Not potential harm to my feelings, not social harm to my idea of right, not damage to the great precepts of religion or to my stuffy uncle's sense of propriety.
And it wasn't my dad as an abstraction - a mess of regrets, resentments, philosophical precepts, unexplained mysteries and love - but my dad as my dad.
Are they criminal statutes, religious laws, club bylaws or precepts half-learned at my father's knee?
When I wrote "Jane Brody's Guide to the Great Beyond," I had no idea that I'd be putting its precepts into practice in my immediate family within a year of publication.
I believe in God, the Bible is a core touchstone of my life, and I strive to live my life in accordance with the Bible's precepts, commandments and values.
Another reason I use sound as an important component in my work is that I want many different precepts to be felt as one--just like in synesthesia.
Should we still be quoting Roberts: "I'm at my best when I'm the captain"; memorising his precepts: "Spirit is the magnetic power that harmonises"; studying his four pillars of leadership: "Responsibility, Learning, Recognition and Joy"?
Elsewhere Bell has said that he can't be held responsible for "whatever cultural precepts and misapprehensions people choose to bring to my cartoon".
It'd be fun to report that that job taught me important skills and precepts that followed me for the rest of my life, but that'd be pushing it.
