Obituary: Colin Powell thought America should tread carefully in the world

AMONG THE best lessons Colin Powell learned in his life (and he was fond of uplifting lists of aphorisms, mottoes and rules), two came from his after-school job at Sickser’s toy and baby-furniture store on Westchester Avenue, in the Bronx. The first was the fun of putting something together, in this case disassembled cribs, from unpromising heaps of parts. The second was the importance of a cool, sound head. His boss spoke Yiddish, like many of the customers, and taught him the phrase Gesund dein kepple, “Keep a healthy head”. That seemed a good principle to live by.