Two Famous Fathers Advise their Sons on Love

I was reading recently at Letters of Note ("Correspondence deserving of a wider audience") and wanted to share two wonderful letters.

The first is John Steinbeck's letter to his son after his son has written from boarding school with the news that he is in love with a girl.  Here's my favorite section:

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply—of course it isn’t puppy love.

But I don’t think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it—and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

The second is Ronald Reagan's letter to his son just before his son's marriage.  In that letter, he urges his son to stay faithful in spite of peer pressure to live up to live up to "locker room stories" or prove his masculinity by starting an affair.  The letter ends like this:

There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of a day knowing someone on the other side of that door is waiting for the sound of his footsteps.

Love,

Dad

P.S. You'll never get in trouble if you say "I love you" at least once a day.

Head over to the site for these and other fascinating letters.