Be Humble. Be Helpful

This is a news report about a speech made by Cardinal Paul Shan Kuo-hsi (單國璽) to students at a senionr high school in Tainan. According to the March issue of Reader's Digest, Mr. Shan is one of the most trusted individual in Taiwan; the other four are Master Cheng Yen, Li Chang Yu, Ang Lee, and Lin Hwai-Min.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=238881

單國璽：知識大海前 要更謙卑

【聯合報╱記者謝進盛／台南縣報導】2010/03/11

 天主教樞機主教單國璽昨天到台南縣麻豆鎮黎明高中演講，他以「活出生命的光和熱」為題，談自己年少生長背景和投入宗教經過，一千多名學子在台下聽得入神。

單國璽說，幼時看到母親將一塊銅板救濟給逃難者，從小被寵慣的他，頓時領悟「分享」；小學時堂伯父得了腸胃炎，當時因醫療資源缺乏，找不到好醫師而過世，他立志當醫生。抗戰末期看到華北乾旱，想當水利工程，後來在北京耶穌會修道，最後當了神父。

單國璽說，他個人「小小」影響力，這幾年一些看法引起社會討論，喚起社會重視，不失好事一樁；他鼓勵學子要多讀書，關懷社會弱勢團體，參與社會公益活動，「在知識大海前，人更要謙卑，才能凸顯自己的渺小。」

My comments: "Stay hungry. Stay foolish." A humble person is open-minded. Whenever I read an article in Studio Classroom or other magazines, I find myself ignorant. There is so much new to me. I have every reason to be humble.

To encourage students to start the chain of love, as mentioned in Unit Two, I introduced to them Emily Dickinson's poem "If I can stop one heart from breaking" and asked them to recite it to me individually. I do hope what students read can really have influence on their behavior.

88歲高齡的單國璽雖罹患肺腺癌，但精神奕奕不見疲態，不時展現幽默，以自己名字常被誤為「單國爾」開玩笑，讓師生領會這位長者風趣一面。

黎明高中校長陳金城與師生們一起聆聽，他表示，學校重視「生命教育」課程，單國璽分享生命故事，讓他們上了寶貴一課，尤其忍著病痛專注演說神情，讓人感動。