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| Selected Speeches |
| The Church of Haile Selassie I, Inc. |
| Chapter I - Part 2 |
| Special Education |
| Ethiopian Students Abroad - North America Sep. 02, 1950 |
| Selected Speeches |
I am very happy to be able to send a few words of greeting to you on the
occasion of this reunion of the Ethiopian students who are studing in
America. It is good that it has been possible to arrange such a meeting so
that you may relax and enjoy yourselves together for a time.
We hope that it will also be a period for renewing friendships with your
fellow countrymen and thus strengthening the ties which bind you to your
homeland, Ethiopia. It should also be a time when you may take stock of
yourself and may consider what return you owe for the opportunity you
have been given.
Great and wise men from all countries have told us through the centuries
that the most worthwhile sort of life is one of service -- 'Working for the
benefit of others.' The Divine Teacher by word and example taught us
that the only worthy way of living is to give rather than receive.
In the dark days of the occupation our own patriots did not consider
personal advantages as they strove to realize their ideal. As you prepare
yourselves to return to Ethiopia I commend to you a life which gives to
others who are less priviledged than we and who have not had our
opportunities.
Each of you is old enough and mature enough to know that in the United
States and Canada education has seldom been prized only on account of its
usefulness to individuals but to society. It is seldom intended to be merely
an ornament to the person who obtains it.
This conception of education is equally important for us in Ethiopia, where
only education can lead the way to higher standards of living for all people.
It is in expectation of a rich return that the Ethiopian Government has
spent freely to send you abroad, hoping that upon your return you will
make a generous contribution to the betterment of your country.
We do not want you to return to Ethiopia, American or Canadians;
American techniques in their entirety may be good only in America and
Canadian training will eb especially applicable to conditions in that country.
We hope that you will be wise in choosing those elements from foreign
education which are applicable to conditions in Ethiopia and which can be
used in our own country.
There is a third thought which I would like you to keep always before
you. In a world which becomes smaller and smaller as communication
improves, nations must live as neighbours with other nations. Just as your
impressions of an American are formed from the individual Americans you
meet, so a foreigner's ideas about Ethiopia depend uon the Ethiopians he
encounters and knows.
Each of you is an Ambassador-at-large of your country. If you are kind
and tolerant and courteous you make people think well of us -- if you are
arrogant and proud and unfriendly you discredit us in the eyes of others.
It is my earnest hope that you may be at all times worthy representatives
of Ethiopia.
occasion of this reunion of the Ethiopian students who are studing in
America. It is good that it has been possible to arrange such a meeting so
that you may relax and enjoy yourselves together for a time.
We hope that it will also be a period for renewing friendships with your
fellow countrymen and thus strengthening the ties which bind you to your
homeland, Ethiopia. It should also be a time when you may take stock of
yourself and may consider what return you owe for the opportunity you
have been given.
Great and wise men from all countries have told us through the centuries
that the most worthwhile sort of life is one of service -- 'Working for the
benefit of others.' The Divine Teacher by word and example taught us
that the only worthy way of living is to give rather than receive.
In the dark days of the occupation our own patriots did not consider
personal advantages as they strove to realize their ideal. As you prepare
yourselves to return to Ethiopia I commend to you a life which gives to
others who are less priviledged than we and who have not had our
opportunities.
Each of you is old enough and mature enough to know that in the United
States and Canada education has seldom been prized only on account of its
usefulness to individuals but to society. It is seldom intended to be merely
an ornament to the person who obtains it.
This conception of education is equally important for us in Ethiopia, where
only education can lead the way to higher standards of living for all people.
It is in expectation of a rich return that the Ethiopian Government has
spent freely to send you abroad, hoping that upon your return you will
make a generous contribution to the betterment of your country.
We do not want you to return to Ethiopia, American or Canadians;
American techniques in their entirety may be good only in America and
Canadian training will eb especially applicable to conditions in that country.
We hope that you will be wise in choosing those elements from foreign
education which are applicable to conditions in Ethiopia and which can be
used in our own country.
There is a third thought which I would like you to keep always before
you. In a world which becomes smaller and smaller as communication
improves, nations must live as neighbours with other nations. Just as your
impressions of an American are formed from the individual Americans you
meet, so a foreigner's ideas about Ethiopia depend uon the Ethiopians he
encounters and knows.
Each of you is an Ambassador-at-large of your country. If you are kind
and tolerant and courteous you make people think well of us -- if you are
arrogant and proud and unfriendly you discredit us in the eyes of others.
It is my earnest hope that you may be at all times worthy representatives
of Ethiopia.
| Haile Selassie the First - September 2, 1950 |
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