Clarence Thomas at Hillsdale College: ‘These small lessons become the unplanned syllabus for becoming a good citizen.’ ****
http://www.wsj.com/articles/notable-quotable-clarence-thomas-1463440126
From Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s commencement address at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich., May 14:
What you do will matter far more than what you say. As the years have swiftly moved by, I have often reflected on the important citizenship lessons of my life. For the most part, it was the unplanned array of small things. There was the kind gesture from the neighbor. It was my grandmother dividing our dinner because another person showed up unannounced. It was the strangers stopping to help us get our crops out of the field before a big storm.
There were the Irish nuns who believed in us and lived in our neighborhood. There was the librarian who brought books to mass so that I would not be without reading materials on the farm. Small lessons such as these became big lessons for how to live our lives. We watched and learned what it means to be a good person, a good neighbor, or a good citizen. Who will be watching you, and what will you be teaching them? After this commencement, I implore you to take a few minutes to thank those who made it possible for you to come this far, your parents, your teachers, your pastor, your coaches. You know who helped you. . . .
Do not hide your faith and your beliefs under a bushel basket especially in this world that seems to have gone mad with political correctness. Treat others the way you would like to be treated if you stood in their shoes. These small lessons become the unplanned syllabus for becoming a good citizen, and your efforts to live them will help to form the fabric of a civil society and a free and prosperous nation where inherent equality and liberty are inviolable.
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