Bliss and the Ras Beirut Boy
A story is told of a young Ras Beiruti boy who used to sneak onto the university campus with a slingshot to hunt birds. One day, President Howard Bliss noticed him and followed him home to inform his mother. As she prepared to punish the boy in anger, Dr. Bliss intervened gently, saying, “Do not hit him. Teach him instead to love the birds—they are gentle creatures that bring joy and peace. As punishment, let him go two weeks without eating fruit.”
What Dr. Bliss did not know, however, was that the family had not tasted fruit in years—the punishment he prescribed turned out, ironically, to be the boy’s relief.