Wednesday, August 29, 2012

RULES TO LIVE BY

Last week, while on vacation in Saugatuck, Michigan with Cindy…we stopped in a book store and found a few books for our new grandbaby-to-be…its’ parents…and us.

One book Cindy picked up for us was titled, “Dance First. Think Later.”  The authors, (Kathryn & Ross Petras) said their inspiration for the book was to answer the question…’How should one live life?’

They were further inspired one night as they watched the David Letterman show as he was interviewing musician Warren Zevon, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer at age 55. Dave asked Warren what he’d learned about life…and death. Warren stated simply…”Enjoy every sandwich.”

This honest…simple…yet profound answer…inspired the authors to ask other people…what were their ‘rules to live by.’

I thought I'd share a few that I felt were interesting…funny…or thought-provoking. Maybe you’ll like them too.

Here's just a few:

If you’re alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who’s going to know? –Julia Child, chef

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle. –Ian Maclaren, writer

The only dream worth having…is to live while you’re alive and die only when you’re dead.
Arundhati Roy, activist/writer

Never spend money before you have it. –Thomas Jefferson, statesman

If you don’t get what you want, it’s a sign either that you did not seriously want it, or that you tried to bargain over the price. –Rudyard Kipling, writer

Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day. –Harry S Truman, statesman

Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you? –Fanny Brice, comedian

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. –Katharine Hepburn, actress

Life is half delicious yogurt, half crap, and your job is to keep the plastic spoon in the yogurt.
–Scott Adams, cartoonist

You can’t build a reputation on what you intend to do. –Liz Smith, gossip columnist

When angry, count four; when very angry, swear. –Mark Twain, writer

If you have an important point to make, don’t’ try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time—a tremendous whack.
Winston Churchill, statesman

Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what’s right. –Isaac Asimov, writer

If everything is under control, you are going too slow. –Mario Andretti, race car driver

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.
Margaret Mead, anthropologist

Choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil. –Jerry Garcia, musician

The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cool. –Julia Child, chef

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. –Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman philosopher/statesman

If fate means you to lose, give him a good fight anyhow. –William McFee, writer

Watch with glittering eyes, the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. –Roald Dahl, writer

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. –Mark Twain, writer

Smoked carp tastes just as good as smoked salmon when you ain’t got no smoked salmon. –Patrick F. McManus, writer

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, “Certainly, I can!” Then get busy and find out how to do it. –Theodore Roosevelt, statesman

Never run away from a gun. Bullets can travel faster than you can. –Wild Bill Hickock, gunfighter/scout

Don’t ever ask anyone for an opinion of your performance.   They’re liable to tell you. –Jerry Stiller, comedian

Be yourself. Everyone else is taken. –Oscar Wilde, writer

Make a careful list of all things done to you that you abhorred. Don’t do them to others, ever. Make another list of things done for you that you loved. Do them for others, always. –Dee Hock, founder of VISA

Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?
J.M. Barrie, writer

 

Dan

No comments:

Post a Comment