Wednesday 20 June 2012

Someday is now

Something of a guest post for mid-week, this apparently hit the web about three months ago but doesn’t seem to have gained much profile (sadly).

It’s reportedly a quote from the Principal of a secondary educational establishment in New Zealand who in turn was relating comment from a judge who deals regularly with young offenders:

“Always we hear the cry from teenagers ‘What can we do, where can we go?’

My answer is, “Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons, and after you’ve finished, read a book.”

“Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun. The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something. You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in poverty or sick and lonely again.”

“In other words, grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone, not a wishbone. Start behaving like a responsible person. You are important and you are needed. It’s too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday. Someday is now and that somebody is you”


As the rain lashes down here on this midsummer evening, the antipodes look ever more attractive.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is actually from a US judge in the 1960s. Complaints about teenagers never change!
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1908&dat=19831216&id=30grAAAAIBAJ&sjid=29UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1457,8085855

Anonymous said...

You are both wrong. This is from Judge Phillip B Gilliam of Denver, Colorado, in a letter published on December 17, 1959.

ALWAYS give the source credit. - Thanks.