My parents and family tried to help me to learn how to make people like me. They encouraged me to do things for other people and to be tolerant of their faults. They discouraged antisocial behavior, like fighting and not sharing. They did not punish a lot, but reminded me that I felt bad, because of what I did and that the other person felt bad, and so would not like me as much.

             The church reinforced these values, but they said the rules were from God. Now I believed that when I was young, and, in a way, I know it is true, but for a different reason. It is not that God set up the rules that He wanted, but more that the rules that He taught us how to live with one another and be happy. All those rules, in every religion, are only based upon what we need to be happy together. The only one that is different is the one about loving and worshiping God, and even that helps us live well together, because if we love and worship God we will obey those rules, which make everyone happy.

             I learned the rules for being happy earliest from how I felt. Then the family and the church explained why these things made people happy. They helped me to figure out how to make it all work for me. Finally, other people, and even animals, taught me what they like by how they react to what others do, including me. When I did something that made others happy I was rewarded with affection or praise or even money or other tangible rewards. I learned by living, by experiencing things for myself and by watching others. Then I finally began to learn from reading and other forms of literature.

             I do not remember who said it or even the exact words, but somebody said that a smart man learns from experience and a wise man learns from the experience of others. I want to be wise. I think stories are how we learn from the experience of others, and I think we do it easily, because it is just so natural to feel like someone in the story.