Young people must be taught from childhood that it is not right to wear gold on their bodies or to possess it, since they have their own personal gold intermixed into their soul, hinting . . . at the virtue that is part of human nature and received at birth.
—Plutarch
Mister Rogers ended every one of his programs with a message directly to kids that became almost a proverb in its wisdom and timeless truth: “You’ve made this day a special day by just your being you,” he would say. “There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.”
We must, as parents, teach our children where their value really lies. It’s not in their accomplishments. It’s not in what they earn or how they look. It’s not to be found in anything external at all. Their value—to us, to the world— is inherent. It exists because they exist. Because there is no one on the planet with their same combination of DNA and experiences and circumstances. That’s what makes them special—what makes them rarer than the rarest jewels and more precious than the most precious metals.