Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

General David M. Shoup, USMC, said, “If in this troubled world we can produce enough properly guided men, we won’t need guided missiles.” There is no greater need today than for more properly guided people. And the task of producing properly guided people belongs to the home. Our homes are not merely to be refuges from the storms and vicissitud...

Discipline is an act of love. It gives a child the security of knowing that you care about him. It teaches him respect for authority and it develops self-control. The value of discipline is beyond dispute. But what is the proper form of discipline? Here are five do’s of discipline. 1. Be firm and consistent. Do not let discipline depend on your feelings. 2. Be...

One of the principal dangers we all face is placing too much value on making money and accumulating material possessions. It is such a great danger because this desire has a way of crowding out the best and finest things of life. For one thing, it can crowd out our family. I have seen more than one person neglect their family while trying to provide more and more thi...

Many years ago four men accompanied me on a mission trip to the West Indies. While visiting with people about Christ one day, a heckler said, “Practice what you preach!” I later learned what was behind the taunt. A few years earlier a young man had professed Christianity and had become very active in the church. He had even done some preaching. Then he fe...

The New York City Youth Board once released a report that attracted a good deal of attention. The board had sent some highly experienced social workers and psychologists into the homes of 500 six-year-old boys. After studying the home environment, the researchers made predictions about the future of each of the boys. For the children from homes with a notable lack of...

In the old Amos ’n’ Andy show on radio, Amos once asked the Kingfish why he had such good judgment. “Well,” said the Kingfish, “good judgment comes from experience.” “Then, where does experience come from?” asked Amos. “From bad judgment.” Good leaders learn from their own mistakes and from the mistakes of...

There is an old saying, “A pessimist sees a difficulty in every opportunity, and an optimist sees an opportunity in every difficulty.” Good leaders focus on objectives, not obstacles. They are like a good hurdler. The hurdler doesn’t focus on the hurdle, he just sees the finish line. He looks at the destination, not at the obstacles to prevent his ge...

Fulton Sheen, the late Roman Catholic bishop, once proposed that since America had a Statue of Liberty on the East Coast, the country should establish a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast. It was said that during the years of his presidency Harry Truman kept on his desk a sign that stated, “The buck stops here.” It consistently reminded him that h...

Milton Cunningham tells that when he was in Africa, he was seated at a banquet table with the Litunga of Barotseland and members of his family. The Litunga was one of the paramount royal chiefs of Africa. His kingdom was in the western providence of Zambia. Milton says, ”I was seated next to a young African lady about 20 years old who was a member of the Litunga...