by Maria Popova 译/辛献云

No love is greater than that of a father for his son.

（没有什么爱能超越父亲对儿子的爱。）

— Dan Brown （丹·布朗）

With Fathers Day around the corner， lets take a moment to pay heed to1） some of the wisest， most heart-warming advice from historys famous dads. Gathered here are four timeless favorites， further perpetuating my well-documented love of the art of letter-writing.

Leroy Pollock

In this beautiful 1928 letter， culled from American Letters 1927～1947： Jackson Pollock2） & Family， Jackson Pollocks dad， LeRoy， offers his son a sincere， optimistic lens on what matters most in life and how to cultivate it.

Dear Son Jack，

Well it has been some time since I received your fine letter. I was glad to learn how you felt about your summers work & your coming school year. The secret of success is concentrating interest in life， interest in sports and good times， interest in your studies， interest in your fellow students， interest in the small things of nature， insects， birds， flowers， leaves， etc. In other words to be fully awake to everything about you & the more you learn the more you can appreciate & get a full measure of joy & happiness out of life. I do not think a young fellow should be too serious. He should be full of the dickens3） sometimes to create a balance.

I think your philosophy on religion is okay. I think every person should think， act & believe according to the dictates of his own conscience without too much pressure from the outside. I too think there is a higher power， a supreme force， a governor， a something that controls the universe. What it is & in what form I do not know. It may be that our intellect or spirit exists in space in some other form after it parts from this body. Nothing is impossible and we know that nothing is destroyed—it only changes chemically. If we burn up a house and its contents， we change the form but the same elements exist： gas， vapor， ashes. They are all there just the same.

Write and tell me all about your schoolwork and yourself in general. I will appreciate your confidence.

You no doubt had some hard days on your job at Crestline4） this summer. I can imagine the steep climbing， the hot weather， etc. But those hard things are what build character and physic.

Well Jack I presume by the time you have read all this you will be mentally fatigued and will need to relax. So goodnight， pleasant dreams and God bless you.

Your affectionate Dad

Ronald Reagan

Days before 26-year-old Michael Reagans wedding in June of 1971， would-be U.S. President Ronald Reagan sent him this thoughtful and strikingly honest letter of marital advice， found in Reagan： a Life in Letters：

Dear Mike：

Youve heard all the jokes that have been rousted around by all the “unhappy marrieds” and cynics. Now， in case no one has suggested it， there is another viewpoint. You have entered into the most meaningful relationship there is in all human life. It can be whatever you decide to make it.

Some men feel their masculinity can only be proven if they play out in their own life all the locker-room stories， smugly5） confident that what a wife doesnt know wont hurt her. The truth is， somehow， way down inside， without her ever finding lipstick on the collar or catching a man in the flimsy6） excuse of where he was till three A.M.， a wife does know， and with that knowing， some of the magic of this relationship disappears. There are more men griping about marriage who kicked the whole thing away themselves than there can ever be wives deserving of blame. There is an old law of physics that you can only get out of a thing as much as you put in it. The man who puts into the marriage only half of what he owns will get that out. Sure， there will be moments when you will see someone or think back to an earlier time and you will be challenged to see if you can still make the grade7）， but let me tell you how really great is the challenge of proving your masculinity and charm with one woman for the rest of your life. Any man can find a twerp here and there who will go along with cheating， and it doesnt take all that much manhood. It does take quite a man to remain attractive and to be loved by a woman who has heard him snore， seen him unshaven， tended him while he was sick and washed his dirty underwear. Do that and keep her still feeling a warm glow and you will know some very beautiful music.

Mike， you know better than many what an unhappy home is and what it can do to others. Now you have a chance to make it come out the way it should. 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. Youll never get in trouble if you say “I love you” at least once a day.

Marion Carpenter

Half a century ago last month， 37-year-old Malcolm Scott Carpenter8） piloted the Aurora 7 into space， becoming only the second American to orbit the Earth. The day before his landmark journey， he received the following letter from his father， Marion， found in For Spacious Skies： The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut：

Dear Son，

Just a few words on the eve of your great adventure for which you have trained yourself and anticipated for so long—to let you know that we all share it with you， vicariously9）.

As I think I remarked to you at the outset of the space program， you are privileged to share in a pioneering project on a grand scale—in fact the grandest scale yet known to man. And I venture to predict that after all the huzzas10） have been uttered and the public acclaim is but a memory， you will derive the greatest satisfaction from the serene knowledge that you have discovered new truths. You can say to yourself： this I saw， this I experienced， this I know to be the truth. This experience is a precious thing； it is known to all researchers， in whatever field of endeavour， who have ventured into the unknown and have discovered new truths.

You are probably aware that I am not a particularly religious person， at least in the sense of embracing any of the numerous formal doctrines. Yet I cannot conceive of a man endowed with intellect， perceiving the ordered universe about him， the glory of the mountain top， the plumage11） of a tropical bird， the intricate complexity of a protein molecule12）， the utter and unchanging perfection of a salt crystal， who can deny the existence of some higher power. Whether he chooses to call it God or Mohammed13） or Buddha or Torquoise Woman14） or the Law of Probability15） matters little. I find myself in my writings frequently calling upon Mother Nature to explain things and citing Her as responsible for the order of the universe. She is a very satisfactory divinity for me. And so I shall call upon Her to watch over you and guard you and， if she so desires， share with you some of Her secrets which She is usually so ready to share with those who have high purpose.

With all my love，

Dad

John Steinbeck

Nobel laureate John Steinbeck16） was a prolific and eloquent letter-writer， as the magnificent Steinbeck： A Life in Letters reveals. Among his correspondence is this beautiful response to his eldest son Thoms 1958 letter， in which the teenage boy confesses to have fallen desperately in love with a girl named Susan while at boarding school. Steinbecks words of wisdom should be etched onto the heart and mind of every living， breathing human being.

Dear Thom：

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view.

First—if you are in love—thats a good thing—thats about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Dont let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second—there are several kinds of love. One is a selfish， mean， grasping， egotistical17） thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling18） kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you—of kindness and consideration and respect—not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength， and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didnt know you had.

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

But I dont 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.

If you love someone—there is no possible harm in saying so—only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel， but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another—but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly， I know your feeling because I have it and Im glad you have it.

And dont worry about losing. If it is right， it happens. The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

Love，

Fa

父亲节即将来临，让我们花上片刻时间，重温历史上那些著名的父亲给子女留下的一些最睿智、最温馨的忠告。下面这四篇便是我收集到的经受了时间考验的最受人喜爱的书信，它们将我对书信艺术那有据可查的强烈爱好进一步推向永恒。

勒罗伊·波洛克

这封写于1928年的精彩书信摘自《1927～1947美国书信集：杰克逊·波洛克及其家人》。在信中，杰克逊·波洛克的父亲勒罗伊以诚恳的态度、乐观的精神向儿子展示了什么才是人生最重要的东西，以及如何为之而努力。

亲爱的儿子杰克：

收到你美好的来信已经有一段时间了。我很高兴获悉你对暑假工作以及即将到来的新学年的感受。成功的秘诀在于发掘人生兴趣，对运动和美好时光的兴趣，对学习的兴趣，对同学的兴趣，对昆虫、花鸟、树叶等大自然中藐小之物的兴趣。换句话说，要充分感知你周围的一切，你了解到的越多，就越能欣赏它们，并从生活中获得最大的快乐和幸福。我认为年轻人不应该太过严肃了，有时候也不妨放浪轻狂一下，以达到平衡。

我认为你对宗教的看法是没问题的。我认为每个人都要凭着自己的良知去思考、行动和信奉自己的信仰，而不应该过于顾忌外界的压力。我也相信冥冥中有一种更为崇高的力量，一种至高无上的威力，一个统治者，一种不知名的存在掌控着大千世界。我不知道它是什么，或者以何种形式存在。……