Kipfer Barbara Ann - 8,789 Words of Wisdom

by Barbara Ann Kipfer Illustrated by Matt Wawiorka WORKMAN PUBLISHING, NEW YORK Copyright 2001 by Barbara Ann Kipfer Illustrations 2001 by Matt Wawiorka All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited. eISBN 9780761154846 Workman books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for premiums and sales promotions as well as for fund-raising or educational use. Special editions or book excerpts can also be created to specification. For details, contact the Special Sales Director at the address below.

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This is really a commonplace booka personal journal in which quotable passages, literary excerpts, and comments are written. It evolved from notes kept by me and my husband, Paul Magoulas. Paul is equally responsible for this collection, and I thank him for all of his contributions, his enthusiasm for this book, and his love. This book is dedicated to all those people wise enough to share their guidance and to those who have brought us those words in print and other media, especially the late Sally Kovalchick, my first editor at Workman. I would like to thank Jennifer Griffin for her terrific editing and Peter Workman for his support and for giving me the opportunity to publish this work. To my wise guys, Kyle Kipfer and Keir Magoulas: Thank you for the inspiration.

There is no more challenging job than raising children, and for that we all need a lot of wisdom!

There are many ways to live a good life, and 8,789 Words of Wisdom is designed to help you find which ones are right for you. It is an interactive book, intended to challenge you to interpret the meaning of your life and then to act upon that new knowledge. It is unlike other self-help books because it is not one size fits all; it will become something different each time you read it, according to your circumstances. One line may resonate deeply with you; whereas another line may have great significance for someone else. The lines that have meaning for you will make it your book. After all, only you can bring wisdom to yourself.

In many ways, the collection of wisdom here is like a poem. Each line can define a moment for you. Pick the book up and open it to any page, and you will be able to find something that appeals and applies to you. Every day can bring a new insight to your life, enabling you to take from this book what you need. Maybe you will follow the guidance of an entry just for a day, or maybe you will keep following it until it becomes a habit. Some of you will add another change the next day, and then maybe another after that.

And like a poem, the book will change for you over the years. What did not apply to your life at age fifteen may have great meaning for you at age fifty. This is a very personal book for me. Over the years I have been collecting my secrets to life improvementgreat advice, formulas, wise words from great thinkers, maxims, and just plain common sense. Some of the lines are quotes, and I have tried to attribute all of them. However, as this is a collection gathered over a lifetime, many are paraphrases.

I am grateful to the wise and witty contributors, from Will Shakespeare to Will Rogers. Some of the lessons here are new; others are oldies but goodies. I hope all of them make your life happier, healthier, and better in just about every way, as they have mine. Do not disregard your mistakes Money is not meant to be served Love your work, then you will find pleasure in mastering it Appreciate the many things that make your life so valuable Act the part and you will become the part Dont criticize others when you are angry with yourself Dont wait for the ideal time to begin something Stay on a clear course Grab happiness in the passing moments of life Keep a stash of extra batteries Love carries great expectations Be afraid only of standing still Be yourself Love always eases pain Never underestimate the power of simple courtesy Plan your work and work your plan Never look back Panic productively Communicate in a way as to leave as little room for misunderstanding as possible Trust your instincts Dont take life or death too seriously Converse to please others, not yourself It is harder than we remember to be a child Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is a duck Youths biggest mistake is its lack of originality It takes money to make money Not everything can be made sense of Let anger die quickly Use your dictionary One who cannot tolerate small ills can never accomplish great things Know the ropes Love many things Be patient; patience can wait for anything Make decisions based on the whole picture Your eyes are the windows of your soul Your character is your destiny Trust can be destroyed faster than it can be built We are sometimes taken into troubled waters not to drown, but to be cleansed What you have been taught to believe is not as important as what you know Inspire your children to live life to the fullest In life, some things are bigger than they look from a distance Live in harmony with your beliefs and ideals Avoid blaming, praising, or comparing people Understand the difference between being at work and working Face your fears with confidence Education is the most important aspect of society Get a good nights sleep The apple doesnt fall far from its tree (Ralph Waldo Emerson) In every fault there is folly Help others as they help you Hang on longer than your competition Time is more important to people who do things Use your memory to make your life more enjoyable Something ordinary in the past becomes valuable in the future Throughout history, man has attempted to alter his consciousness He who hesitates is sometimes saved Actively pursue the good in all the particulars of your daily life Regularly examine your motives Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well (Earl of Chesterfield) Do not pursue fame Learning consists in daily accumulating Love without expectations The best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray (Robert Burns) All questions will eventually be answered Be original Do something of your own design Realize that there is no such thing as a perfect marriage Enter into marriage knowing that it will not be perfect Do not become angry with people who do not agree with your opinion Perform acts of goodness from within Do not become what you cannot stand Believe in yourself with all your tenacity Dream big Leave nothing for tomorrow that you can do today Chop your own wood; it will warm you twice Parts of life are left to chance Most things in life are taken for granted You can never go wrong keeping your mouth shut There is no time like the present The important thing is not the triumph but the struggle Never hate the truth Enjoy what you have; let the fool hunt for more Comedy is all about timing Leave them laughing Believe in the goodness of others A person is not deceived by others, he deceives himself Put your mind in gear before you put your tongue in action You do not know youve learned something until after the fact Remain open, flexible, curious Visualize better days ahead Solve problems instead of making them worse Be the solution Love books Read as much as you can It isnt what you do, its the way you do it Let the world come to you Dont make commitments you dont plan to keep Remember the lessons youve learned Sometimes things that hurt, teach Teaching someone to do something is like relearning it yourself The innocent bystander often gets beaten up You cannot have enough ideas Every calamity is a spur to action Worry about today before tomorrow The young should love life like the old Live each day as if it were your last When you believe in something, you become eloquent It is loving and giving that make life worth living Rear and nourish children with kindness A lovers faults cannot bother you Mind your own business Why worry? Understand what you know Your greatest contribution to the sum of things is yourself Any plan that cannot be changed is a bad one Yesterday will never come again, but you have today All new fashions eventually become old If you buy happiness on installment, the payments last much longer than the happiness He who laughs, lasts Respond to rudeness with kindness Love many, hate few Learn to paddle your own canoe If you can pull your own weight, you can pull 5 percent more Men and women may be different from each other, but their souls can still be combined to form one Always make your bed Nurture your friendships Show your good manners by putting up pleasantly with bad ones Weakness breeds evil A teachers job is to make his/her students smarter than he/she To the ant, a few drops of rain is a flood Nature is imitated by art You will always be able to clothe yourself, if you know how to sew Remember where you came from Listen with your eyes Willpower is the ultimate power Understand more than you can explain Envy and fear are the major cause of hatred Youre as young as you feel Chew everything thirty-two times You must run to win the race Every day is a clean slate