[September 9, 2025] It was many years ago, as a young child, that I sat at the feet of my mother, who would tell me tales that grabbed my imagination. Of course, my memory is now foggy due to age, but I still remember one such tale in Aesop’s Fables, The Tortoise and the Hare.
Aesop’s Fables are universally loved and praised, and yet some are more meaningful to a young boy, like this one. This tale has a lesson about a common human weakness: overconfidence. The moral of this story is as simple as a child can comprehend. Slow and steady wins the race, as the Tortoise wins because the Hare decided to show his contempt for the slow-moving competition.
As a boy, I was not an exceptional athlete; however, I was a fast runner and exceptionally agile. My Mom would warn me not to be “too big for my britches.” She was warning me about conceit or the false belief in self-importance.
As she would tell this story, my Mom compared me to the Hare, and that struck me as shock that I might be seen as dumb; dumb in the sense that I would be so overconfident like the Hare to nap during a race. Why would I do that? She taught me another lesson, not one I’ve ever heard as a lesson that comes from this classic fable.
It was the first time that I ever heard of the concept of ‘humility.’ As a fast runner, and proven by winning races against others, there would come a time when I would lose a race. That meant I had to grasp that loss as a lesson, and simultaneously know there would always be people faster, stronger, more handsome, smarter, and better than me. This was God’s way of ensuring I did not think too highly of myself and lesser of others.
I had the gift of speed, but other human traits were just as valuable about how we could be measured and judged. And soon after, I would attend primary school, where I was academically average at best, and also perhaps too skinny, lanky, and thin looking. School forced me to see myself as a competitor and teammate of others in my class, not just a conceited individual.
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🇺🇸 Us in America love this story because it pulls for the little guy who is willing to sacrifice and work hard for his family and community. Completely the opposite for crazy Leftists who use assassination as their favorite tool. Praying for Charlie Kirk who was killed by another deranged Democrat. 🇺🇸
So sad that Charlie Kirk is gone. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
We have some new readers. Wishing you all great luck here. I do recommend going back in time and reading some of the earlier articles. You will catch up much faster that way.
Others have said it, so I won’t go deep into the idea that this article takes me back to my childhood days. Those “were the days” of great playing outside with good friends, all who were neighbors and it didn’t matter at all to us who was there playing. During that time in school, I clearly remember that our teacher one day read to us “the tortoise and the hare” and I thought she was just making up these stories. What fun it was. thanks to Gen. Satterfield, I get to relive that part if only for a few minutes.
Thumbs up, ijore. Great content here on Gen. S’s blog.
Like Jelly pointed out below, these articles take me back in time, to an earlier, simpler life where things seemed hard but were not, only hard because I was being molded into a good man. Let’s keep ourselves focused on the ultimate goals in life of having a family, a good job, our God, and country. All other “things” are superfluous and not worth pursuing. Keep Gen. Satterfield at the top of your reading enjoyment, because that is how you can learn.
😀😀😀😀😀 Making me smile 😀😀😀😀😀
Eric, me too. I’m a regular reader and the best articles from Gen. Satterfield over the last two years has been when he discusses his times as a child.
I’ll third that statement. 👏
Thank you, Albanese and welcome aboard.
WELCOME
The very best only. “55 Rules for a Good Life” is the book that sets forth the best of the wisdom of the ages, with the exception of the Bible.
https://www.amazon.com/55-Rules-Good-Life-Responsibility/dp/1737915529/
Get your copy from Amazon.
LOL ,,,, this article certainly takes me back in the time of my early youth with my mom and dad. I was fortunate that my dad stayed with us, not like so many of those raised today.
Jelly, yep. I am about the same age as Gen. Satterfield, and certainly raised similarly but in West Texas instead of the Deep South (southern USA for our overseas friends). I really like Gen. Satterfield’s articles when he was writing about his summer working in the oil fields of Oklahoma on the rigs doing repair. Great work her with your website, please continue to post great stories.