第3部分(第1/7 页)

lly　all　his　life。　The　other　would　bee　one　of　the　richest　men　in　Hawaii。　One　died　leaving　tens　of　millions　of　dollars　to　his　family；　charities　and　his　church。　The　other　left　bills　to　be　paid。

Both　men　were　strong；　charismatic　and　influential。　Both　men　offered　me　advice；　but　they　did　not　advise　the　same　things。　Both　men　believed　strongly　in　education　but　did　not　remend　the　same　course　of　study。

If　I　had　had　only　one　dad；　I　would　have　had　to　accept　or　reject　his　advice。　Having　two　dads　advising　me　offered　me　the　choice　of　contrasting　points　of　view；　one　of　a　rich　man　and　one　of　a　poor　man。

Instead　of　simply　accepting　or　rejecting　one　or　the　other；　I　found　myself　thinking　more；　paring　and　then　choosing　for　myself。

The　problem　was；　the　rich　man　was　not　rich　yet　and　the　poor　man　not　yet　poor。　Both　were　just　starting　out　on　their　careers；　and　both　were　struggling　with　money　and　families。　But　they　had　very　different　points　of　view　about　the　subject　of　money。

For　example；　one　dad　would　say；　〃The　love　of　money　is　the　root　of　all　evil。〃　The　other；　〃The　lack　of　money　is　the　root　of　all　evil。〃

As　a　young　boy；　having　two　strong　fathers　both　influencing　me　was　difficult。　I　wanted　to　be　a　good　son　and　listen；　but　the　two　fathers　did　not　say　the　same　things。　The　contrast　in　their　points　of　view；　particularly　where　money　was　concerned；　was　so　extreme　that　I　grew　curious　and　intrigued。　I　began　to　start　thinking　for　long　periods　of　time　about　what　each　was　saying。

Much　of　my　private　time　was　spent　reflecting；　asking　myself　questions　such　as；　〃Why　does　he　say　that？〃　and　then　asking　the　same　question　of　the　other　dad's　statement。　It　would　have　been　much　easier　to　simply　say；　〃Yeah；　he's　right。　I　agree　with　that。〃　Or　to　simply　reject　the　po