Be useful and be kind, a philosophy for life

Be useful and be kind, a philosophy for life

 Barack-Obama-quote

This is the advice President Barack Obama gave his daughters on the topic of their future career path. Obama was in conversation with Bear Grylls on a TV programme when he mentioned that he’s happy for his daughters to follow whichever life path they choose but that he asks them to ‘be useful and be kind’.

It’s that simple. In the space of five words I think Obama’s summed up what we should all aim to do in life.:

• be of some use in the world, contribute to society, be helpful to individuals, join in, make a difference
• be kind to anyone who crosses your path in life whatever their status or relationship to you, and be kind to yourself too

Such a straightforward, uncomplicated message from someone in such a powerful position really struck a chord with me. If everyone made their number one underlying purpose in life to be useful and be kind imagine what kind of world we could create.

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