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You Can Teach a Man to Fish
Teach a man to fish
and you feed him for a lifetime
but without river or pole
he’ll starve.
Teach a child to read
and you open the widest of worlds
but without library or book
their knowledge will taper away.
Teach a daughter or son
how to live fruitfully
but without example or opportunity
they will be devoured by life.
Teach any one
their place in the world
but without happiness or way to fulfill purpose
they settle sadly elsewhere.
Teach generations
to stand up and embrace who they are
in time of strife or inequality
certainly they will stand
Teach generations their history
and when it
repeats itself
they will know.
But when you attempt to teach what
is too late learned
or cut away the strands of life,
they will remember their lessons.
and the students may become the teachers.
Teach a man to fish
and he will fish
to feed himself through lifetimes
as long as life provides a pond.

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A response to the common phrase, "if you give a hungry man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime" (Lao Tzu), which inspired this piece.