Stephen
Covey wrote this in the foreward of one of his books:
"Several years
ago a friend shared this experience from his youth:
An
old man was asked to teach a group of
unruly teenage boys, including this friend, in a community program. The man was so old and the boys so
'energetic' that many eyebrows were raised at the arrangement.
The first day, the
old man stood at the
door of the classroom and quietly handed each boy a little card as he
walked in. During the class, he simply had
each boy read
aloud the though that was written on the card.
Then he told each boy to keep the card and to memorize the
thought on
it, or else they would not be able to get in the class next week.
The following week, the old man was waiting
at the classroom door. Those who could
not quote the thought were instructed to go and tell their parents that
they
would not be allowed in class. In those
days,
this was not a desirable thing for a boy to do. So when
they hesitated, the old man offered to help them learn it ‘this time’.
This ritual
continued week after week. The friend who
related this story said that after
a few weeks, those little thoughts changed the whole feeling of the
group. They eventually changed the course
of his
life. They gave him inspiration and hope
years later in a foxhole far from home, and on many other challenging
occasions
throughout his life.
That
was over forty years ago, and he still
collects quotes."
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