Tell My Sons . . . Book

Foreword vii

Preface ix

Introduction: …To be strong enough to know when you are weak, brave enough to face yourself when you are afraid 1

Chapter 1 …Not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge 9

Chapter 2 …Not to substitute words for actions 33

Chapter 3 …To be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success 55

Chapter 4 …To seek out and experience a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, an appetite for adventure over love of ease. 83

Chapter 5 …To seek a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, and to exercise a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity 109

Chapter 6 …To seek out the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength 129

Chapter 7 …To be serious, yet never to take yourself too seriously; to cry, but also to laugh 167

Chapter 8 …To discover the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of what is next, and the joy and inspiration of life 189

Epilogue: "How Are You Doing?" 197

Author's Note and Acknowledgements 207