My dad is a great dad. He indelibly shaped my personality, mores, and outlook in life. Now that I am a dad too, I appreciate what he did even more. It wasn’t easy to narrow them down, but these the top ten lessons that he taught me.

1. Don’t take any shiitake from anyone. My dad was a state senator for twenty years, and he never walked away from a confrontation with the local newspapers, labor unions, and government officials. He taught me not to kowtow to anyone just because they are in lofty positions. This is a very useful attitude because if people sense that you don’t take any shiitake, they won’t give you any.

2. Obey your teachers. My dad taught me that teachers knew more than I did so I should treat them with respect. This was a rare exception to the “don’t take shiitake from anyone” lesson. Come to find out, (a) teachers very seldom dish out shiitake, and (b) they truly change the world (and not for the money), so they (c) deserve truckloads of respect.

3. Don’t follow the crowd. Initially, I thought that he was saying that most people were stupid–and I agreed with him. But I now realize that he was telling me not to follow the crowd because the crowd “mentality” can make smart people do dumb things. This is why I don’t believe in the “wisdom of the crowd” to this day.

4. Show some noblesse oblige. My dad was very big on the concept that people who are fortunate (in terms of power, prestige, or money) have the moral obligation to be kind, help others, and even answer their emails. By far, this is the most difficult lesson to implement if lots of people want something from you, but as my father taught me, you just have to deal with it.

5. Read. My dad taught me to love to read. We had hundreds of books around our house, and he bought me any book that I wanted. With his encouragement, I also spent hundreds hours in the public library too. This love of reading led to a love of doing research (in those days, in the World Book Encyclopedia!) and eventually to a love of writing.

6. Speak loudly and slowly. My dad attended many of my speeches, and he regularly reminded me to speak more slowly and more loudly. I may be failing him in this regard because I still speak with a rapid pace. However, my Countryman E6i has solved the volume issue.

7. Dress up when you speak. My dad believed that you should always dress up when you speak to an audience no matter how the audience dressed. To do any less is to communicate that you don’t respect the audience and take it seriously. If you see me speak in an Aloha shirt, you should understand that it is an Anne Namba Aloha shirt, and she makes the best Aloha shirts in the world.

8. Take full odds on the pass line. At one level, this refers to how to bet when shooting craps. Casinos pay the “odds” at the correct probability–it’s the only bet where the casino has no advantage. There are also two deeper lessons: know exactly what you’re up against and don’t make sucker bets.

9. Buy the best. My father was a Nikon man. He had a Hasselblad for a while, but he loved his Nikons. He’d go to Akihabara and bring them back all time. To this day, I use a Nikon because of this early imprint. The deeper lesson is to buy the best that you can afford, and you won’t regret it.

10. Be a mensch. This is the most important lesson of all. My father didn’t use the word “mensch.” He actually said, “Show some class.” The two are the same because a mensch is someone who is trustworthy, honest, kind, and classy. He doesn’t dish out shiitake–unless it’s necessary anyway.

Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop and a partner of Garage Technology Ventures. He is the former chief evangelist of Apple. If you’d like to read more dad blogs, click here.