Bijzondere gedichten
Uit het boek 'Inside Obama's Brain'; When Obama's class graduated, on june 2, 1979, Punahou's then-president Roderick McPhee read aloud an old admonition, often attributes to Ralph Waldo Emerson but probably written by a woman named Bessie Stanley in the early twentieth century. McPhee urged his students, as they went out into the world,
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.