May 22

I once asked President Dwight D. Eisenhower who was the greatest of all the great men he had known. His instant reply: “It wasn't a man. It was a woman—my mother. She had little schooling, but her educated mind, her wisdom, came from a lifelong study of the Bible. Often I have wished I could consult her.

One night we were playing a card game, mother, my brothers, and I. Not with playing cards. It was Flinch—mother was straightlaced. But hands were dealt and I drew a bad one. I began to complain. “ ‘Put your cards down, boys,’ Mother said. ‘Dwight, this is just a friendly game in your home where you are loved. But, out in the world where there isn't so much love, you will be dealt many a bad hand. So you’ve got to learn to take the hands life deals you without complaining. Just play them out.’ ”