American President's Letter to His Son's Teacher

Honoured teacher,

My son starts school today. After a while, everything will be strange and new, so I'd like you to treat it gently.

It's an adventure he'll take with him across all continents. Such adventures that may involve wars, tragedies, and disasters. Living this life, you need faith, love, and courage. So, dear teacher, I'd like you to take advantage of the things you'd need to know, teach him, but gently, if you can.

Learn that for every enemy there is a friend. He will have to learn that not all people are right, that not all people are honest. However, learn that for every page there is a hero and that for every bad politician, there is a dedicated leader. Learn if you can that 10 cents are worth a lot more than a dollar. In school, teacher, it's much more honest to fail than to cheat.

Teach him how to lose kindly and how to enjoy victory when he wins. Teach him to be kind to good people and harsh with harsh people.

Try to stay as far away from envy as you can, and learn the secret of a genuine smile.

Learn it if possible how to laugh when it is sad and that shedding tears is no shame at all. Learn that there can be an honest failure and shameful victories. Learn to mock the Cynics.

Learn it if it can detect the miracle of reading books, but also give it enough time to see the eternal mystery of flying birds in the sky, of sun and flowers on a green hill.

Teach him to trust his ideas even if everyone says they're wrong. Try to teach my son my strength not to follow the crowd even when they all run after the victors. Teach him to listen attentively to every man, but also to see all that he hears in the Web site of truth, and to take only the good.

Teach him how to sell his talent and intelligence to the highest bidder, but never accept any kind of price for the soul and heart. Let him have the courage to be impatient. Let him have the patience to be brave.

Teach him to trust in himself based, for then he will always have subliminal trust in mankind and in God. These are the requests teachers, but you do the best you can. He's a good little kid. And he's my son”

With respect,

Abraham Lincoln