Any Weakness in a Man's Ethics Can Drive His Downfall

"The linkage of men's ethics, reputations, and fates can be studied in even more vivid detail in prison camp. In that brutally controlled environment a perceptive enemy can get his hooks into the slightest chink in a man's ethical armor and accelerate his downfall. Given the right opening, the right moral weakness, a certain susceptibility on the part of the prisoner, a clever extortionist can drive his victim into a downhill slide that will ruin his image, self-respect and life in a very short time...I am thinking of the tragedy that can befall a person who has such a need for love or attention that he will sell his soul for it." (p. 29)

The Fundamental Purpose of Education Should Be to Teach Values, Especially Integrity

"Education should take care to illuminate values, not bury them amongst the trivia. Are our students getting the message that without personal integrity intellectual skills are worthless?

"...When supported with education, a person's integrity can give him something to rely on when his perspective seems to blur, when rules and principles seem to waver, and when he's faced with hard choices of right or wrong. It's something to keep him on the right track, something to keep him afloat when he's drowning; if only for practical reasons, it is an attribute that should be kept at the very top of a young person's consciousness." (p. 28)

Self Discipine Is Vital to Self Respect

"Self discipline was vital to self-respect, which in turn is vital to survival and meaningful participation in a POW organization. Self-indulgence is fatal. Daily ritual seems essential to mental and spiritual health. I would do 400 pushups a day, even when I had leg irons on, and would feel guilty when I failed to do them. This ritual paid valuable dividends in self-respect, and, incidentally, I learned yesterday at Mayo Clinic that it also paid physical dividends." (p. 10)

It's Important to Learn How to Take Abuse Sometimes

Disclaimer: Of course there are certain types of abuse that should never be tolerated and should be reported to authorities. The statements below are from James Stockdale, who was a Vietnam prisoner of war for 7.5 years, on lessons learned from taking that brutal abuse.

"For what it is worth, I learned the merits of men having taken the physical abuse of body contact in sports. It is a very important experience; you have to practice hurting. There is no question about it.

"Second, survival school was based on taking mental harassment...I hope we do not ever dilute those things. You have to practice being hazed. You have to learn to take a bunch of junk and accept it with a sense of humor." (p. 8)