C'est assez connu, voici une lettre (en anglais) adressée à un instituteur... mais par qui?
He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true.
But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero;
that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader...
Teach him for every enemy there is a friend,
Steer him away from envy, if you can, teach him the secret of quiet laughter.
Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick...
Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books...
But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside.
In the school teach him it is far honourable to fail than to cheat...
Teach him to have faith in his own ideas,
even if everyone tells him they are wrong...
Teach him to be gentle with gentle people, and tough with the tough.
Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd
when everyone is getting on the band wagon...
Teach him to listen to all men...
but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth,
and take only the good that comes through.
Teach him if you can, how to laugh when he is sad...
Teach him there is no shame in tears,
teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness...
Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders
but never to put a price-tag on his heart and soul.
Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob
and to stand and fight if he thinks he's right.
Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him,
because only the test of fire makes fine steel.
Let him have the courage to be impatient...
let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself,
because then he will have sublime faith in mankind.
This is a big order, but see what you can do...
He is such a fine fellow, my son!
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Je tente ma chance (après un petit coup de sonde sur Google, je l'avoue !!!) : Abraham Lincoln à son fils.
RépondreSupprimerQu'est-ce qu'on gagne ???
Hum ! Je me reprends : Abraham Lincoln à l'instituteur de son fils
RépondreSupprimerCelui-ci aussi est très connu :
RépondreSupprimerIf
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
Une photo dédicacée... hum, ego démesuré.
RépondreSupprimerIf de Rudyard Kipling plaît beaucoup moins à mon papa. Trop paternaliste.
Mais beau quand même.
Le texte de Lincoln est très émouvant (dixit mon papa, toujours).
Oui pour une photo dédicacée !
SupprimerMerci à papa pour l'envoi et gros bisou à toi, Barnabé !