Parents Teachers Partnership

Parents Teachers Partners Ship
For the Development Of that Child you love.
SAMUEL UFOT EKEKERE

3 AUDIOBOOK COLLECTIONS
6 BOOK COLLECTIONS
©2013 Samuel Ufot Ekekere

Uyo, Nigeria.
THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

DEDICATION
To My Mum, A Great Teacher And All The Great Teachers And
Parents Out There

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Here’s Lincoln’s Letter
For Real Parents And Teachers
1. He Will Have To Learn

2. All Men Are Not Just And True
3. But Teach Him
4. The Hero In Every Scoundrel
5. A Dedicated Leader For Every Selfish Politician
6. For Every Enemy There Is A Friend
7. Envy Kills
8. Secret Of Quite Laughter
9. Learning Early

10. Challenge The Bullies
11. The Wonder In Books
12. Better Fail Than Cheat
13. Have Confidence In Your Ideas
14. Be Gentle When You Have To Be
15. Strength Against The Bandwagon Effect
16. Listen And Filter
17. Stand And Fight For The Right
18. Sometimes You Can Be Impatient
19. Faith In Yourself
20. Faith In Mankind
21. No Shame In Tears
22. Don’t Be Cheap

HERE’S LINCOLN’S LETTER
He will have to learn
I know 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
bird in the sky, bees in the sun and the flowers on the green hill.
In school, teach him, it is far more honorable to fail than to

cheat. Teach him to have sublime faith in his own ideas even if
everyone tells him they are wrong.
Teach him to be gentle with gentle with gentle people and tough
with the tough. Try to give my son the strength not to follow the
bandwagon. Teach him to listen to all men but teach him to
filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good hat
comes through.
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.
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 bidder but
never to put a price tag on his soul.
Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and

fight if he thinks he is right. Treat him gently, do not cuddle him,
because only the test of fire makes fine steel

FOR REAL PARENTS AND
TEACHERS
AN
H
ere is the book you so much have to read.
Why? It’s based on what a great teacher had
written centuries ago. We often admire the
courage of this great man but we have lost touch with
the ideals that had driven him through to becoming INTRODUCTION
who he became.
Only a teacher can teach a teacher. For this man to

have handed some of the best advice and thoughts to
a teacher, he was passing down an expectation.
One great attribute about this man is that he was a

devoted parent who like every great parent desired
the best for his son. He had the same feeling most

parents have, that one desire to have his child surpass him.
For a man who had had it tough growing up and having many dreams
dashed, he knew what being on both sides of a coin could mean. He
was not fortunate to have the formal education like his peers but he
knew what he wanted and pushed had learning to study.
This man knew failure by his face. Nevertheless, he was determined to

become a success and he became one. He stood for his beliefs and
though he died for his beliefs, he left indelible marks, unquestioned in
the sands of time.’
Whenever we talk about a never give up spirit and determination, we

often recall the heroics of this man.
He knew the power in hard work and the influence he can always have
when he stands for the right. He learnt from nature and took his time
to understudy life.

The letter he wrote to his son’s teacher was from practical experience;
those of hard earn labor, one he was passing across to his teacher on a
platter.
When you are through with this book and fall into the depths of the
thoughts that this book addresses, you will come alive into the
thoughts that this same man had.
This man is Abraham Lincoln.

A HE WILL
braham Lincoln chose to make this statement “He
will have to learn” his first in his foremost letter to his
son’s teacher. Every child will have to learn. This is
against the rationalist school of thought that
propounds knowledge as being in-built in man.
The great philosopher Plato postulated his belief in

HAVE TO
experience and learning when he said that at birth
the mind of a child is a tabula radą. He opined that
the human brain is empty and man imputes
LEARN
knowledge into it.
Abraham Lincoln was in Plato’s school of thought.

“My son will have to learn if he must develop,” he
often thought to himself. He understood the principle

ONE
of learning having achieved the much he had achieved because he
learnt.
He might not have had the opportunity to get good formal education
at the beginning of his life but he developed himself when the
opportunity came in books.
Today’s parents have a responsibility to ensure their children learn.

With the advancement of technology and increased learning, keeping
a child in the bunker limits the child and puts him at disadvantage
against his peers.
Great parents know like Abraham Lincoln that their wards would have
to learn if they must outdo them. You want to see their wards outdo
you. Any child that has to do so must have to learn.

Abraham Lincoln had achieved so much as president but that did not
stop him from desiring the best for his ward. He knew he would be a
failed father if he does not pass down the same qualities and secrets
that had helped him achieve the much he had achieved.
The teachings offered by parents as the first teachers of their children

are great. Abraham Lincoln like every parent had trained his ward.
However, he knew that the training he was offering would not be

enough to put his child at advantage at the top especially in a fast
changing world of his time. His political pursuit had taken his time
away from his son. He opted to transfer the training of his ward to a
teacher as a matter of choice.

Every Parent does same too. You may know quite a lot but that lot is
not enough to position your child. Teachers thus come handy as the
incubators of knowledge for your wards.
Parents know that if their wards will have to achieve, they would have
the help of teachers at their disposal. They know their wards will have
to learn and they pass that information to teachers.
Parents may not say a word when they bring their kids to the school
but the silent words they are passing across to the teachers are that
“this child will have to learn.”
Teachers realize that their major responsibility is to ensure that they

achieve the parents’ desire of having their children learn.

Abraham Lincoln was a president of America. He would probably have
thought, “Why should my son have to go to school?” but he did not
because he made the education of his child a priority. No matter how
achieved you may be as a parent, you still have to offer your wards the
best education. When you do run to teachers, it is because you believe
in the capacity of the teachers to carry out your silent order.
Some kids could be bright, average, or dull. Even when parents know
their wards are very bright, they do not drop them at home, they want
them to know more. Parents of average children want their wards to
become excellent while parents of dull ones want their wards to
improve and match their peers, class for class.
Teachers’ responsibility is to ensure whether their students are bright,

average, or dull, they teach and impart their lives.

Kids sometimes pose a strong challenge to their parents. They often
want to sit at home, but parents stand against this. Child you will have
to learn, they often say. Parents thus force their wards out to school
against their wish.
The truth teachers must realize is that no child loves the stressful
learning and schooling process. They prefer to sit in the house and
play games rather than find their way to school. Parents want teachers
to know that their wards choice would have being to stay at home and
rest but that they have to force them out because they believe the
teachers have the capacity to mold them to see the possibilities that
education can offer them.
Parents would want to see the teachers attract the students to school
by developing the teacher’s poise. They do not want to force the

children to school after having to push them out of the home. They
want teachers to understand that they must be motivating enough to
attract the students and bolster their desire to learn.
Parents believe teachers have enormous influence and they want to

see this influence affect their wards.
That child will have to learn. No child is finished. Every child is

important, however the weakness inherent in the child. If parents had
believed their wards had no ability, they would not have sent their
wards to the teachers.
Though parents may not have all the capacity to achieve their so
desired goals in their wards, they are throwing it at the teacher
because they believe the teacher can add his impact and make their
wards better persons.
Teachers know no child is too poor for their impact. It is because you
are a teacher that is why you have students come around you.
They will have to learn, however bad or good they are. Those kids
desire your impact as a teacher and they will always value the much
you are doing today many years after.

ALL MEN ARE
A
braham Lincoln’s next words in his foremost
letter are a revelation. He learnt by experience,
that he could not trust everyone that came
along his way. Not all men are just. Not
NOT JUST,
everyone is fair.
From the beginning of life, people have chosen

ALL MEN ARE
to go paths against the right. Most persons want
special treatment offered to them and NOT TRUE
unnecessary advantage over others. This was
Abraham Lincoln’s observation, one that is still
the vogue in our time.
Abraham Lincoln saw it necessary to tell his

son’s teacher this, the same message he is TWO
passing to all teachers. He wanted his son to develop a bit of caution
in dealing with people and expect that sometimes he could get
negative treatment from the persons he was dealing with against his
expectation.
Every parent’s silent words carry Abraham’s Lincoln’s words. You hear
parents say, “do not trust anyone, be careful when you deal with
people, and don’t follow any one, come straight home once you are
through at school.” Parents are often cautious having had experiences
in life. They know not all men are just.
As much as Abraham Lincoln knew that not all men are just, he still
threw his confidence at his son’s teacher. He had a darning confidence
in this teacher to carry out his orders.

Parents trust teachers. If they never did, they would not have to push
their wards training over to them. They are aware that teachers have a
huge sense of responsibility that stands them out from other persons.
They trust teachers to impart positive traits on their wards.
Teachers too must acknowledge the confidence parents are having on

them, and they must strive to keep up to these high standards.
Parents find the hands of teachers very safe for their wards. From day
care to secondary school, they find teachers to have all the qualities
they need and they trust a teachers words. They believe teachers are
God sent and carry with them a shepherd spirit.
Teachers should be good shepherds to protect their wards when they

are in school as well as out of school. Parents trust the hands of
teachers for safekeeping of their wards when they are at work.
Because not all men are true, teachers are to advice parents on
ensuring that the safety of their wards is given priority. As depository
of knowledge, teachers also know that life is not safe at all. They want
their wards safe and like parents, they also advice their wards to be
cautious of the friends they keep and the people around them and to
flee if they do observe any untoward traits around them.
Life requires some degree of cautiousness. Not all persons are who we
think they are. Some are sheep clothed while they are ravening wolves
inside. Some teachers have such traits. As part of their training,
teachers receive instruction on best teaching practices. However,
sometimes we could have bad eggs. These bad eggs, as small as they
are, often spoil the whole basket giving the negative impression that
all teachers are the same.

There have been teachers who have had carnal knowledge of students
under their jurisdiction. This situation has created some level of
distrust especially in institutes of higher learning. The trend is finding
its way into our colleges and high schools. This phenomenon has to be
checked before it destroys the sanctity of our academic institutions.
Some parents on the other hand too have negative influence on their
wards. There have been reports of parents having carnal knowledge of
their wards. They have destroyed trust and confidence where their
wards should have being safe thus exposing their wards to more
threat from external prey.
Not all men are just, not all men are true. Parents and teachers must
keep this consciousness behind their minds. Protection of their wards
must be of paramount importance from violence from within the

home and from external predators. Students are to inculcate in
themselves the consciousness that they are easy prey and must
therefore be cautious as they deal with people.
Students should learn principles of making decisions as regard keeping

friends. Friends could have good or bad influence on them. Parents
and teachers are to check on the type of friends their wards keep and
give advice where necessary.
Abraham Lincoln knew this and he is hoping teachers and parents take
this lessons as they lead their wards.

T
hese words “but teach him” eliminate conditionality. Abraham Lincoln
understood the limitation that the teacher would face in training his
son. He had being a student too and knew how challenging it was for
BUT
him.
However the situation, all he cared about was that his son was taught.
Parents want teachers to teach their wards. Teachers too know their
TEACH
duty is to teach. Off course, that is why they are teachers.
Abraham wanted a teaching teacher for his son. He advised the

teacher to teach. He knew that sometimes teachers could be irrational
HIM
in their interaction with students. Rather than teach the students,
teachers run their businesses during teaching hours, use students as
work aids and messengers, and have made students punching bags.
THREE
Teachers have abused their profession and have tainted the image of
their highly responsible profession with their own
hands. Parents do not send their wards to school to work but to learn.
The reason they have to send their wards over to the teachers is that
they want the teacher to teach them. They are saying, “teach him.”
Students could be very difficult especially as they grow up and

discover their abilities. Because they are in an ever-changing world,
their capacity develops and they tend to learn not just from the school
environment but from outside school walls as well.
However knowledgeable a student may be, he has found himself

under the hands of the teacher because the teacher knows more than
he does. The teachers thus have to teach him. Even when parents

know their wards are difficult, they still plead with teachers to do all
they can to teach them.
Teachers thus have to develop all the skills they need in dealing with
all kinds of students. Teachers should expect to see all kinds of student
under their teacher’s ship.
A child has to learn and a teacher has to teach. No child is beyond the
teachers’ slate. Every child that finds himself within the premises of
school must admit to the supremacy of the school system and the
teachers meant to teach him. Teachers must build the air of respect
around themselves, an air that builds in the students the fact that they
do not know.
A teacher has to know and must put himself abreast of knowledge

always building, advancing in knowledge to stand ahead of the class. It
would not be a good attribute for students to compare their capability
with their teachers.
Teachers will not be teachers if they do not continue to develop their

knowledge to position them at the pedestal where they can be the
providers of knowledge.
Parents know teachers have the gift they do not have. As much as they
are parents of their wards, they know the role of a teacher varies from
being parents. They are not assuming they can play the role of a
teacher. Parents acknowledge their role is to support teachers to play
their role as teachers and they are ready to support them.
Abraham Lincoln acknowledges he had to support his son’s teacher do

his job of teaching. Every parent is doing their job of supporting when
they pay their school fees. By paying their fees, they are
acknowledging teachers teaching virtue and expect teachers to
reciprocate. Teachers have to teach them.
Every child will have to learn, every teacher will have to teach, every
parent will have to support. Everyone must do his part if the training
system must advance for the good of the child and the society.

A THE HERO
braham Lincoln had faced many limitations in his life. No one would
have given him a chance if he were been handpicked for presidency.
During his years having to fail, his supporters could have given up on
him as not having the capacity to challenge for political position; he
came through a hero the future would herald.
IN EVERY
Scoundrels are persons considered as good for nothing. As bad as
these persons may be, Abraham Lincoln wanted the teacher and his
SCOUNDREL
son to acknowledge just as he has, the hidden strengths inherent in
“scoundrels” which can often be tapped to achieve great feats.
Abraham Lincoln believed that however bad a child might be, there is
something good about him. In writing his letter, he epitomized the fact
that though un-useful and uncivilized some persons we may come
FOUR
across may seem, they are very important to the cycle of
development.
Abraham Lincoln was showing an example to parents who should see

the good that they could make out of their difficult wards however
difficult they are.
No child is beyond the power of change. However challenging a child

poses, there is always a turning point. That child may be posing a big
challenge today but he can change if you persist on training him right.
That challenging child is only a challenge you must challenge and like
every challenge, you must win. That was what Abraham Lincoln was
trying to say.
Parents have to stand behind their wards, encourage them, and let
them see the good that can come out from them if they choose to do
right. Children with character challenges or any other challenges have
to be encouraged to see themselves as normal persons who can exist
as normal people do.
It is often surprising to observe how some kids are placed on the

sidelines because of their seemingly negative traits. The truth is when
we focus on the negative traits of the people we see around us, we
often force our eyes close to the positive traits that are also attributes
of these persons. Everyone has something to offer. Rather than fuse
on those negative traits we can pull through and help the kids direct
their energies towards making positive impact on their life.
Teachers have a huge responsibility to build confidence in their wards.

They have to let their students understand that though they may have

differing traits; they can focus their minds and make positive impact.
No child is a walkover.
Teachers have to keep their hands and classroom open. Do not give
preferential treatment to some section of the class. In school, all
students deserve equal attention even when their abilities defer.
Many kids develop negative traits because they feel they were not
useful to the system and cannot fit into the system. These kids fall into
depression thus becoming easy prey for persons who would negatively
influence them.
Parents must realize that they have as a responsibility to ensure they

guide and guard their wards by influencing them positively. At home,
parents should ensure they guard against unequal treatment amongst
their wards.
Do not declare any child or person as finished except you are ready to
pull them up from their finished state. Give them the chance to
believe in themselves and develop confidence in what they can do. Let
them know, what they can do is very important to the overall success
of the group in which they belong and the community in general. By
doing this, you are helping them develop self-confidence that will
allow them raise their heads high in the face of challenging
circumstances.
Many kids once thought not to have capacity to achieve great feats
have managed to come around their weaknesses and achieve great
things. The world contains many never do wells that have had their
stories changed because someone had picked them up; turn their
disaster into success stories. That child deserves all the believe he can
get even if he is getting it all wrong now.
Teachers owe the world the duty to believe. That is why parents run to
them. Even when parents are losing confidence on their wards
capabilities and abilities, good teachers must provide the necessary
advice to parents on how to help their wards achieve the heights they
would love to see their wards achieve
Remember, God made every child and he made every child well.
Parents are only bows and teachers are the strings. we hope that the
bows of parents will be strong enough while the teacher’s strings will
be taut enough to shoot those kids to great heights.

FOR EVERY
I
n every human is the tendency towards self. Everyone
wants to satisfy his own thirst before considering other
persons. It takes a real man to put others first before
SELFISH
himself. That was what stood Abraham Lincoln out. He
chose to stand out as a dedicated leader. He fought POLITICIAN
against the strong-headed political team of leaders at
his time to pull down slave trade and discrimination. YOU WILL FIND
Abraham challenged the most valiant of leaders in his
time who chose to allow the trade continue, a trade
A DEDICATED
which was profitable and had driven the economy of
the united states at that time. However, unlike his
LEADER
contemporaries and those before him, he revolted and
stood his ground.

FIVE
Abraham Lincoln, being an astute politician had interacted with all
categories of politicians. He observed as he mingled with this class of
persons, that some would consider themselves and their gains ahead
of the people and others would sacrifice even their lives to see that
they herald the people’s voice.
Abraham Lincoln wanted his child to know this. This was because as a
father who had become a president, he was expecting nothing less
from his son. He expected that his son will join him in creating a
political dynasty, one of dedicated service.
Parents do want to see their children displace them and even outdo
them. This is their wish. In keeping with their wish, they do want to
see the continuation of the guiding principles that have seen them

achieve the height they have achieved. They want a family tree of
good virtue, and they know where to run to, to the teacher.
Kids are naturally selfish. They do want to hold back and want to grab
for themselves. If this trait is not checked, they could grow into selfish
persons in the future. Abraham Lincoln had observed this trait in his
son so to check that, he had to develop his son towards purposeful
leadership. He did not want his child to look at the world in the eye of
the many selfish persons he was reading and hearing about in the
media, who were stealing the nation’s wealth as we do have in our
time. He wanted him to understand that though, these selfish persons
were around him, they were not the standard for any person who
would be a heralded leader. To whom would he run? To a teacher.

We often assume that because corruption is the norm that means that
everyone is corrupt. There is this assumption that one must be corrupt
and grab his share of the national cake when he is opportune to get
into the seat of government. Against this backdrop, many persons
stand as examples, people that have obtained their wealth through
hardwork. These people have chosen to strive hard to obtain their
wealth. They understood what failure could be and strived to achieve
what they have achieved.
Teachers have the responsibility to show their students good

examples. Children should learn to develop good role models from an
early age, people whose moral standing is sound godly principles
based. Teachers have to have a bio data of good persons which they
can ask the students to look up to as models

Parents should also exhibit good traits that their kids can see and take
example form. Because kids learn first from their parents, it is possible
that negative traits can easily find their way through from parents to
kids thus posing a challenge for teachers to change them in the future.
Great leaders are those who understand the principles of sacrifice.

Parent should teach their wards sacrifice as a great virtue. They should
not support their wards when they want to get something through
unwholesome means. Kids should learn that others should come first.
By doing this, you are building in the wards virtue of sacrifice that will
come handy in the future when they are opportune to hold leadership
positions. Kids should learn that true leaders are sacrificial leaders.
The time to build our future leaders is now. If our nation desires
leaders in the future who would be people oriented in their

programmes and service, then we must begin to inculcate in our
young minds the fact that they are tomorrow’s leaders and as such,
the training for true leaders must begin with them.

A FRIEND
FOR
L
ife will not be great without friends. Everyone needs
friends and Kids need friends. Abraham Lincoln had
observed his little boy. As his son grew, Lincoln
observed that his political influence had affected his EVERY
son’s relationship with people.
Lincoln’s son observed as children do, that his dad’s ENEMY

relationship with some persons around them was often
not good. He might have observed the many
SIX
assassination threats that his father had from very
powerful persons. Such situations could have made the
young man fear. Lincoln would have told him “son be

careful, those guys gunning for me also want you.” This could have
driven fear through the young man so that he decided he would
standalone and be by himself. Such is the situation of many kids.
Some parents are very powerful and they often find themselves under
threat. Parents do know that those who want their lives could also
take that of their wards so they protect their wards and advice their
wards to be cautious of the people around them. Oftentimes parents
overly become cautious thus imbibing in their wards fear and the lack
of freedom to interact with people, even their peers.
Lincoln son’s observation of his dad had affected his relationships.

Abraham Lincoln observed that if he had to change his son’s mentality,
he had to do something fast else his child may never achieve his
aspirations. He had to inform the teacher to teach him that however

the enemies he had had through his political journey, he had also had
great friends who have being of help to him through all the challenges.
Abraham Lincoln wanted his son to recognize that if he had taken
everyone as enemies, he would not have gotten the votes that made
him president of the United States of America.
While children are to be cautious, parents have the duty to provide

the environment for purposeful friendship between their wards and
other children in their neighborhood. Though parents do have to
protect their wards, they must give their wards the opportunity to
develop themselves by keeping friendly relationship with people
around them. Parents do have a duty to check on the friends of their
wards, know about them and when they do certify the positive state
of their wards friends, they should support such friendships.

Teachers should also develop a friendly disposition between
themselves and their students. As the closest mature friends after
parents, there is a need to open the communication link between their
pair. Teachers should observe students behavior in class with their
peers and admonish them to develop a friendly disposition amongst
themselves. Children should learn to avoid rancor and divisive
attributes amongst themselves and learn to work harmoniously
together.
Sometimes, however careful students are, they still fall prey to

persons who come in the cloak of friends. Even mature persons fall
into these traps. At other times, physically abused wards find it
difficult interacting with others who they passive to have the same
attribute as their abusers. This strains their interaction with people as
they grow up.
Students who go through such difficult challenges require help and
positive advice so that they can overcome this period in their lives.
As much as we do have enemies, there are good friends too who are
ready to stand with us during challenging times. Children have to learn
the process of developing good friends. They should learn to make
friends with people who can positively influence their lives and make
them better persons in the future.
Abraham Lincoln’s words for his son were words telling him he does
not have to keep enemies anyway. Even if people position themselves
as enemies, he must strive to build a friendly disposition towards
them. Enemies could turn out to be good friends.
Parents and teachers are to advice their wards on ensuring they do not
keep enemies rather when they do have problems, they should strive
to iron out such issue with the person in which they have problems
with and come to terms with each other.
Your wards have to develop a friendly disposition, you never can tell,
their friends may just be their source of success.

E
nvy kills. Abraham Lincoln knew this. Envy disrupts
good objective thinking. Abraham Lincoln would
often sit and imagine how envious his fellow
ENVY
political contemporaries were of his political
KILLS
success having known him to fail many times. They
could not stand seeing the person they had once
mocked standing as the number one citizen of the
country. They mused at the support he was having
that even when he made meaningful projects that
affected the people, they rubbished him and made
SEVEN
useless his achievements.

Abraham Lincoln knew the threats he was having was because of the
envious nature of his opposition. He advice his son’s teacher to try as
much as possible to steer his son away from envy so that in the future,
his son would not stand as encumbrance to useful development that
would have benefitted the people.
While it is good to desire something good, we should not lose our

head when we do not get what we want and our neighbors do get it.
Humans are very susceptible to this. “Why should that man get that
and I have not gotten it,” they would say. No, no, that should not
happen.
Humans want everything good for themselves and would often feel
bad when they can’t get it. Children are most susceptible to this
attributes. They often grow with this attributes if not checked, and

become a nuisance to the society, fighting when offered less than the
offer given to the other person.
Children often want bigger share. They want to stand out from their
peers and considered different from the crowd. While this attribute is
good in some way, it also has its negative effect. It leads to
discontentment. Children have to be content. Parents have to develop
in their wards this virtue as they grow so that they could often be able
to make do with the little in their disposal.
Parents should nurture their children in such a way that they consider
the little offered them as much and they do not look at what others
have. At home, there should not be any room for competition. Treat
all the children in the family equally with no one given preferential
treatment over the other.

At school, teachers are to encourage hardwork while creating the
environment for creative open competition where everyone has equal
chance to the prize. The teacher motivates every student as much as
possible to see any competitive opportunity as not a do or die affair.
They have to inculcate in the students the fact that pride does not pay.
Rather, everyone learns to celebrate the victories of each other while
they should also encourage them to aim higher towards achieving the
success the other person has attained.
Abraham Lincoln realized that envy also kills creativity. By looking at

the achievements of the man, how he has done it, and being envious,
you lose the creativity and originality that could have creatively given
you the extra edge.

Competition is great. It builds the right environment for the promotion
of talent. However when envy comes into it, the air of competition is
lost, hatred is built, and love lost. Competition is to build interaction
and create aspiration.
Teachers should encourage and educate their students that losing to

any one is not the end of the road. Rather it means that there is need
for more work input. Admonish the students to strive to develop
themselves so that they can stand ahead of their peers rather than
stalk their lips in envy of those who have gotten what they have
gotten through hardwork.
Children do not like to see their mates surpass them. They want to be
the best and the first. This is a great attribute but parents and teachers
should be cautious in guiding their wards. They must bring to fore in

the interaction with their wards the need to respect the other
students, study hard and offer help to other students.
Children must recognize that when they envy, they close the door of
opportunity from those they are envious.

T QUIET
here is a famous saying; laughter is the food of
the soul. If you do want to feed your soul, then
laugh. This was an observation of Abraham
Lincoln while writing his famed letter to his
son’s teacher. Scientists have observed that
laughter has the capacity to heal. They
LAUGHTER
observed that a person who laughs often live
longer. Abraham wanted his son to understand
that laughter is good for the development of
the human body and that he should not refrain
from giving that laugh when he feels amused.
Abraham Lincoln understood that due to his

EIGHT
high position, he had lost the freedom to enjoy

even the simplest benefits of life due to his many worries. He did not
want to constrain his son to this wasteful life that had characterized
him through his political journey. He wanted his son to enjoy the joy
that life brings to its fullest. Lincoln knew that he had aligned to the
prototype leadership style where the president always had to be
looking serious and laughing would be a sign of un-seriousness and
immaturity.
The ideology in Abraham Lincoln’s time is still the same in our time.
People feel that when they do laugh, it is a sign of mediocrity. This is
not true. Parents find it difficult having a laughing time with their
wards. Their children also find it difficult interacting with their
parents, thus the family is made to be in the semblance of a quiet
graveyard.

You would hear parents say, “what makes you laugh? Get over to your
schoolwork. You had better be serious.” They fail to create the joyful
atmosphere in the home needed for the sound development of the
mind.
Teachers at school are of the opinion that they have to be overly stern
with the students, harsh and tough to get the students respect. They
thus create an atmosphere of fear rather than the respect they had
desired. The class atmosphere becomes rigid and lacking in creativity.
The students feel constrained to express their true self and be
themselves.
Teachers should have a friendly disposition. Learning should be fun.

An atmosphere of joy, and laughter should characterize the
environment. Teachers must strive to ensure while they teach, they

watch out for facial changes in their students and motivate them with
words that will lift their spirit.
There are secrets in quiet laughter. While we should laugh and enjoy
the fun that laughing brings, we also must not over laugh. You do not
have to laugh to the extent where you are been compared to a lunatic.
Lunatics give weird laughs when they do laugh. Understand that the
beauty in laughing is laughing quietly. We are not to rage and hit
people while we laugh. If we laugh this way, we lose our pedigree.
We do not laugh about everything. Not everything is amusing. You

should know when situations demand laughter. You should not be
laughing when the people around you are down casted because of an
event that had occurred. You should also share in their grief and pains.

Life often could be so challenging sometimes that you find yourself
often under the trench because you are answerable to one boss or the
other. You keep a tight face all the time thus pushing people away
from you.
However tough it has being, you can ease yourself from these worries
and thoughts by laughing out the strains. When you laugh, you
remove the strains of worry and ease yourself of all the thoughts that
had decapitated you.
Comedy shows are a good place to wind off after a busy week. Parents
should develop the habit of taking their wards to such shows with
them where they can ease themselves as well. An atmosphere of
family communication should be encouraged where everyone feels
free to say how he feels and what he feels.

Teachers have to build confidence in their wards and improve the
relationship between them and their students by often smiling and
encouraging their wards to smile too. Students should learn the
positive health implications of laughing, and its mind developing
capacity.
Teachers do have to watch the students and understand how

sometimes they may feel. They should help them know that if they do
laugh; they can ease themselves from those worries and paint a better
picture of life.
Laugh, it is the only medicine for your soul.

F LEARNING
rom the cradle, a child begins to learn from
the loving hands of his mother through
childhood to adulthood. While children have
to learn always, there is a corresponding
knowledge expected of a particular age
bracket. Sometimes we observe that kids
EARLY
who have reached a certain age bracket
have not learned what they should have
known at that age.
Abraham Lincoln observed this amongst the

children in his locality. How old are you? He
would ask. I am ten years old the child will
NINE
reply. Five plus five is what, he would ask

again. Not an idea the child would reply. Lincoln himself observed that
he had not being opportune to learn early which thus retarded his fast
development
Having a child learn early from childhood puts the child at a higher
pedestal among his peers. Kids’ brains are fast to grasp at an early age
than when they have advanced. They believe everything told them,
and will always hold on to the words given by their parents and
teachers at school. The academic systems of many nations have a
place for daycare, nursery, and primary schools with curriculum meant
to inculcate early knowledge that will be useful for life
Parents have to realize that they do have to plan for the education of
their wards from an early age. Your wards do not have to grow old
before you plan for their education. From the very day a child steps

into the world, parents should begin planning how best to position
their children in the school of life.
Abraham Lincoln noted that if the teacher wants to make meaningful

impact on his son, he must do it now when the young man is still
young, subordinating, and willing because it would be difficult to
educate him when he is grown. He said let him learn early. When a
child learns early, he understands and easily grasps the principles that
would take him through life with ease. The child will not make
mistakes having known the path he should take, and how to take
them, early in life.
There are things a child needs to learn early in life. There must be a
demarcation of what a child needs to know at an early age. Children
should learn to be cautious, respect elders, and be obedient to rules

and regulations from an early age. The basic teaching curriculum of
many countries state categorically what children should know and
how the teacher should impart it to them. Teachers should follow the
curriculum and ensure that they transfer all the knowledge to the
children.
The media, though a good influence, it has had a negative influence on

children. Children are not to be exposed to visuals that will corrupt
their knowledge. Sex, crimes and other immoral images are now been
depicted on our televisions to the uncensored view of children.
Parents are to guard against such nuisance and to watch to ensure
their wards are not viewing implicit materials when they are away. As
much as a child has to learn early, he has to learn the right things.

Teachers are to be in watch, as schools are now becoming centers for
transfer of illicit materials uncensored for children. Teachers have to
help guard children from such materials by ensuring they bring
children to knowledge why such things are wrong and to let them
know that punishment is reserved to any one engaging in such act.
Teachers should also punish students who default before others. This
will be a deterrent to others who were doing it but were not caught
and those who had desired to do same.
The media today has so much impact on young minds but it is

consistently producing programmes for adult viewers. While
educational programmes should be encouraged on television
especially during periods when the children are watching, the
television censor board should encourage the censoring of what goes

to the airwaves especially as they know a good percentage of those
that watch television are children.

P CHALLENGE
arents and teachers should be up to their
responsibility of ensuring that children
take pleasure in gainful acts that will
discourage them from learning
disheartening acts. From a young age,
children should be encouraged to fear God
THE
and do what God’s word says. Train up a
child when he young so that when he is
old he will not depart from it. If you do
want a child in the future that will impart
BULLIES
lives positively, you do have a duty now to
train them right.

TEN
The bullies are the easiest to lick. When you were young, you might
have found yourself in a situation where some bullies tried to bully
you out of an opportunity. Abraham found himself too in that
situation and all his life as a politician, he had been bullied one way or
the other. He had learnt through experience that the bullies that he
feared were often so easy to “lick” meaning to pull down.
Bullies might have bullied him out of winning legislative positions but
through those experiences, it helped him develop his poise and
determination to win the presidential election that he ran. He told
himself “Though those bullies might have bullied me out of previous
elections in the past, this time around, I will suck them off.”
Whenever one tries to make headway, there are persons that stand
and say, “Where are you going to?” they feel they have a right to stop

you and think they own you. We call these persons bullies. Abraham
Lincoln observed that though he had managed to get on top of those
persons by becoming the president of the country, his son will have to
face the same challenge. He told the teacher, “see man those guys up
there with big shoulders and fat faces, man you can wink them off
their strength. They actually have no strength. Let my son know that.”
Abraham Lincoln knew in his absence, his son will have to face those
bullies at school and then through the ladder of life, there would be
many bullies. He had better know now that he could challenge the
bullies, so that when he does have to face them, he could be strong
against them, Abraham would have whispered to the teacher.
At school, home and around the community, there are bullies. They
often pose as supermen and untouchable. At school, big sized children

often tend to intimidate pint sized peers. They often tend to use their
size to their advantage. Teachers should try as much as possible to
watch out for such troublemakers and caution them. Teachers have to
take necessary action against such wards before they become
nuisance to the school and society.
While teachers should not support fist throws in class and elsewhere,
students should be encourage to report any case of abuse or
intimidation by fellow classmates. Parents are also to report cases of
intimidation to school authorities as well as parents of wards who
engage in such acts before taking any other action.
Bullies could also refer to any challenge. There are challenges that
often try to bully us out of our right senses. We sometimes think we
should find ourselves under the locker and hope that the challenges

would disappear before our eyes. Children too have challenges, which
they feel powerless against. Just as Abraham words depicts, those
“bullistic” challenges are easy to lick. You can come out from those
challenges and surmount them.
Abraham Lincoln knew that all the bullies were just challenges he had
to surmount and he got over them. His words are that he could get
over his bullies and you too can get over yours
Teachers are to teach their wards that the strength they have inside
them is not for bullying their classmates but for challenging the
challenges at school. Parents are as well to encourage their wards on
the need to see any challenge they are facing, as the little
encumbrance they must overcome to achieve the success they so
much want to have.

Students need to know that if they are to pull through their
challenges, they would have to rise to the challenge and garner a
capacity to challenge their storm.
Parents are to help their wards develop virtues of perseverance and

temperance, virtues they need to challenge the odds of their lives.
They should know that though a challenge may be on their path, if
they can fight on, they can win and will win.
No bullies are insurmountable. They often pose to be mountains but

indeed, they are just valleys waiting to be licked by that young chap
who will persevere. It may not be so easy, but if you try, you sure will
get over them. Do not mind their intimidating look and presence. Once
you decide to challenge them, you would see them fold in to
themselves before long.

T THE
here are wonders in books and you do know there are
indeed wonders in books. This was Abraham Lincoln’s
assentation and it still holds sway in our time. Abraham
Lincoln might not have had early education like some of
his contemporaries had but he decided he would
WONDER
understand the principles and make wonders of his life
reading books. Being opportune to work in a law firm,
he took to reading and personal development.
IN BOOKS
Through the many years of striving for political
position, Lincoln developed himself in books; books
that helped him strategize and win against the political
bullies of his time. He saw the difference he could make
ELEVEN
because of the books he had read and asked that as

much as possible, his son should learn to take his time to ponder on
books
We are aware the power of the pen. As mighty as it is, it would be

useless if there were no means of communicating the ideas and
knowledge the pen has written and to keep it for future posterity.
Books come in as storage. The end is to allow future readers have the
opportunity to read them. Abraham Lincoln had many books. He had a
library of them and he often spent his quiet moments prying over
them. The books gave him knowledge of what he had not known and
thus positioned him for the future encumbrances.
Children need to know the power in books. They need to learn good
reading techniques, and develop their reading capacity. They need to
be encouraged to read books, grasp the knowledge entwined and use

them in their everyday life. They are to develop their reading capacity
as they grow, thus developing their vocabulary too. Children who read
often stand out. That is where the cliché “readers are leaders” come
in. If parents do want their children to lead the class, they have to help
the child develop a liking for books from an early age
Teachers at school do have to deal with books and they mentor

students on how to read their books. So much as the students do have
to read schoolwork, teachers have to provide the platform for gainful
reading where the students read and interact with the other students.
By the students doing this, they develop themselves and feel confident
about themselves.
Books are not for academic purposes only. All fields of endeavor have
books written in them to enlighten the mind on the area deemed fit

for enlightenment. Scholars often have to research and make studies
that often influence how the world runs. To be at par with this
knowledge and not to sound archaic, there has to be a conscious need
to undergo self-development without the privy of teachers. Teachers’
responsibility is to teach how to find pleasure in books but the onions
have to be on the students who should persistently seek knowledge.
Books are a wonder, but they sometimes could be a nuisance. Some

authors write books with ulterior motives. They write to arouse
immoral thoughts thus destroying the mind of the reader.
Parents are to guide their wards on the right books from their tender
age so that as they grow, the kind of books they should read entwines
with their thought system. Teachers also have a duty to check on the
type of literature their wards at school are reading. As caretakers, they

have to ensure that within their privy, the students are gulping in the
right words.
Parents should develop an enabling environment for their wards to

develop a reading habit. They should create home libraries and
stocked them with books good enough to develop the mind and
character of the child.
Schools administrators have a duty too to ensure they build and stock
libraries with books to encourage their wards to read. Teachers have
to teach their wards how to use the library and encourage them to
make good use of it.
Teachers do have to arouse the minds of the students by giving them

task that they would have to go search for information. The teachers

should encourage the students to write down the source of their
information.
In today’s world, the hard cover books are been slowly out-phased by
electronic books. The internet now provides enormous information
that is within the privy of readers much more they would have
anticipated if they were to be in books.
If Abraham Lincoln were in our time, he would have asked his son’s
teacher to teach his son how to use the internet. Abraham Lincoln
would have used the internet himself. The internet is a resource
ground of knowledge from many authors. Teachers have to appreciate
the internet for purposeful learning and encourage their wards to
make good use of the internet. Though the internet also has its vices,
students should be guided right to make good use of the internet.

Parents while being encouraged to get home computer systems for
their wards should ensure that the systems are firewalled against the
adult content.
Remember when you read, you lead.

W MYSTERY IN
hen God made the world, he
himself was satisfied that he had
had made the earth so well. He
NATURE
appreciated the work he had done.
God is mystery and what he has done
remains a mystery. Nature is God’s
handiwork consisting of layers of
mystery that will take years to
unravel. Abraham Lincoln grew up in
the countryside where they had the
opportunity to see the earth in its raw
form. While growing up, he had
TWELVE
delighted himself with the site of
birds in the sky, he watched trees

grow out from seeds, he had hunted for wild life in the valleys, he had
reared animals, he had marveled at hills and mountains.
As Abraham grew out of his countryside life into city life, he observed
that he had indeed lost some virtue that he would have garnered if he
were at the countryside. As often as he could, he tried as much as
possible to go take some good air around the countryside. He thus
increasingly appreciated the life in the countryside. It was his
admiration of this life, which pushed him to ask his son’s teacher to
ensure his son had good time to visit the countryside and appreciate
this life.
There is quite a lot to learn from nature. God entwined virtues in the
little creatures like the ants, spiders, termites etc. that man can find
interesting to learn with principles to apply in everyday life. Even man

has compared situations with these natural creations. We have seen
problems as mountains that will become valleys. We have seen ants as
examples of hard workers, we have seen spiders as examples of un-
limitation having had to see them in kings’ palaces, we have seen
tortoise as smart and wise. Man has compared strength to the horse,
longsuffering to the donkey, stubbornness to the goat and meekness
to the sheep. The list is endless.
If you do take your time to study nature, you would observe that you
could learn values that will stay with you. The birds in the sky soar,
and when you do see them happy and tweeting their way, you build
up the joy that life can offer when you choose to soar. You do want to
soar over your challenges. The birds can build you up. Abraham
Lincoln received motivated from nature. He knew the power in nature.

The plants have healing capabilities that healed the body of ailments
and still do and when he felt like ill, he found solace in those herbs.
There is enormous power in nature. Teachers have to realize this and

help their wards appreciate this too. Teachers should convey students
on excursions to natural parks where they can learn about this animals
and plants. Teachers also should be up to date with the animals and
plants and what messages they transmit. Parents should develop the
habit of outdoor walk. They should take their kids for strolls in the
countryside. They do have to take their wards to amusement parks
and natural parks where they can observe nature and have a grasp of
what nature can give.
In nature, there are ups and down, hills and valleys, day and night, sun
and moon. The inspiration drawn from this is that there will sure be

goods time and difficult times but like the birds of the sky that soars
over the mountains and valleys, you can and will soar high above your
challenges.
Children have to learn the virtues imbedded in animals and be thought

to develop those character attributes too. Students should know that
however irrelevant an insect seems or however little an animal may
seem, they are very important to the cycle of life as they play their
role to see through the oxygen cycle, carbon dioxide cycle and the
nitrogen cycle.
Children should learn the need to protect and develop methods to

protect our ecological variety that is fast dwindling because of the high
rate of poaching and agricultural activities. Abraham Lincoln would

not have had a nature to talk about to his ward if the natural habitats
had been destroyed before his time.
The environment remains one of man’s biggest gifts from God. Man is
fast losing our natural habitats to wrong activities he perpetrates.
Parents have a duty to build in their wards responsibility for their
environment and the need to safeguard it.
Teachers too have a role in this regard too. As custodians of

knowledge, they do have the responsibility to show by example how
they are saving nature by their actions.
For us to continue to enjoy the fascination offered by nature, we do

have to protect those creatures. God will be glad you did this for the
children of posterity.

I BETTER
n today’s fast-paced world, the word failure could
mean a disaster especially as everyone seeks to
achieve one goal or the other at record time. Today,
FAIL
we consider speed of achievement ahead of ethics.
People now choose to break the rules and have their
way. This attribute was a characteristic of Abraham
Lincoln’s time too. It has being in human nature to
seek for ways through which he could go around an
examination or measured task without the necessary
THAN
hardwork. Abraham Lincoln observed the strong thirst
to cheat ones way. He desired so much to check this in
his child especially in school where hardwork is the
CHEAT
THIRTEEN
rule of the game. In his words, he says, “In the school, teach him it is
far honorable to fail than to cheat.”
Gone are the days when parents prodded their children to study hard
and pass their examinations. These days, they are the forerunners of
ideas that could enable their wards break the rules. They help their
wards engage in examination malpractice and sponsor people to
undertake exams on their behalf. This trend is taking a massive turn
and hitting the academic system of many countries badly.
Teachers now rather than support hardwork are now the instruments
through which parents now find to help their wards cheat. Some now
impose fees, as a means to break the rules to their benefit while
stifling hard work by giving difficult sums that no student would be
able to solve.

The high rate of examination malpractice is taking a new dimension
with students protecting themselves from being caught by developing
a variety of tactics. The effect of this is a disastrous future for the
nation and the people who are going to live in a future where the
entire rules are broken. You can expect a catastrophe of large
proportion
The question we should be asking is “what kind of future do we want

our wards to live in?” is it a future where everyone strives to get all he
can get as his share of the national cake or where everyone sees
hardwork as a virtue worth having and keeping for the good of the
general public. Have you considered your wards being at the negative
end of a failed system you helped create?

The time to put an end to this is now. Take a cue from Abraham
Lincoln’s words. Parents have a huge responsibility to develop in their
wards a sense of responsibility. Children have to recognize that
cheating is a vice however the form. Parents have to encourage
hardwork as the source of good success rather than the short-term
achievement of broken rules. They have a duty to promote true
studentship, prodding their wards to study and get acclaim. Parents
should allow their wards fail and learn from their mistakes rather than
cover up the mistakes for the future where it might boomerang
Teachers who are the custodians of knowledge must realize that they
would be failed teachers if their wards do not know enough to enable
them get through their exams. Teachers should encourage hardwork
but they should remove the ideology of examinations as a do or die
affair. Teachers should refuse being bought over by parents or
students who desire to get through one exam or the order. By
encouraging this, you sell out the virtue you once protected,
hardwork.
Teachers are the salt capable of salting the nation if they choose to act
right. The effect they have on their wards is tremendous. If a teachers
choses to do his job effectively, he could positive affect how his wards
carry out their task too. Teachers should keep themselves as examples
of perseverance and righteousness. Students should have them to look
up to as moral actors they could watch and take example. Teachers
should try as much as possible to shun vices that support malpractice.
By doing this they will encourage the students to pull their heads
down and study as much as possible.

Parents have a great duty as custodians of their wards to put them
right and give them good counsel on the reasons why cheating is
wrong. Parents should not give chance for their wards to consider such
acts. They should guard against it by creating the right environment
for effective study in the home.
Parents should call the game and lay down guiding rule and
regulations that should guide the child. Parents should encourage
their wards to develop themselves while putting in them the virtues of
self-confidence and self-belief. When a child believes in himself, he
goes all the miles to achieve great achievements the right way.
The future is great. We should not kill it by allowing the wrong vices in
the men and women of the future.

HAVE
A
braham Lincoln had traversed the political sphere in his
time; the councillorship, legislative and senate. He had
ideas that seemed impossible for some people of his time CONFIDENCE
but he stocked with his ideas. Each step of the way as he
projected his ideas, the people pushed aside his ideas as
unpopular and lacking depth.
IN YOUR
In spite of this, Abraham Lincoln believed in his ideas. His
belief propelled him and he developed a confident air that
IDEAS
got others entangled too. His ideas might not have had
support through the small positions that he had run for,
but it got the right audience when he ran for presidency.
Abraham Lincoln knew that what got him through was his
FOURTEEN
unflagging confidence in his ideas that spurred others to believe in
him. His experience thus became the rallying point for which he would
love to see his son’s ideas come to fruition.
Confidence is one necessary virtue that can stand you out. It affects
and influences people. It co-heres people into believing in your idea.
However, you do have to have an idea worth being confident about.
There are varying categories of ideas. These could be political ideas,

inspirational ideas, academic ideas, or ideas about just anything. What
you believe about something, which is different from what others
believe, is your idea. Idea refers to a particular thought pattern.
Sometimes this thought pattern may interfere with the belief of
others, and may be considered estranged to the principles already
known.

Regardless the prevailing idea or notion carried by the people, if you
believe your idea is the best, you do have to stand and prove why your
idea is worth considering. New ideas often find it difficult to challenge
prevailing ideas. What brings a new idea to the fore is when the
conceiver of the idea projects life into it by showing an unrelenting
confidence. This confidence must be strong enough to captivate the
minds of those to whom you are trying to prove the worthiness of
your idea.
Children are frail and shaky and cower to the intimidating strength of
an opposition even when they have a good point to defend. This was
Abraham Lincoln’s observation of his son. He decided he would have
to do something. He ordered the teacher to “teach him to have faith in
his own ideas even if others tell him they are wrong.” He is sending
the same words to parents and teachers.
Parents have to build in their wards confidence. Parents should not
develop the habit of making rubbish of their ward’s work even if they
do get it wrong. Parents have to find a score point even within their
child’s poor idea and encourage their ward around that point. If he can
succeed in one, he can succeed in all. Often kids always want to prove
a point.
All they do look out for is the inspiration and motivation to carry out
their ideas. Parents must realize that great ideas were the result of
faulty ideas that had to be worked on and perfected. Whisper faith
into your child’s ears; let him know someone at home believes in his
ideas. This will be the starting point for the crowd outside to believe.
However, once the child loses confidence in his ideas from home, it
would be difficult gathering the stake out there.

Teachers have a great duty to do in boosting the confidence of their
wards. True, the teachers have to deal with lots of students whose
capability defer. As much as they defer, each have unique strengths
and talent that others do not have. To rubbish a child because he fails
to meet up with one criterion could limit the child’s ability to shine
even in his area of strength.
Teachers have come to realize that they cannot measure a child’s

capacity by just his classroom heroics. A child may not be outstanding
in class but he has an area where he stands out. He may find his
strength in music, visual art, or even sports, which could also bring him
to limelight. Teachers have a responsibility to help every child they
come across discover their talent where they can get acclaim and
where their idea would be worth the opinions.

When a child has confidence, he can defend his ideas. He could always
quote his parents and teachers as believers. He believes that if his
parents and teachers can believe, every other person will believe and
this motivates him. He finds strength to defend his idea because he
knows he has the backing of his ideas believers. That child would learn
to develop his ideas, fine-tune them to perfection and when he is
satisfied, that the idea is worth pushing, he would go ahead and push
it to limelight.
Abraham believed that his ideas would come top. He believed strongly
that slavery was inhumane and as such queried the logic that had
been the order of his day. He might not have had a voice in the lower
chambers of government but he found it as president and went ahead
to pursue his idea even if it took his life. Let your child believe in his

ideas and let him do, his idea may just be the rallying point for the
next big thing.

I KNOW
n our rat race entrenched world, gentleness have been
considered a sign of weakness. If you walk quietly,
they would say, he is too dull. This was Abraham
Lincoln’s observation. He was a man who minded his
business and did not look out at others or cared so WHEN TO
much about what they said or did. The people
assumed that Abraham was weak and could not make
impact., BE
Abraham however proved them wrong each time. He
told them, “I might be gentle but not fearful.” He
challenged the odds and got what he so desired. He
GENTLE
understood that if he must come through life, he

FIFTEEN
should treat people as they come. He would have to treat gentle
people gently and tough people tough.
As a good father that he was, Abraham Lincoln desired his son to

develop the same attribute. He did not want to have a weak son. He
wanted his son to rise to his capability rather than being brushed aside
by others who were less capable that he is. He had to rise and
challenge those persons that think they can intimidate him. He needed
to be tough with tough people. He also wanted him to know that
though people may be tough and he has to be tough with them,
toughness should not be the norm. Some persons are gentle, and he
would have to produce a gentle endearment towards them. In his
words, “teach him to be tough with tough people and gentle with
gentle people.”

Children should learn the need to develop a tough side to tough
situations. They should not be cowards. They should learn to develop
attributes of bravery in situations however daunting it may seem.
Heroic status is accorded, only to brave people. Daunting persons or

situations should not intimidate them. Rather they are to see
themselves equal to the task of challenging the challenge before them.
They have to develop a tough mane as the lion would.
Some persons may be acclaimed tough and try to seize on their

toughness against others. Children are prone to such attributes.
Maybe because of their size, they could seize on that to intimidate
their peers. Children should learn to stand up to what is out rightly
wrong however tough the person may seem to be.

Teachers at school have the responsibility of developing courage in
their wards. Students should have the courage to speak out on issues
that affect them. They should not just stand and watch while others
abuse them.
Teachers should open a forum for discuss on matters affecting their

wards so that there is a channel of interaction. This will develop in
them the sense that someone hears them. There should be a
conscious effort to help children get through their tough moments by
helping them develop tough attributes knowing that it is in them is the
power to challenge their tough moments and win.
Having to be tough does not mean having to fight. It means standing

up to what is unwholesome or wrong. Children know when something
is wrong and though they would love to say, they feel encumbered by

their size and the fear that others may consider them not mature
enough to know what is right. They should know that when something
affects them they have a right to speak out.
Parents have an overall duty to input in their wards as they grow the
need not to cower when something affects them but to rise and speak
against it. Children copy their mates. And when they do see their
mates act, they copy. Tough parents often influence their wards to be
tough.
The need to develop a gentle mane should be encouraged. Children

should be gentle. Children should know that though fast as life may
seem, and speedy as the race may be, the slow and steady often win
the race. They have to develop the virtue of gentleness learning not to
fight for everything.

While some things will have to be fought for, most require gentleness
to push them through. The world need gentle but not fearful people,
people who will, though gentle, stand, and defend themselves and
others, people though gentle but revered.
Abraham Lincoln survived through his political career because he was

tough when he had to be. His heroics remain today heralded because
he stood up to people that he should have stood up to. He was
considered a threat for his heroics and he was assassinated but his
conquests continue to this day to be the inspiration many the world
over rely on. Lincoln and his son are long gone but they remain in the
good history books

If you want to remain relevant and do want your
wards to be relevant, let them understand the tough
STRENGTH
principle. Be tough with though people and be gentle
with gentle people. AGAINST
THE BAND
T
he bandwagon effect is the strongest effect in the
world. No one wants to be a stand-alone. Everyone
wants to belong to a group. We cherish acting within WAGON
a group than having to go all out alone. As good as
the crowd may seem, anyone who wants to stand
out must break off from the crowd. This is because;
you cannot have a crowd mentality and hope to
affect the same crowd. You can only affect the crowd
SIXTEEN
by having the crowd watch you. This means you have to develop your
style, uniqueness, and strength independent of the crowd.
Abraham Lincoln observed this as true. America had had presidents

before him and none had fought against slavery. Nevertheless, he
chose to stand out. He saw their belief as a bandwagon that he
needed to get off from and he jumped out of it. He faced the strong
challenge of having to return to the crowd as he saw himself in this
battle all alone. However, his believe in his idea gave him strength to
stand against the band.
Children want to associate with their peers. The strongest influence on

them is their friends. They want to have what their friends have, dress
the same way and accorded the same glory as their peers. Children
love feeling among the crowd. They love to know they are associating

with people. It is this quality in children, parents have to seize on to be
the strongest influence in their children’s lives.
Parents have to create the bandwagon effect over their wards. They
need the fill their emotions with their thought and plans and influence
their thoughts with positive things that will make them stand even
when the wind of other bands try to draw them away. Abraham
Lincoln observed this of son. He would have loved to help his ward but
he was limited by time due to his political pursuit but he had trust in
his son’s teacher to carry out this great order.
Teachers have a great responsibility to pull their wards away from

negative influences from people around them. They must watch out
for pupils who show negative traits that could attract the attention of
other students and warn students against been carried away by the

negative influences of the pupils. Teachers need to help students
develop qualities that will help them develop self-confidence in what
they believe.
Parents have to watch their wards and what they watch, who they
keep as friend and what influences them. They have to stand as guard
creating rules and developing punishments for which the breakage of
this rules will lead. While parents should not cage their wards, they
have a responsibility to provide the enabling environment where they
can make positive influence on their wards.
There is a need to be cautious in the kinds of persons that affect our

lives and especially our kids who often do not have the ability to make
choices except they are rightly guided. Parents have to advice their
wards on ways they could make friends and look out for friends who

can positive affect their lives. Parents should try as much as possible
to attract the friends of their wards towards them so that they could
know them and positively affect their lives too.
At school, children need learn that they could make their independent
decisions away from what the general people are. They should be
encouraged to stand out rather than accept mediocrity. Children need
to believe in themselves. They should know that the fact that many
are following one path does not mean that is the only or that the
popular path is the best path. They should be encouraged to tread
independent path towards achieving their goals as they can only
receive acclaim if they choose to be different. They should recognize
that they could afford to stay off the shadow of the crowd and get into
limelight than accepting what others say about them. Children should
learn to realize that it is not what others say about them that matters
but what they say about themselves. If they do believe they can, then
they will against the drags of the crowd.
You do not have to jump “on the bandwagon” every time. You do not
have to believe what everybody says. “Everybody” is not the standard
even if they are the majority. There are a thousand and one routes to
achieving real success. If you join the crowd, you cannot influence the
crowd. You have to create your path and let others follow you too.

B LISTEN
eing a leader means that, you have to listen to
everyone. Every dick, harry and victoria have
something to tell you. The problem is that though, as
much you have many people telling, most words are
not true. This was Abraham Lincoln’s observation. He
heard many things some of them unbelievable yet he
AND
would not push people away because most of their
wards were false. He listened to everyone and filtered
everything he heard on the altar of truth. In his words
he said, teach him to listen to all men and teach him to
FILTER
filter all he hears on a screen of truth.
The class factor did not affect Abraham Lincoln’s

interaction with people. He listened to everyone who
SEVENTEEN
came to him. Parents often put class ahead of interaction. They often
feel they have achieved so much because of perhaps one electoral
portfolio they are holding. They place guards around themselves and
place bars and processes through which anyone that would see them
have to go through. Some of them are only available to the upper class
while they estrange the middle and lower class from them. They
believe they are higher animals and thus, cannot listen to lower
animals. Parents have to show example to their wards in how they
interact with people. They should follow in the cue of Abraham Lincoln
who listened to everyone.
Children easily follow the path their parents create and if they follow
by parents example, the future could be filled with segregation where
class becomes the factor that characterizes one’s existence. Parents
have to lead by example and teach their wards to interact with people
regardless of class. They should learn to listen to every child that
comes to them. By doing this, they are developing leadership virtues.
The fact that you listen to everyone does not mean you accept
everything said hook line and sinker. Abraham Lincoln observed that
some of the things people told him were sometimes wrong. If he
accepts everything, he could be developing political enemies and
straining relationship where such never existed. You have to filter all
you hear on the screen of truth. Before reacting to the statements of a
person, do an investigation and confirm that what the person is saying
is actually true.
Do not just conclude that something is wrong or right because

someone told you that. Some people are mischief-makers trying to
cause division amongst the people.

For Abraham to desire his son to learn this; he believed that the young
man stood as the future in his place and that he would still face the
same challenge as he was facing in school or elsewhere. The very fact
that he was the president’s son was enough to attract people to him
with their lies story. He wanted him to know as a child that while it is
courtesy listening to everyone, he had to take what he heard and
measured them to the scale of truth and only take those he considers
as truth. As a parent, your wards have to apply this principle. You have
to teach them that as much as there are friends, there are some who
poach around to cause mischief, and disappear when they have
achieved their aim. While they should try as much as possible to listen
to everyone, they must not gulp in the words they hear hook line and
sinker, rather they should quantify the words and be alert to true and

mischief persons alike. Many persons have had their careers tarnished
by the words people have said.
Rumormongers have destroyed the credibility of some persons

because they made these persons as enemies to the general cause.
You do not have to be a tool that will bring down another person by
accepting false tales.
If someone comes to tell you some things about any person, do

confirm from them if what they say is truth and ask that they do come
and confirm the words before the person about whom they are
talking. You would observe that such persons would quiver if their tale
is false or boldly follow you if their tale is right.
The tongue is a very dangerous tool. The bible records that though
small as it may be, it does great things and can bring a great man
down. Control your tongue and use your ears right. Filter what you
hear in the screen of truth.

W STAND AND
hat is the right? It is the path taken based on set
down rules and guides. Often many people dislike
the right. They want guidance from their own rules
and think they can always come around set down
principles and have their way. Most people want to
FIGHT FOR
have their way and they bulldoze or force their ideas on
others just to make sure they get what they want. This THE RIGHT
was
Abraham Lincoln’s observation, an observation that has

not changed in this dispensation. He often had to
challenge his contemporaries who wanted to have their
EIGHTEEN
way against the guiding principles of the land. He saw

their action as wrong, and chose to stand-alone and fight against
them.
As a true leader that he was, he knew that the persons at high

positions often wanted to have their way against the already
marginalized low-level compatriots. He had a strong distaste for their
action thus; he would often defend the people against them. This
placed him at opposition.
Abraham Lincoln has continued to be heralded long after those he

opposed, because he chose to stand, fight, and die fighting for what he
considered as right, killed him. In his words to his son’s teacher, he
desired his son to carry on with this great principle, carrying on a
Lincoln dynasty based on standing and fighting for the right.

The first question though that comes to mind is “do you like the
right?” do you not like to be offered preferential treatment even when
you are not worthy of it? Do you not like to drive against traffic and
defend yourself even when you are caught? Do you even know what is
right?
Every country has set down rules and regulations entwined in the
constitution of the land. There are also punishments made for those
who contravene the set down rules. However, often, those who sleep
in the corridors of power have made themselves gods for which these
laws have no effect. They create the laws would be fast to condemn
them but themselves are the breakers of the laws. Is this right? No!
This attributes are condemnable.

Everyone has to know his or her rights. How? Teachers have the
responsibility to tutor their wards on what the law states from their
young age. Many persons do not know that there are laws that protect
them from prejudice. There should be a reorientation of minds and
the first place it has to begin is in the young minds.
Teachers are in the right position to transfer this knowledge, meaning

that they do need to know what the law states, read the nation’s
constitution, and learn how to get redress on matters affecting them
from it. Children need to know they have a right to basic human rights
as well as special child rights.
Parents play a massive role too in this reorientation process. Do

parents know that their children have rights? Many parents do not
know. They feel their wards are their products so they treat them

without second thought. Parents need to know that their wards are
humans and do have a right that must be protected.
Those rights are entrenched in the child right laws of their country and
the United Nations. You need to guide your wards and not abuse them
as they have a right, which has to be protected. Children need to
understand they have rights too. They need to know these rights and
know how to seek redress from situations that contravene their rights.
Regardless of size or age, everyone have a right. We should not accept

been trodden under feet when we can take legal action against such
acts. No one is above the law and when one seeks to force privileges
not theirs, someone has to stand up to them. You do not have to
cower to their cheer brutality because you feel they are too big for
you. You have to stand and fight if you think you are right and you do

have a right to fight. Rather than keep silence and been punched in
some person’s punching bag, you have to speak out and seek ways of
defending yourself applying legal tools within the jurisdiction of the
law made available.
Abraham Lincoln defended people. Whom do you defend? Do you

choose to stand with those who maltreat others or you choose to
stand and defend the lowly maltreated people? To be a celebrated
hero, you have to stand and defend the truth and the right. That is the
only secret to becoming a true hero like Abraham Lincoln was.

SOMETIMES
P
atience is a great quality that everyone needs.
We need to be patient to get results from what
we have sacrificed and made so much input. YOU CAN BE
While we so need this quality, to achieve great
things require some cool headed impatience. In
Abraham Lincoln’s words, he said, “let him have
IMPATIENT
the courage to be impatient.” You may be
tinkling your head on why he did not say “let
him have the courage to be patient.”
Lincoln understood that patience does not

NINETEEN
require any courage as much. One could just
quietly sit and be patient, accepting mediocrity

as the rule. He knew that if he would have to achieve great things, he
would have to go gaga over it. He would need some degree of
impatience that requires courage to enact.
When you lead people, as much as you are positive and patient with
them, you cannot get the best from them until you show some degree
of impatience with their growth and capability. You will have to stand
up to them and tell them at their faces that you want more from
them.
It was tough for Lincoln having to work with some crazy persons in his
cabinet who were dragging his government down. Some of them were
imposed on him by the powers that be (the kingmakers). He accepted
them anyway but expected them to work. While he needed to be
patient with them, he observed that if he waited too long, he would

not get results as soon as possible. He had to push them to act by
taking the courage to stand up to them and expect results.
Abraham understood as a guiding principle that it gets to point in life

when one would have to be impatient. He knew that there was a
general ethical consensus on the need for patience as a necessary
virtue. He felt his son could be so entangled with this life virtue that
he would accept patience as the status quo. He said “teacher, teach
this guy that he would have to have some impatience else he won’t
get anything out of life.”
The best you want is you standing up and refusing to accept the
prevailing status. While you have to be patient sometimes, patience
does not work for all the cases. You have to kick your impatient aside
and get to work. It won’t be easy trying to be impatient as you may act

odd or be considered odd, but you have to know what you want and
go for it.
Parents have to be patient with their wards, so teachers say. A child

will develop slowly into maturity with time. True, but you can propel
that growth by becoming impatient. An impatient parent will say, “My
son cannot fail again so I have to do something about it now. I cannot
be patient and continue to see you fail. No. let’s change school and get
new tutors and perhaps I will get you home tutor to help.” Impatience
kicks you to speedy action propelling you to tinker on ways you could
help your wards develop fast.
Teachers are some of the most patient people on earth. Imagine how
Abraham Lincoln son’s teacher could have felt after reading this line
“let him have the courage to be impatient.” He would have thought

like “Mr. Abraham is damn wrong.” Teachers do have to know that
they have to be impatient sometimes. Yes, they have being taught
patience at the teachers college and they have to be patient with all
the students to ensure all the students understand.
Sometimes, the students do not understand and you throw the

responsibility to patience. “With time you will understand,” they will
say. Will you patiently wait until the time they will understand? When
a teacher becomes impatient, he wakes from his slumber and begins
to think of what he has to change to become a more effective teacher.
He thinks of what method he has to apply to pass across his idea
effectively to the students. When he becomes impatient, solutions to
class problems he had not had answers too begins to appear right
before his face.

We do not just have to wait to get results. Yeah, patience is great
especially when you have applied all the rules of the game and you are
expecting results. Off course the result will come, but will take some
good time. However, impatience drives you to thinking how to get the
results now.
Children should learn the virtues of patience as a guiding principle

when dealing with others especially their peers. But they should also
know that sometime they do have to stand up, be courageous and be
impatient if they do want fast results.

F FAITH IN
aith is “believe.” It is the propellant for the
workability of any goal or objective. Anyone who
wants to achieve his goal and objectives must first
believe that he can achieve the much he wants to
achieve. However large the goal is, the first step in
the journey to success is faith.
YOURSELF
Abraham Lincoln achieved the much he achieved
TWENTY
because he had faith in himself. It was faith that
drove him through the many failures that he had
gotten through. He had faith that regardless of his
past failures he could still stay ahead and win the
presidential elections. Failures in previous elections
did not deter him. He had faith that he had the

capabilities that the country needed for leadership at his time.
Abraham Lincoln realized that it was faith in his self that drove him
through the drive for political achievement. He understood that for
anyone to achieve, he must first believe he can. In his letter, he
wanted his son to know he can have faith in himself to achieve great
things even if others do not believe in him. Even if others do not see
anything good in his ideas or thoughts, provided he believes in
himself, he can outdo all expectation.
Everyone can do more than anticipated if they believe. It is faith that

drives you to fight against the odds. Children often have many odds to
challenge. They begin life with competition having to challenge their
classmates and live up to the expectation of their parents. The huge
responsibility though falls on parents. Parents have to have confidence

in their wards which will propel the self believe in their wards. They
need to instill in their wards the fact that they can and they should
believe they could. It is unfortunate sometimes, that parents kill faith
in their wards. They call their wards names such as blocked head, lazy
dude, etc. they make their wards feel bad and lose morale even more
than the child can do. Rather than use such sway words, parents have
to build their words by using encouraging words like “come on you
can,” “you are the best son.”
Abraham Lincoln had faith in his son. Off course, he would not have
written such great letter. It was the faith he wanted the teacher to
transfer into his son so that in his absence, the believe process would
continue. When a parent believes in his child, and puts faith in him,
the child lives on that faith and goes on to impress even in the absence
of the parents. He carries behind him the fact that his parents have
faith in him and this drives him towards the achievement of great goal
and attainments.
Abraham Lincoln was showing teachers the way. Teachers have to

help children believe they can. They have to understand that children
do not all have the same developmental pace. Some grow faster while
others are slower. A teacher’s responsibility is to ensure he believes
regardless of how bad the student is doing. You have to put faith in
that child and tell him, “see don, you can do it. You are the best and
can challenge all the guys in this class.” Let the child know that no
student is better than he is. Let him know that those other persons are
doing better because they believe in themselves to challenge the class,
that if he can rise up to challenge, he can get to the top of the class.

Children need to know nothing is impossible. They need to know that
once they choose to believe in themselves and their capability they
can and will become the best. They do not have to believe what others
say about them even if they think they are right. Those persons are
only right because they accept their word about them.
Children should learn to shake up themselves, believe in their

capabilities, and drive their way to the top. The very fact that their
fellow peers seem to do better in some areas does not mean they are
all good. They need to know that people use their strength to their
advantage. They should find their strength and use it to their
advantage. Parents and teachers should help their wards develop their
gifts and talents and strengthen their advantage over their peers.

Parents have to acknowledge that though their ward may not be
strong in one area, they do have strengths in other areas where they
can be developed in. parents have to watch their wards and know
where their strength lies and help them develop them.
All great achievements came through because the people had self-
belief. They believed they could and though they faced challenges,
they rose to the challenge because they believed. It is time to believe.
Believe in yourself.

W FAITH IN
e do not live in a solitary world. We have to
interact, do business, share, and live with
each other. No one is an island. Great
achievements may be the dreams of one man but
he needs people to see through this dream. He
has to believe that the people around him are
MANKIND
capable of pushing his dreams along with him.
Abraham Lincoln knew that his success was not

because he had his ideas, rather it was because
he had people who had seen the hope in his
TWENTY
ideas and fashioned how best to help him see
through those ideas. He would not have ONE
managed his campaigns alone. People helped him.
There is power in people. Abraham observed that he was particularly

deficient in some ideas, which were in the privy of some other minds.
He knew if he must succeed, he had to acquire the help of those
minds. He had to bring them around him and fashion how best to
work as a team. His success was a result of his confidence in the
people he had around him. Having gazed at his success and
achievement, he would have been appreciative of his campaign
manager, protocol officers and advisers who stringed around him
words of encouragement. He trusted their capability to help him and
they sure did help him.
As a great dad that he was, he wanted his son to know that his dad
would not have achieved the much he had achieved without the help

of all those persons. He thus wanted his teacher to make his son
understand that though he had succeeded as a politician reaching the
foremost position in the leadership hierarchy of the country; his
success was the result of all those hands that walked toward his
success and all the votes too. He would want his son to know that
primarily he had to have faith in his teacher.
Abraham Lincoln had faith in his son’s teacher and he expected his
son would have to follow suit and believe everything the teacher
would say.
Do you believe in people? Do you not think you are superman not
needing any help? Well you would be lying if you say that no one has
influenced your life through to where you are now. No one succeeds
without anybody. Everyone succeeds with somebody.

Children have to learn that they can be a shoulder for others too as
much as they need others to help them succeed. They need to
understand the principles of teamwork and togetherness as a virtue
towards leadership and achievement. This is where parent play a
massive role. As much as parents would desire their wards to be
independent, they need to understand that by interacting with other
kids their age; they are developing the spirit of togetherness and
community.
Parents often lock their wards indoors thinking they are protecting
their wards from external influences. While this is great, the child
becomes deficient in expressing himself, and develops emptiness, one
that only filled by an interaction with their peers.

Children have to grow along with their peers. Elders have to teach
them but they have to learn with their mates. They can only learn
competition from people who can compete with them. Elders cannot
compete with children. It is not feasible and sounds awkward. Play is
part of learning. Where else would children learn if not on the backs of
their peers?
Children need to learn to trust. Parents have to be trustworthy too.

Children have to understand that the principles of trusting others
begin with trusting in the home. They have to trust their parents as
well as teachers who are also emblems of trust. When there is trust in
the home, it translates into trusting people outside.
Children need to realize that life is not about the fear. While they may
fear people around them, if they continue to live in doubts, they may

never believe people and may lose friendship that could be of
productive to them. They have to learn to develop the character of
being trust worthy and strive to always say the truth and stand for
that truth.
Everyone needs to be trust worthy. Someone has to take you for your
words and believe that what you have said will be no different from
what another man will say. Teachers carry a burden like Abraham
son’s teacher. Those children under your care must believe in you and
the other children. No child should come to class and feel lonely. They
should have the warm hands of a teacher to throw their problems at
and find the loving hands of classmates to encourage them through
their fears. In class, there should be no island.

Children find ease trusting teachers as well as people around them.
However, they often renege on their trust when they observe
attributes that are contrary to what they have known and been
thought. The next big thing may be in that small mind but he will need
all the machineries of all the people around him to see that dream
come through.

H NO SHAME
ave you seen a grown up cry? Imagine having to see all
that tears from a full-grown man. You would guess that
the cause of those tears could be remarkable. Abraham
Lincoln had to cry many times. He was a crying leader
passionate about the people he led. He felt the pains
IN TEARS
and suffering of his compatriots that he often had to
show it by his tears. Though many had taken his tears
for weakness, he often had proved he was not weak by
his actions. While some of his contemporaries would
TWENTY
stiffen their face and hid their tear, he always cried his
out and would often cause others to cry. He knew there
was no shame in tears. TWO
There are situations in life that sometimes demand we cry. The death
of close people could be so painful that puts us in dire situation where
we cannot just hide our tears. Abraham Lincoln had lost so many
persons in his life. He lost his wife and his children. He knew what grief
meant and had enormous experience with grief. He so associated with
people who had lost people in their lives and though he strived to
encourage them, he could not but associate with their grief. His tears
often betrayed him. He knew that he was not the only one feeling that
way. His son also felt the same way having lost his mother and
siblings. He desired his son to know that he has a right to his tears. Not
crying is not a sign of power. He had to free his mind and shed those
when he had to.
Sometimes we are grief filled but we choose to hide our tears because
we are ashamed the people around will say “what are you crying
about?” get off that. You have a right to shed your tears. Crying is not
wrong and you have let it out when you do feel heavy with it.
Children often are fast to shed their tears. They cry when they feel
cheated or hurt. Unlike older persons who have the capability to bear
pain and situations, children do not bear so long. Tears drip from their
eyes. Parents need to teach their wards that there is no shame in
crying out when they feel hurt. They could cry out for help in
situations they feel not favorable. Many parents abhor the sight of
their wards’ tears. They treat their wards like animal and expect them
to keep quiet at the pain.
Tears are part of everyday life. So much as there are periods of joy,
tearful moments are part of the deal. It is not wrong to cry if you feel

pain. Parents have to allow their wards understand that they have to
cry with crying people.
Feel the pain along with those who are in pain and be joyful with
those who are joyful. What makes your child feel down casted should
make you feel same. Children appreciate people who feel what they
feel and a strong cord is developed when they observe that the other
person like them understand what pain they are going through.
Teachers at school should be welcoming and on the look out to

observe some attribute changes in their wards. They should observe
when they are down casted and sorrowful and strive to appease or
make them happy. Teachers should have large hands and be a succor
and an encouragement during turbulent times. They should know that

their wards are not angels but humans as well who feel hurt and
discouraged about situations that trouble them.
Abraham Lincoln words “teach him there is no shame in tears” is a

responsibility on every teacher, a responsibility to ensure that children
appreciate the beauty in sharing the pains and tears along with others.
Every parent would desire and appreciate this just as Lincoln did.

D DON’T
o not sell yourself cheap. Abraham Lincoln had a strong
conviction. He would never cower to the bribes of his
contemporaries to get gain from him. He protected his
integrity and stayed glued to his believe in service
ahead of personal gain. None could buy him. He rather
chose to die than sell his pride to a few hands. In
BE
writing his letter, he was transferring his belief to his
son. He desired his son to know that he had something
to protect, his self-consciousness. He had to do so much
to protect the family name than to sell it for meager
CHEAP
penny. For Lincoln, his soul had more value than the
financial enumeration that came with accepting to
TWENTY THREE
lower standards.

Abraham Lincoln knew if he sold himself, he was reducing his value.
He was devaluing himself and giving pedigree and pride to others. He
believed that the support he was having from the populace was not a
cheap one but one that consisted of believe and faith. He had hard
earned the confidence of all those voters. He remembered the many
times he had failed and he realized that the far he has gotten to is
because people believed in his capability. He had not gotten his
success so easily and he was not ready to lose it to a few million
dollars. When he made policies that, some of his contemporaries tried
to bribe him out of, he chose to defend his policies and protect them.
He was a man.
Sell your strength and brain to the highest bidders and never put a
price tag on your heart and soul. This was his word to his son. He was
saying that only the best deserve your capabilities. He desired his son
to aim for the very best, seek the highest position, and drive towards
the top. Like Abraham Lincoln, Parents and teachers should push away
from mediocrity. They are to show example to their wards as Lincoln
did. They are to aim for the highest achievement. Teach the children
how they are to position themselves for the best. They should not
search for mediocre opportunities when they can afford to get the
best out of life.
Your strength has to go to the highest bidders, people who will

appreciate the hardwork and tenacity of purpose with which you
work. You have to strive for great opportunities, where you will be
valued and encouraged to work at your highest capacity. Only those
who put a high price tag on you value you. Their high value makes
them place their price tag on you.

Parents are to help their wards aim towards the best positions
available and strive to be considered good enough for the best.
Children need to develop the great virtues of hardwork and sterling
performance, the kind that will increase their value and place them at
the pedestal of great performance. The development of skill and
talent is of utmost importance if a child must stand out. Lincoln knew
what his son had inside him. He did not want to see those things crash
like a pack of cards. He wanted to have him associate with the best
minds. Every parent want to see their wards work with the best
company, achieve with the best people, and reach great heights with
the best hands.
Teachers being couriers have a mandate to push their wards through

to the top. Every teacher would be proud to see his students become

CEOs of blue chip firms, presidents of industries and icons in different
field of endeavors. That is the teacher’s joy.
Abraham Lincoln desired his son’s teacher to share in the joy of what
he foresaw as a glorious future. He delighted in the pride that the
future will welcome him into and he wanted to see that pride come
through. He was no mediocre father so his son would be no mediocre.
Children have to put great value on themselves. They must know who
they are and work towards the fulfillment of the persons they so
desire to be. They should begin their lives with waking from sleep and
yearning towards the achievement of a glorious feat. Great people are
not cheap.
Teach them the value of conscience and how that it should not be sold
for money. As much as money can buy everything, money cannot buy
one thing, conscience. Children should learn that they have a right to
what they believe and stand for and that they should not cower when
people offer to bribe them to change their stand.
Abraham Lincoln believed this. He did not have money to win

elections but he got the peoples vote, not by bribing but by the people
choosing to stand for a conscience. Abraham did not shake when he
faced the greatest threats of his life as president. He stood for the
right, refused the selling of his conscience, and has forever sealed his
place in the grand books of this world.
Do not offer your value for mere money that will disappear soon. Seal
your conscience for the best and aim towards the future attainment of
your goals.

BEWARE OF
W
hen something becomes too sweet, it is
dangerous. Doctors claim that sugar a major
constituent of sweet food is dangerous to the
health. They have proved that certain diseases such
TOO MUCH
as diabetes are a result and hypertension is a result
of high sugar intake. Lincoln was aware of this fact.
SWEETNESS
He knew that anything that was too sweet had a
negative effect coming around soon. He was
therefore always cautious of what he ate and
drank. This same principle, he was transferring to
TWENTY
his son. He knew that if he must live long, he had to
be cautious of what he ate. FOUR
What we eat plays an important role on our health. If we do want to
live a healthy life, we have to manage ourselves by heating right.
Children are often more prone. They love sweet things. They love
sweets, biscuits, sugar, soft drinks etc. all of them containing sugar in
varying proportion. They soon develop illnesses if not cautioned
against much sugar intake. The ball falls on parent court to guard their
ward and help them to eat well. Children’s food should be balance
containing all the nutrients necessary to make them grow.
Excessive eating can cause over weight. You can observe that many
children are already looking obese and too big for their age. Though
parents want their children to grow at normal pace, they do not want
an overly sized child. Parents should help their wards by ensuring that
they eat right. Help them exercise their bodies, visit the doctor often
for medical checkup, and help them develop a healthy living habit.
Teachers also have to teach the children to ensure they check what
they eat and keep a clean environment.

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For the Development Of that Child you love.

SAMUEL UFOT EKEKERE

©2013 Samuel Ufot Ekekere

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

1. He Will Have To Learn

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

In school, teach him, it is far more honorable to fail than to

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

Only a teacher can teach a teacher. For this man to

One great attribute about this man is that he was a

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

This man knew failure by his face. Nevertheless, he was determined to

Whenever we talk about a never give up spirit and determination, we

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

This man is Abraham Lincoln.

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

The great philosopher Plato postulated his belief in

Abraham Lincoln was in Plato’s school of thought.

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

Today’s parents have a responsibility to ensure their children learn.

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

The teachings offered by parents as the first teachers of their children

However, he knew that the training he was offering would not be

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

Teachers realize that their major responsibility is to ensure that they

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

Teachers’ responsibility is to ensure whether their students are bright,

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

Parents believe teachers have enormous influence and they want to

That child will have to learn. No child is finished. Every child is

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

From the beginning of life, people have chosen

Abraham Lincoln saw it necessary to tell his

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

Teachers too must acknowledge the confidence parents are having on

Teachers should be good shepherds to protect their wards when they

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

Students should learn principles of making decisions as regard keeping

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

Abraham wanted a teaching teacher for his son. He advised the

Students could be very difficult especially as they grow up and

However knowledgeable a student may be, he has found himself

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

A teacher has to know and must put himself abreast of knowledge

Teachers will not be teachers if they do not continue to develop their

Abraham Lincoln acknowledges he had to support his son’s teacher do

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

Abraham Lincoln was showing an example to parents who should see

No child is beyond the power of change. However challenging a child

It is often surprising to observe how some kids are placed on the

Teachers have a huge responsibility to build confidence in their wards.

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

Parents must realize that they have as a responsibility to ensure they

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE

THE LINCOLN EXPERIENCE