Pay Attention, Carter Jones

Make good decisions and remember who you are." "Make good decisions and remember who loves you.

Make good decisions and remember who you are, young Master Jones.’ He put his bowler back on. ‘You think I’m going to forget who I am?’ I said. ‘You are entering middle school now,’ he said. ‘I think it quite likely.’ Then he opened his door, folded his umbrella, and got inside again.

The living of your life is hard work, young Master Carter... You may act the gentleman or the barbarian." "Those are the only two choices?" "Yes," said the Butler, "the only two...

Do not heft onto your shoulders burdens you do not own.

Make good decisions and remember who loves you." I looked at him. "I thought it was 'remember who you are.'" The Butler looked back at me. "It is the very same thing," he said. "What?" "Young Master Carter, when you walk Ned for your mother; when you attend Miss Anne's robotics competition without observing that such attendance is, if you'll pardon the expression, 'a pain in the glutes'; when you cheer at Miss Charlotte's football match even though she barely had a touch; when you accompany your sister to a Turner art exhibition; when you take your young sisters to buy Dreamsicles; when you appear as exhibit A for Miss Emily's Favorite Person of the Week event; when you attend two ballet exhibitions despite your unfortunate and undiscerning distaste for the art; you are telling them that it is the same thing." "Is that sort of what being a gentleman is supposed to be?" "We are what we love, young Master Carter.

And so you face a curious dilemma, one you will face often if you choose to live a life of integrity and challenge. Is it better to consider all ideas, to determine which one seems to you most reasonable and worthy, and then to speak your mind? Or is it better to follow old patterns and to acquiesce quietly into a general conformity?

In the midst of great anxiety and great sadness, it takes an honorable man to nourish the goodness around him, small and fragile as it may seem.

The living of your life is hard work, young Master Carter. If that were to happen, you must actively choose what to do. You may act the gentleman or the barbarian.

Have a good day, young Master Carter,” said the Butler. “Make good decisions and remember who loves you.” I looked at him. “I thought it was ‘remember who you are.’” The Butler looked back at me. “It is the very same thing,” he said.

The guy sighed. “The contents are self-explanatory.

There are times...when we find ourselves in a position of great purpose. It may be that the apt word, spoken at the apt moment, leads to great good in the world—and most often, that is a word of kindness and encouragement.