“The Paradoxical Commandments
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.”
– Kent M Keith, in The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council
There’s a lot of wrong in this crazy, mixed up world. Why not be a force for what’s right, good, pure and noble anyhow? Is it foolish? Then count me among the foolish. Oh, I know and I freely confess that I fall from this way from time to time. Okay, really too too often. But, then like this morning when I was looking for something else, I stumbled across this look at the paradox of choices we have.
It touched my soul. Hopefully, it will each of yours as well.
I liked this list of ‘commandments’ so much that I am going to give Dr. Keith a free plug here with a link to his website. Whatever unexplored differences I may have with his other viewpoints those expressed above are thoughts of beauty and nobility.
ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 