• THOUGHTS ON •
Mentoring “Who cannot give good counsel? ’Tis cheap, and it costs them nothing.”
“Mentors have a way of seeing more of our faults than we would like. It’s the only way we grow.”
—Robert Burton
—George Lucas
“While I made my living as a coach, I have lived my life to mentor, and to be mentored.”
“In the absence of a perfect universal mentor, books and other texts are the best and cheapest stand-ins, always available to those who know where to look.”
—John Wooden “We all have a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.”
—John Taylor Gatto “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
—Jane Austen “Advice is seldom welcome, and those who want it the most always like it the least.”
—Plutarch “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying ‘This is the way; walk in it.’ ”
—Lord Chesterfield “The recommendation when I’m mentoring folks—I always tell them, take a risk.” —Ginni Rometty “I have lived some 30 years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors.” —Henry David Thoreau “The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” —Steven Spielberg F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M
Steven Spielberg
“Without access to mentors, many of us are not prepared for the game. It’s as if we’re trying to play soccer on a baseball diamond.” —Brenda Harrington “Teach them the quiet words of kindness, to live beyond themselves. Let your spirit move through them softly.” —Pat Conroy
—Isaiah 30:21 “A wise parent humors the desire for independent action, so as to become the friend and advisor when his absolute rule shall cease.” —Elizabeth Gaskell “It is perfectly fine with me that what for one man is precious wisdom for another sounds like foolery.” —Hermann Hesse
SOURCES: ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY, BY ROBERT BURTON; WALDEN, BY HENRY DAVID THOREAU; THE PRINCE OF TIDES, BY PAT CONROY; ACCESS DENIED, BY BRENDA HARRINGTON; MANSFIELD PARK, BY JANE AUSTEN; NORTH AND SOUTH, BY ELIZABETH GASKELL; SIDDHARTHA, BY HERMANN HESSE; THE UNDERGROUND HISTORY OF AMERICAN EDUCATION, BY JOHN TAYLOR GATTO.
FINAL THOUGHT
“The really big executive rejoices when others grow big.”
—B.C. Forbes
JUNE 2023
FRED DUVAL/ SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
THOUGHTS
96
