OT: Ten-year-old article on the importance of teaching your kids the value of hard work.

[LionJim]

I was browsing Terry Tao's (math whiz) blog and he had this article highlighted. Excellent advice herein. Working hard and accepting challenges is a learned skill, extremely valuable. When I was in graduate school, there was not a single day where I didn't feel like an idiot. In fact, every time I would go to see my advisor, I would pause outside his door, say to myself, "Now, Jim, don't be afraid of saying something stupid," and then knock. This is valuable advice. The best way to love your children is to teach them that making excuses is a surefire path to failure.

My email signature contains this quote from William Least-Heat-Moon's Blue Highways: "The biggest hindrance to learning is fear of showing one's self a fool."

http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/