Hints on Living for a Young Persons
by
A. MacDarragh Burke
This little book was written by a grandfather for his grandson, and contains one hundred and fifty hints or suggestions on how to meet various situations in life.
The author quotes an Italian Proverb that says, "We surrender youth to purchase wisdom". The purpose of 'Hints' is to allow a young person to have some wisdom before he grows too old.
Typically each hint has three parts as follows:
a} 'The Hint',
b] A discussion of why that particular hint is important, and
c] What other people, some famous, have had to say about that particular hint.
Some typical 'Hints' follow as well as a full presentation of Hint 21] WATCH LUST.
1] SAY GOOD MORNING TO YOURSELF.
13] BITE YOUR TONGUE.
19] GO TO AN AA MEETING.
21] WATCH LUST.
24] DRUGS AND ALCOHOL.
47] YOUR PROBLEMS ARE YOURS.
54] KISS.
71] TO KEEP A GUN IN THE HOUSE OR NOT?
72] BRAVE IS SAFER.
84] WRITE IT DOWN.
88] TWO PASSPORTS.
100] COMMITTEES ARE GARBAGE.
102] MARRIAGE?
120] U.D.
129] THE WORK PLACE.
133] YOUR WASHINGTON EMPLOYEE.
150] RELIGION.
Excerpt:
21] WATCH LUST
Lust is a human trait, and an important one, as without it the human race would have died out long ago.
I've always thought of lust as one of God's jokes on mankind. I mean he implanted it in all of us - no member of the human race is without lust. But he went even further, he gave the sexes an unequal amount of testosterone, the hormone associated with sex drive or lust. As far as I can make out the young human male has eighteen times the testosterone of the human female. This means that the young males are always looking for sex while the female can be more restrained.
What it means in practical terms, is that women tend to look at men as randy old goats, while men tend to think of many women as ice-maidens. The sad thing is that neither group is responsible, as they are being controlled by their hormone levels to a great extent.
Now, who says God does not have a sense of humor?
When dealing with lust, safe sex is of utmost importance for two reasons :-
i} to prevent conception, and
ii} to prevent disease.
i} Unwanted pregnancies are no fun for anybody, especially, for the unwanted child. Marriage is a difficult undertaking even in the best of circumstances and, when one of the partners feels trapped, it has less chance of success than normal.
ii} Nowadays, diseases of all kinds, some of them fatal, can be the result of unprotected sex. Death or disease is a high price to pay for sexual intercourse. Some couples say that having safe sex is too much trouble but I have found that, if both partners help, safe sex is an incredible turn-on.
A young friend of mine was talking with her mother when her mother said, "When I was young, the worst thing that could happen to a girl, as a result of sex, was that she would get pregnant. Today it is the best thing." There is a lot of wisdom in that comment.
I hope you'll forgive me, A-----, if I list a number of comments that have been made about love, lust and/or marriage through the ages.
The first sigh of love is the last of wisdom - - Anon.
There is no woman in the world who cannot be overcome by first being made grateful - - Giovanni Jiacomo Casanova.
A man may have saved the State, directed the affairs of a world and acquired
an undying fame for wisdom, but to his wife he is a witless fool - - Attributed to Cicero.
If you would be loved, love and be lovable - - Ben Franklin.
Keep your eyes open before marriage but half-shut afterwards - - Ben Franklin.
The only victory over love is flight - - Napoleon Bonaparte.
Love-a grave mental illness - - Plato.
The fickleness of the woman I love is equaled by the infernal constancy of the women
who love me - - George Bernard Shaw.
COPYRIGHT 1998 © BY A. MacDARRAGH BURKE, MD
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No part of this book may be stored in any data retrieval system, translated, photocopied, recorded, reproduced in any way without prior written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief passages for review purposes.
A. MacDarragh Burke, MD,
10645 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite 200-126,
Phoenix, AZ 85028.
.