Then Mr. Jeminy gathered the children about him.
"The year is over," he said, "and you are free to play again. But do
not forget over the summer what you learned with so much difficulty
during the winter. Let me say to you who will not return to school: I
have taught you to read, to write, to add and subtract; you know a
little history, a little geography. Do not be proud of that. There
are many things to learn; but you would not be any happier for having
learned them.
"You will ask me what this has to do with you. I would like to teach
you to be happy. For happiness is not in owning much, but in owning
little: love, and liberty, the work of one's hands, fellowship, and
peace. These things have no value; they are not to be bought; but they
alone are worth having. Do not envy the rich man, for cares destroy
his sleep. And do not ask the poor man not to sing, for song is all he
has.
"Love poverty, and labor, the poverty of love, the wealth of the heart.
"Be wise and honest farmers.
"School is over.
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