When talking to my dad, I asked if he had any slogans that his dad or grandfather always would say to him. When I asked this question, he quickly responded with a proverb passed down to him from his father.

The proverb that was told to me was “Be free from the tyranny of second causes”

Background Info: My dad, and his dad, both are always telling me quotes, slogans, and things that they use to shape their everyday lives. This one in particular means that you cannot blame things that happen in your life on anything external from yourself, everything that happens is a result of what you’ve brought upon yourself.

Context: My dad told me this proverb while at our family Passover dinner.

Analysis: My dad always has proverbs to tell me for all struggles and aspects of my everyday life, this is one that I love a lot and something that he follows every day in his life. When you make a mistake, you have to accept that it was your wrong doing, and that you need to not blame anything but yourself for this, you can then take it step by step from there in figuring out the next steps of whatever situation you are in. This is a proverb that I will hold with me for the rest of my life.