John Gardner, an American public figure and founder of a prestigious scholarship for youth, talks about the most dangerous drug in the world and why you should not try to please everyone*.
“Growing up, we do not just acquire knowledge and master skills. We learn not to succumb to the temptation of self-destruction. We learn not to waste mental strength on exhausting anxiety. We are discovering our own way of coping with stress. We learn that self-pity and accumulated resentment is one of the most toxic drugs. We learn that the world loves talent but pays for character.
Over time, we come to understand that most people are neither for nor against us – they are focused on themselves. We discover that no matter how hard we try to please, there will always be someone who will not love us. At first, this life lesson causes anxiety, but then it brings relief.
We fill our lives with meaning. It is made up of our past, of our hobbies and devotion to business and people, from the experience of mankind, which has passed to us by inheritance … We are the only ones who can connect all this in a unique pattern, which is called a lived life.
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John Gardner (1912-2002) – American public figure, Secretary of State for the Department of Health, Education and Social Development under President Lyndon Johnson, leadership expert. Founder of two prestigious scholarship programs, including the John Gardner Scholarship at Stanford University (USA).