Henry Ward Beecher was, of course, the nineteenth-century abolitionist-and fiery sermonizer for human rights-after whom this school was named," Mr. Tushman was sayingwhen I started paying attention again.
"While reading up on his life in preparation for this award,
I came upon a passage that he wrote that seemed particularlyconsistent with the themes I touched on earlier, themes I‘ve beenruminating upon all year long. Not just the nature of kindness,
but the nature of one‘s kindness. The power of one‘s friendship.
The test of one‘s character. The strength of one‘s courage-"
And here the weirdest thing happened: Mr. Tushman‘s voicecracked a bit, like he got all choked up. He actually cleared histhroat and took a big sip of water. I started paying attention, forreal now, to what he was saying.
"The strength of one‘s courage," he repeated quietly, nodding and smiling. - P303
He held up his right hand like he was countingoff. "Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are thequalities that define us as human beings, and propel us, onoccasion, to greatness. And this is what the Henry Ward Beechermedal is about: recognizing greatness.
"But how do we do that? How do we measure something likegreatness? Again, there‘s no yardstick for that kind of thing. Howdo we even define it? Well, Beecher actually had an answer forthat."
He put his reading glasses on again, leafed through a book,
and started to read. "Greatness,‘ wrote Beecher, ‘lies not inbeing strong, but in the right using of strength. . . . He is thegreatest whose strength carries up the most hearts..."‘"
And again, out of the blue, he got all choked up. He put histwo index fingers over his mouth for a second before continuing.
"He is the greatest,"" he finally continued, "whose strengthcarries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own.‘ Withoutfurther ado, this year I am very proud to award the Henry WardBeecher medal to the student whose quiet strength has carriedup the most hearts.
"So will August Pullman please come up here to receive thisaward?" - P304
"Children, what I want to impart to you today is anunderstanding of the value of that simple thing called kindness.
And that‘s all I want to leave you with today. I know I‘m kind ofinfamous for my ... um... verbosity..."
Here everybody laughed again. I guess he knew he was knownfor his long speeches.
"... but what I want you, my students, to take away from yourmiddle-school experience," he continued, "is the sure knowledgethat, in the future you make for yourselves, anything is possible.
If every single person in this room made it a rule that whereveryou are, whenever you can, you will try to act a little kinder thanis necessary the world really would be a better place. And if youdo this, if you act just a little kinder than is necessary, someoneelse, somewhere, someday, may recognize in you, in every singleone of you, the face of God." - P301
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