My Father's Creed
My father was a fine man, and a doctor. A plain honest-to-goodness general practioner who cared deeply about his work, his patients and who got up at night to make house calls. He was known as a remarkable diagnostician and an excellent surgeon. When he died I was deeply touched to know that more than a thousand people were at his funeral.
From the time I was quite small, I remember him regularly saying to me "The only important thing Brett, is to live an honourable life." When I got old enough to ask such questions, I asked him "What does that mean, Dad? How do I do that?" He said:
"To live an honourable life:
- You must know what, at any one time, you believe.
- You must know why you believe those things.
- You must be prepared to stand up for those beliefs.
- You must be prepared to take the consequences for doing that."
-- BrettShand