to die! I swallowed a stone!” I immediately determined that nothing was obstructing her throat, but she was still in a panic. “It’s OK, sweetheart,” I tried to soothe her. “You’re not going to die.” She thought I didn’t understand. “But I swallowed a …
COMMENTARY 778.4: The Best Dad
Years ago I heard a story of a dad named Paul who gave his young son a small chalkboard to practice writing on. One evening his son called out from the bedroom, “Dad, how do you spell best?” Paul answered him. Moments later, the boy hollered, “How do you spell kid?” Finally he asked, “How do you spell ever?” When …
COMMENTARY 777.5: Motive, Tact, Tone, Timing
Trustworthiness is essential to good relationships, and honesty is essential to trustworthiness. Being honest isn’t simply telling the truth, though. It’s also being sincere and forthright. Thus, it’s just as dishonest to deceive someone by half-truths or silence as it is to lie. But what if honesty requires us to volunteer information that could be damaging or hurtful?
COMMENTARY 777.2: Memorial Day, A Day of Remembrance
It’s not just an excuse for a three-day weekend or a day for barbeque and beer. Memorial Day is a time for Americans to connect with our national history and core values by honoring those who gave their lives fighting for this country. It’s said that this special day to salute fallen Americans was born during the Civil War in …
COMMENTARY 777.1: Day of Gratitude
Our nation was conceived by idealistic and courageous political leaders, but it was preserved by the immense and immeasurable sacrifice of millions of soldiers who fought and died to transform the democratic principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence into a country we proudly call the United States of America.
COMMENTARY 776.3: I’m Better Than That
Ron, a nine-year-old boy, was being raised by his mother who didn’t know how to cope with his uncontrollable temper. She knew he was angry that his father had abandoned him, and she tried professional counseling, but nothing seemed to work. So she sent Ron to spend the summer on his grandparents’ farm. When he came home, he was a …
COMMENTARY 776.1: Avoiding Temptations
When my daughter Samara was four she pointed to a delicate glass vase and asked, “What’s that?” “It’s very special,” I answered. “It was my mother’s. I would really feel bad if it ever got broken, so please be careful to never, never touch it.” Without a moment’s hesitation she said, “Then you should never, never put it where I …
COMMENTARY 775.2: Getting Started
Chris’s parents were proud of him when he graduated from college. But it’s been six months and he hasn’t gotten a job yet. In fact, he hasn’t looked seriously. He has no idea what he wants to do and he’s thinking of grad school. He’s living at home with his parents and things are getting tense, especially with his father, …