Arnold Toynbee has said that all progress， all development come from challenge and a consequent response. Without challenge there is no response， no development， no freedom. So first we owe to our children the most demanding， challenging curriculum that is within their capabilities. Michelangelo did not learn to paint by spending his time doodling. Mozart was not an accomplished pianist at the age of eight as the result or spending his days in front of a television set. Like Eve Curie， like Helen Keller， they responded to the challenge of their lives by a disciplined training： and they gained a new freedom.
The second opportunity we can give our boys and girls is the right to failure. "Freedom is not only a privilege， it is a test，" writes De Nouy. What kind of a test is it， what kind of freedom where no one can fail？ The day is past when the United States can afford to give high school diplomas to all who sit through four years of instruction， regardless of whether any visible results can be discerned. We live in a narrowed world where we must be alert， awake to realism； and realism demands a standard which either must be met or result in failure. These are hard words， but they are brutally true. If we deprive our children of the right to fail we deprive them of their knowledge of the world as it is.
Finally， we can expose our children to the best values we have found. By relating our lives to the evidences of the ages， by judging our philosophy in the light of values that history has proven truest， perhaps we shall be able to produce that "ringing message， full of content and truth， satisfying the mind， appealing to the heart， firing the will， a message on which one can stake his whole life." This is the message that could mean joy and strength and leadership —— freedom as opposed to serfdom.
NEW WORDS
cherish vt. care for tenderly； keep alive 爱护，珍爱；抱有，怀有
religion n. 宗教
settler n. a person who has settled in a newly developed country； colonist 移民；殖民者
sensitive a. quick to receive impressions； easily hurt or offended 敏感的
sensitive-faced a. having a sensitive face
Arab n.， a. 阿拉伯人（的）；阿拉伯的
haunt vt. visit often
