What is the one piece of knowledge you feel you MUST pass

always be honest and respectful of other people.
respect is something earned and one shouldn't ever lose it.

I would want to teach them that it is ok to be different. Nobody in this world is the same and they should accept others differences.

It's not just one thing for my son to learn from me, I've lived hard so I'm making every effort to teach him how to avoid that. I tell him that I've lived hard and I tell him I don't want that for him, he needs to know how hard I'm working to make a man out of him. There are lots of things, like drugs, we talk about that and how only weak minded people need drugs, and we talk about sex and how he doesn't need to bring babies home for mama to raise, cuz mama ain't doing it(this with humor)! I tell him that he can pursue any avenue he wants in life as long as it will feed him and earn him an honest living. There are a lot of forces against us in the world and I won't be one that's against him, it's MY job to make a man of him, that means cleaning, cooking, respect, chivalry, decency, honesty, and charity. There's no right way to get to the end result because every child is different, but people too often assume children don't need to know things that they really can't survive without knowing. I tell my son constantly I work hard everyday for him. Because I do. I wouldn't strive to be a good example if it weren't for him. So he knows that I do everything to make his life good, or better than mine was and even is now.