Never be cruel, never be cowardly. And never ever eat pears!

As Peter Capaldi's Doctor regenerates he has a word with himself:

You wait a moment, Doctor. Let’s get it right. I’ve got a few things to say to you. Basic stuff first.

Never be cruel, never be cowardly. And never ever eat pears! Remember – hate is always foolish…and love, is always wise.

Always try, to be nice and never fail to be kind. Oh, and….and you mustn’t tell anyone your name. No-one would understand it anyway. Except…

He gasps, falls to the floor

Except….children. Children can hear it. Sometimes – if their hearts are in the right place, and the stars are too. Children can hear your name.

Gasps, grunts more

But nobody else. Nobody else. Ever.

Pulls himself off the floor

Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.

Stirring music.

Doctor – I let you go.

I loved this speech the moment I heard it. These are words to aspire to, words to live up to. (Although, I'm not too sure about the pears.)

At Quilters on Tuesday, someone was giving away cross stitch fabric, and I picked it up. Then I was reminded of the quote, and the decision was made to combine the two. This was then joined by a cross stitch representation of the Doctor's name in circular Gallifreyan.

If I were making this as a gift for a child, I would use the section about children being able to hear his name if the stars and their hearts were in the right place. Instead I'll go from "Always try, to be nice and never fail to be kind." straight into "Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind."