Words of wisdom from a father
Author: Richard Brandenburger
AKTIESELSKAPET
LARVIKS GASVERK
TELEFON 463.
Larvik 28 March 1915
My dearest, good Leo
When we said goodbye at the train station, I guess you thought that it would be a goodbye for a long time.
Now fate has decided that you should go out alone in a world that offers so much uncertainty right now. I have to admit it is very difficult for me to let you go. It's not the money, of which we really don't have much, but the worry that you are too young to find the way on your own, the right way. Naturally, you don't see that, you think it will work and that it should all happen with me and so on. Oh, you don't yet know what life is really like, how many traps & risks one finds laid out everywhere & how natural it is that the young inexperienced bird is more likely to fall into them than the older experienced one.
I can testimony that you are overall, relatively reasonable, and that you are far from being extremely light hearted. That comforts me to some extent and lets me hope that you will find your way without having any experiences that are too horrible. I am almost convinced that you will achieve it; so firmly that I don't want to lose a word in this connection. But in this hour of farewell, I would like to draw your attention to a few things for perhaps a long time and give you some advice. Following them will be of the greatest use to you in all respects for the rest of your life. I'm not saying can, but will. One is the liquor. Unfortunately, the drinking of beverages with spirits is so prevalent in the world that it takes a great deal of personal courage to steer clear of this vice. People usually say: there is no harm in moderate consumption of alcohol. But that is an completely false claim. Every drop of alcohol we consume dulls our brain. We can see that clearly: a person who is not used to drinking will get drunk from relatively small amounts, while someone who has already hardened up can tolerate much larger amounts. As the drop holds the stone - yes drop takes something from the stone on which it fills - so every drop of alcohol takes something from the sensitivity of the brain activity and so my advice is to stay away from alcohol in general. How many miserable deeds has man seen to in a drunken state, deeds which often make his whole life worthless. This is happens in a state of drunken courage, which in vain, one later would like to undo. And it is after all only, in most cases, an empty nature that causes us to drink: we want to appear more masculine. From this we enjoy the wine, the beer, even the tobacco, without enjoying it to begin with. Later, of course, when the organism has gotten used to pleasure of the poisons - and poison is what they all are – it feels uncomfortable when it wants to escape them. We want to appear more masculine! And do not consider that it is much more manly to resist the temptation, that it is more manly not only to have the courage of conviction but also to express it.
And one more dangerous trap awaits us. I'm sorry that I can't discuss this important question with you verbally, but rather must share it in this grim written way, that is the question of man's moral purity. I am sorry I have not spoken to you about these things before. It is so difficult to know. On the one hand, speaking too early can do more harm than good, but on the other hand, being late can also do harm. And today I don't know to what extent you have been informed about the questions of morality. But I think – and from my own experience in my youth I believe you have been sufficiently enlightened at school, i.e. by your schoolmates, so you understand what I mean. And that is: Beware, for your own health, both physically and morally, of any, even the slightest, abuse of the sex drive. Anything that is chattered about in this regard, such as that it is harmful not to obey drinking, etc. are absolutely empty figures of speech. Nature has not arranged herself in such a way that she will not harm herself. On the other hand, it can be assumed with the greatest certainty that one will incur terrible damage if, in order to satisfy one's instinct, one maintains intercourse with those girls who give themselves specifically for the purpose and earn their living in this sad way. These women are all ill, and the consequences of venereal diseases are terrible. A young person who has contracted syphilis is as good as dead, if not worse. For the dead person has ceased to feel, but the venereal patient suffers the most terrible torments, both physical and owing to the disturbances connected with the disease in the organism as well as - and this is perhaps even worse for her - moral, which the consciousness of the completely botched life must cause him. I don't deny that it is sometimes very difficult to resist temptation. But here too, it is definitely the case that overcoming temptation is infinitely more manly than giving in, which is so often prompted by a false sense of shame.
And now enough for today. Farewell and travel happily. Journey out into life with the goal in mind not only to become fit for life, but also to have a clean life. But – they are delicate goods! The smallest step to the side is enough - and you will be lost! Once you have stepped into the dirt - you can never get rid of it: that is in the nature of this dirt.
And now let me warmly hug you in thoughts. Be well, my dear boy.
Your Father
