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Thursday, December 24, 1998
| Lessons Of History. "That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach." -- Aldous Huxley "What it really means, is whether you're tall or short, whether you're fat or thin, whether you're black, brown or white, whether you look like a movie star or a person who had one boxing match too many, whatever the different circumstances of your life are, inside each of us there is a core that is the same and not one person is better than another." -- President William Jefferson Clinton, yesterday, speaking about the word "Charity." One needs to remember this. Everyone needs to remember this. I have often said that it isn't the President that makes us cheat on our taxes, on our bills to our clients, on our duty to our families and communities; it isn't the lack of morality in Washington that makes our children cheat on tests, cheat on homework, experiment with drugs, practice irresponsible sex; it isn't the acrimony in politics that makes us fight with our wives and husbands and break our marriage vows; no, it is much, much closer to home than that. It is (and here I know I will lose a lot of you) in fact our duplicity as parents, as husbands and wives; it is our lack of control; our anger; our self-indulgences that, in the end, create the world that we extol as so horrible, so reprehensible, so alarming and so decadent. It is that face in the mirror, not that face on the television, into which we should look so deeply for the answers. Try a kind word to your child this morning. Hug them and tell them that you are proud to have them. Tell you wife that you long for the days of casual relaxation and anticipation of joy, those days when just being together filled your hearts. Work harder at work today, and work with genuine enthusiasm. Use your experience to truly help your clients and customers. Pass up your vices. Indulge your ability to put others first. Stick to it all day. I promise, when you come home tonight, you will be seeing the world a little differently, and it will be a better world. It's not Washington. It's not Bill Clinton. It's you. It's me. It's us. We can't change Washington. We can't change Bill Clinton. But, we can change how we treat each other. Just today. Today is the one part of the history of all eternity that you and I can affect. That's truly the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach. To those of you who celebrate Christmas: Imbibe the spirit of that glorious holiday; eschew the masquerading impostor. To those of you who do not celebrate Christmas: remember that it is intended to solemnize and commemorate the victory of faith and spiritual growth over the material; which is the common goal of all religions, over all the ages. Merry Christmas. |
