Witold Pilecki's letter to his son Andrzej

You should understand at last that although parents’ remarks are sometimes unpleasant - … (I also had parents and sometimes was thinking: what do they want from me?)… but everything I have learnt from my Mother and my Father – turned out to be very useful in my life – more even than what I’ve learnt at school. That knowledge defended me against committing gross mistakes in my life. You are unnecessarily worried so much about pigeons. I doubt whether your wheat for them will get ripe. As soon as sparrows living under the roof learn about it, they will beat it down before it is ready. I kiss you warmly.