“People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.”
— Kent M. Keith (The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council)
Reflection:
I chose this quote to illustrate the different difficulties and struggles that we will face as being teachers, and how we need to remember our purpose and remain positive throughout the hard times. As we develop the minds and hearts of future generations we must remember to teach students how to love and accept one another, always try our best, while helping those around us along the way. This quote exemplifies the importance of humanity to me and makes me think about the life lessons some of the teachers I’ve had throughout my life had on me. I think teaching students of all ages about humanity is important because people of all ages don’t always make the right decision the first or even the second time; however, we must all learn to use the tools that they can put towards making rational decisions, all while accepting and understanding that no one is perfect. I connect to this poem personally as I have had a wide variety of teachers over the course of my education, and the teachers that stand out to me as remarkable and always going above and beyond are also the teachers that taught us about social, emotional, and moral issues within the classroom. Overall, I think teachers should be a source of light and hope in a child’s life, while guiding their students through their own opportunities and experience to determine how they will act and react accordingly.
Keith, K. M. (2003). The silent revolution: dynamic leadership
in the student council. Honolulu, HI: TerracePress.