One of the best ways I know of fortifying oneself to withstand the vicissitudes of his insecure and unpredictable era is to school oneself to require relatively little in the way of material possessions, physical satisfactions or the praise of others. The less one requires of such things the better situated one is to stand up to changes of fortune.

I am singularly rich in friendships. Friends of all ages have contributed enormously to my happiness and helped me greatly in times of need. I learned one of the great secrets of friendship early in life - to regard each person with whom one associates as an end in himself, not a means to one's own ends. That entails trying to help those with whom one comes in contact to find fulfillment in their own way while seeking one's own fulfillment in one's own way.

Another ethical principle that has stood me in good stead is: Know thyself! I try to acquaint myself realistically with my possibilities and limitations. I try to suit my aspirations to goals within my probable capacity to attain. I may have missed some undiscovered possibilities for growth but I have spared myself much by not shooting for stars it clearly was not given me to attain.

I have seen much inhumanity, cheating, corruption, sordidness and selfishness but I have not become cynical. I have seen too much that is decent, kind and noble in men to lose faith in the possibility for a far finer existence than yet has been achieved. I believe the quest for a better life is the most satisfying pursuit of men and nations.

I love life but I am not worried about death. I do not feel that I have lost my son and a host of others dear to me by death. I believe with William Penn that "they that love beyond the World cannot be separated by it. Death is but Crossing the World, as Friends do the Seas; they live in one another still." Death, I believe, teaches us the things of deathlessness.