FATHER
Illustration★★★★“By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact,” said General Douglas MacArthur. “But I am prouder, infinitely prouder, to be a father.
A soldier destroys in order to build. The father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentialities of death; the other embodies creation and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battles of life are mightier still.
My hope is that my son, when I am gone, and truly, my parents are not quite so grand as I used to think. They don’t know everything.” At nineteen: “Although my parents think they are always right, they really know very little compared with what I know already.” At twenty-two: “My parents do not understand young people; they have nothing in common with the young generation.”
At thirty: “To tell the truth, my parents were right in many things.” At fifty: “My parents were wonderful people. They had a clear mind and always did the necessary thing at the right moment. My beloved parents.”
Father’s Concern
The point
General MacArthur calls fatherhood his greatest pride—building and creating life is greater than warfare. Children's attitudes toward parents evolve from criticism to profound respect.