Lafayette High School - Legend Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

Page 17 text:

0441 visers Dear Girls and Boys, Ave taque vale! We greet you with applause on the occasion of your graduation and we bid you farewell as you approach the portals of maturity. We watch you go with mixed feelings of hope for the future, remembrance of the past, and affec- tion for that which you are. Our wish is that each of you may fulfill himself in the task that life demands of him and attain the goal of a good life inured in the virtues of faith, hope, and charity:-faith in yourselves and in the future of America-hope in the ideals and dreams that you have created for yourselves and in their ultimate reality-and charity for all who are your fellow travellers on the road to eternity. The greatest of these is charity because it embraces the love and understanding we owe to our neighbor and builds the union of universal brotherhood so basic for peaceful understanding in the world. When all is said and done in our steps of advancement from one stage of progress to the next we find that each stage is a school, whether it be confined to the walls of a classroom or the walls of a home or an office. In each place there are lessons to be learned, decisions to be made, and people to be understood and loved. The answers we find in books build an encyclopedia of life situations by which we may guide our own lives if we weigh these examples discreetly. It is our obligation to share the things we learn so that others may enjoy the benefits we have found. Cicero, the great Roman philosopher says, Let others be ashamed if they so bury themselves in books that they bring forth nothing into the light of day. Do you accept his charge and share the fruits of your learning and studies with others, not for materialistic gain but for the beauty of knowledge and the joy that it gives to living? We all acknowledge that each must find his place in life and earn his daily bread and we sincerely hope that each one of you will find that place and live in the well bred decor of gracious gentility. Yet, it is well to remem- ber that Man cannot live by bread alone, and that our education should enhance not only our own lives but those of our fellow men. It is the obligation of those who have the opportunity for higher learning to accept and to devote themselves to to its assiduous fulfillment. It is the obligation of all of us to utilize whatever grace of intellect we have to the betterment of ourselves and to the understanding of all whom we meet. It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness. Light your candles with tapers of beauty, love and understanding. Hold them firmly and high! The true glow of candle upon candle will Hame as a huge torch and light the way for those who would follow in wake of the army of brotherhood. Your light may even become a beacon to the way of strength, decency, light and truth for those whose steps are now infirm. Sincerely yours, HERMAN BRENNER VERA V. DUFORT LILLIAN GERARD ANN R. SECCAFICO Thirteen

Page 16 text:

ANN R. SECCAFICO LILLIAN GERARD Twelve HERMAN BRENNER glfaile

Page 18 text:

As we look back on our years at Lafayette, we are amused, yet saddened, by the recollection of our Freshman and Sophomore terms. It is true that a great change has taken place, but the metamorphosis has not yet been completed, and four years from now we will remember our last: year in high school with the same amusement and sadness as we now do our first. Whether or not we will reach the pinnacle of development depends, to a great extent, upon the manner in which we use our greatest possession, our mind. There are those who have the ability and desire to channel our imagination along con- structive lines, and it is up to us to learn from these people. However, we must also realize the necessity of thinking for ourselves, something which no one can teach us. With this independent and logical reasoning will come the answers to many of our personal and public problems, and it will be a feather in the cap of the royal class of '60 if they are part of a new generation noted for its ability to build a strong and peaceful world using the resources of the mind. MARY CORABI Editor-in-Chief Fourteen