A Letter to all sons

Following is a letter to his son from a renown Hong Kong TV broadcaster cum Child Psychologist.

My Son,

I am writing this to you because of 3 reasons:

(1) Life is unpredictable, nobody knows how long he lives. Some words are better said early.

(2) I am your father, and if I don't tell you these, no one else will.

(3) What is written is my own personal bitter experiences that perhaps could save you a lot of unnecessary heartache.

Remember the following as you go through life:

1.對你不好的人，你不要太介意:在你一生中，沒有人有義務要對你好，除了我和你媽媽。至於那些對你好的人，你除了要珍惜、感恩外，也請多防備一點，因為，每個人做每件事，總有一個原因，他對你好，未必真的是因為喜歡你，請你必須搞清楚，而不必太快將對方看作真朋友

Do not bear grudge towards those who are not good to you. No one has the responsibility of treating you well, except your mother and I. To those who are good to you, you have to treasure it and be thankful, and ALSO you have to be cautious, because, everyone has a motive for every move. When a person is good to you, it does not mean he really likes you. You have to be careful, don't hastily regard him as a real friend.

2.沒有人是不可代替，沒有東西是必須擁有:看透了這一點，將來你身邊的人不再要你，或許失去了世間上最愛的一切時，也應該明白，這並不是甚麼大不了的事

No one is indispensable, nothing in the world that you must possess. Once you understand this idea, it would be easier for you to go through life when people around you don't want you anymore, or when you lose what/who you love most.

3.生命是短暫的，今日你還在浪費著生命，明日會發覺生命已遠離你了:因此，愈早珍惜生命，你享受生命的日子也愈多，與其盼望長壽，倒不如早點享受

Life is short. When you waste your life today, tomorrow you would find that life is leaving you. The earlier you treasure your life, the better you enjoy life.

4.世界上並沒有最愛這回事:愛情只是一種霎時的感覺，而這感覺絕對會隨時日、心境而改變。如果你的所謂最愛離開你，請耐心地等候一下，讓時日慢慢沖洗，讓心靈慢慢沉澱，你的苦就會慢慢淡化。不要過分憧憬愛情的美，不要過分誇大失戀的悲.

Love is but a transient feeling, and this feeling would fade with time and with one's mood. If your so called loved one leaves you, be patient, time will wash away your aches and sadness. Don't over exaggerate the beauty and sweetness of love, and don't over exaggerate the sadness of falling out of love.

5.雖然，很多有成就的人士都有没受過很多教育，但並不等如不用功讀書，就一定可以成功:你學到的知識，就是你擁有的武器!人，可以白手興家，但不可以手無寸鐵，緊記！

A lot of successful people did not receive a good education, that does not mean that you can be successful by not studying hard! Whatever knowledge you gain is your weapon in life. One can go from rags to riches, but one has to start from some rags!

6.我不會要求你供養我下半輩子，同樣地我也不會供養你的下半輩子，當你長大到可以獨立的時候，我的責任已經完結:以後，你要坐巴士還是Benz，吃魚翅還是粉絲，都要自己負責

I do not expect you to financially support me when I am old, either would I financially support your whole life. My responsibility as a supporter ends when you are grown up. After that, you decide whether you want to travel in a public transport or in your limousine, whether rich or poor.

7.你可以要求自己守信，但不能要求別人守信，你可以要求自己對人好，但不能期待人家對你好:你怎樣對人，並不代表人家就會怎樣對你，如果看不透這一點，你只會徒添不必要的煩惱.

You honour your words, but don't expect others to be so. You can be good to people, but don't expect people to be good to you. If you don't understand this, you would end up with unnecessary troubles.

8.我買了十多二十年六合彩，還是一窮二白，連三獎也沒有中，這證明人要發達，還是要努力工作才可以，世界上並沒有免費午餐

I have bought lotteries for umpteen years, but I never strike any prize. That shows if you want to be rich, you have to work hard! There is no free lunch!

9.親人只有一次的緣份，無論這輩子我和你會相處多久，也請好好珍惜共聚的時光，下輩子，無論愛與不愛，都不會再見.

No matter how much time I have with you, let's treasure the time we have together. We do not know if we would meet again in our next life.

Your Dad

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SOURCE: BayiSingh

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