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Informationen zum Autor Dr. William J. Bennett is one of America’s most influential and respected voices on cultural, political, and educational issues. Host of The Bill Bennett Show podcast, he is also the Washington Fellow of the American Strategy Group. He is the author and editor of more than twenty-five books. Dr. Bennett served as the secretary of education and chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities under President Ronald Reagan and as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George Herbert Walker Bush. Chapter 1 COURAGE PERSEVERANCE Try, Try Again 'Tis a lesson you should heed, Try, try again; If at first you don't succeed, Try, try again; Then your courage should appear, For, if you will persevere, You will conquer, never fear; Try, try again. Persevere Stick-to-it-iveness has a lot to do with getting the right answers in math, English, history, and life. The fisher who draws in his net too soon, Won't have any fish to sell; The child who shuts up his book too soon, Won't learn any lessons well. If you would have your learning stay, Be patient -- don't learn too fast; The man who travels a mile each day, May get round the world at last. It Can Be Done Brave people think things through and ask, "Is this the best way to do this?" Cowards, on the other hand, always say, "It can't be done." The man who misses all the fun Is he who says, "It can't be done." In solemn pride he stands aloof And greets each venture with reproof. Had he the power he'd efface The history of the human race; We'd have no radio or motor cars, No streets lit by electric stars; No telegraph nor telephone, We'd linger in the age of stone. The world would sleep if things were run By men who say, "It can't be done." The Little Hero of Holland Adapted from Etta Austin Blaisdell and Mary Frances Blaisdell Here is the true story of a brave heart, one willing to hold on as long as it takes to get the job done. Holland is a country where much of the land lies below sea level. Only great walls called dikes keep the North Sea from rushing in and flooding the land. For centuries the people of Holland have worked to keep the walls strong so that their country will be safe and dry. Even the little children know the dikes must be watched every moment, and that a hole no larger than your finger can be a very dangerous thing. Many years ago there lived in Holland a boy named Peter. Peter's father was one of the men who tended the gates in the dikes, called sluices. He opened and closed the sluices so that ships could pass out of Holland's canals into the great sea. One afternoon in the early fall, when Peter was eight years old, his mother called him from his play. "Come, Peter," she said. "I want you to go across the dike and take these cakes to your friend, the blind man. If you go quickly, and do not stop to play, you will be home again before dark." The little boy was glad to go on such an errand, and started off with a light heart. He stayed with the poor blind man a little while to tell him about his walk along the dike and about the sun and the flowers and the ships far out at sea. Then he remembered his mother's wish that he should return before dark and, bidding his friend goodbye, he set out for home. As he walked beside the canal, he noticed how the rains had swollen the waters, and how they beat against the side of the dike, and he thought of his father's gates. "I am glad they are so strong," he said to himself. "If they gave way what would become of us? These pretty fields would be covered with water. Father always call...
