Articles From the Team

What I will teach my Sons

I recently wrote a blog about what I will teach my daughter as she grows up.

As much as some of it was tongue in cheek, the response has been very interesting in that it seems to echo what a lot of women were taught by their own fathers. This gives me hope that as ever the silent majority are far more sensible than those who are pushing their more extreme view on the subject in the media. What also interested me is that not one person who viewed the blog made any enquiry as to what I will teach my sons. Do my sons not matter? Perhaps there is some unconscious bias around the issue?

In writing this I am conscious that if the advice I provide for my sons differs from that which I give to my daughter I leave myself open to criticism. However, in order for the blog to be interesting, I need to provide different content – so I’ve decided to do this one in the form of quotes from films, songs, movies, poems and random people.

1) Son, you are a bachelor boy and that’s the way to stay. (Harry Webb/ Cliff Richard) 2) It’s not about how hard you can hit. It is about how hard you can get hit and get up again and keep moving forward – that is how winning is done. (Me, paraphrasing Rocky Balboa who was unknowingly paraphrasing Nelson Mandela). 3) On any given Sunday you’re gonna win or you’re gonna lose. The point is can you win or lose like a man? (Tony D’Amato) 4) The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off (Gloria Steinem) 5) Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win. (Mohammed Ali) 6) No! I am your FATHER. (Me, paraphrasing Darth Vader) 7) The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. (Martin Luther King, Jr) 8) If (Rudyard Kipling). 9) Women spend more time thinking about what men think, than men actually spend time thinking (Anon) 10) Never argue with stupid people. They will bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience. (Mark Twain) 11) Girls don’t like boys, girls like cars and money (Good Charlotte) and in my observation most of them aren’t that keen on cars!! 12) The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem (Jack Sparrow) 13) A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend (Anon) 14) A gentleman holds his own weight in bed!! (my old rugby coach – whilst demanding more press ups) 15) Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do (Mark Twain) 16) Keep your friends close and your enemies closer (Michael Corleone) 17) Happy Wife = Easy Life (possibly Phil Spencer) 18) Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live; it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. (Oscar Wilde) 19) Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it (Ferris Bueller) 20) If women ruled the world there would be no wars. Just a bunch of jealous countries not talking to each other (Anonymous). To be fair, this would be better. 21) That's what a leader's about: sacrifice. The times he's got to sacrifice because he's got to lead, by example. Not by fear and not by self-pity (Tony D’Amato). 22) A man will pay £2 for a £1 item he needs, a woman will pay £1 for a £2 item that she doesn't need (Anon) and call it a bargain!! 23) The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it (Jordan Belfort). 24) If you aren’t in bed by midnight, come home! (Geevaka Abeyratne) 25) There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about and the that is not being talked bout (Oscar Wilde)

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