H. Jackson Brown - Lifes Little Treasure Book on Things that Really Matter

LIFES TREASURE BOOK On
Things
That
Really
Matter H. JACKSON BROWN, JR. Copyright 1999 by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Rutledge Hill Press, Inc., 211 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee 37219. Distributed in Canada by H.B. Fenn and Co., Ltd., 34 Nixon Road, Bolton, Ontario L7E 1W2. Distributed in Australia by The Five Mile Press Pty., Ltd., 22 Summit Road, Noble Park, Victoria 3174. Distributed in New Zealand by Southern Publishing Group, 22 Burleigh Street, Grafton, Auckland. Distributed in the United Kingdom by Verulam Publishing Ltd., 152a Park Street Lane, Park Street, St.

Albans, Hertfordshire AL2 2AU. Book design and layout by Karen Phillips and Nikita Pristouris ISBN: 1-55853-803-8 Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 04 03 02 01 00 99 Contents There is a fundamental question we all have to face. How are we to live our lives; by what principles and moral values will we be guided and inspired? I once heard a minister compare life to a slippery staircasean apt analogy. Slipping and sliding as we all do, we intuitively reach out for support, for any-thing to keep us from falling. There is a handrail. But its stability is determined by the values we have chosen to guide our lives.

It is, therefore, no stronger, no more reliable, than the quality of the choices we have made. Is there a clear and simple way to decide which principles to embrace and which to reject? Using Immanuel Kants proposition, which he called the categorical imperative, is one approach. In this method of determining the moral and ethical value of an act, one asks, What would be the result to humankind if everyone did it? For instance, what kind of world would we have if everyone were honest, self-disciplined, responsible, kind, generous, courageous, and virtuous? This is a question that deserves serious reflection and one you might use to examine and challenge the things which are important in your life. Plato noted that the unexamined life is not worth living. With that in mind, I dedicate this book to all who seek a renewed sense of moral clarity and purpose. We are all on the slippery stairs.

But our steps can be sure and steady when we know our handrail is made of sturdy stuff. Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your gold and good health have vanished. OG MANDINO B e kinder than necessary. Make a rule and pray to God to help you keep it: never, if possible, lie down at night without being able to say, I have made one human being a little wiser or a little happier or at least a little better this day. the person who is
really kind will never be
alone or unhappy. the person who is
really kind will never be
alone or unhappy.

AGE 75 ... Ive never regretted
the nice things Ive said
about people. AGE 38 Try measuring your wealth by what you are rather than by what you have. Put the tape measure around your heart rather than your bank account. ANONYMOUS Fifty years from now, it will not matter what kind of car you drove, what kind of house you lived in, how much you had in your bank account, or what your clothes looked like. But the world may be a better place because you were important in the life of a child.

ANONYMOUS G et your priorities straight. No one ever said on his deathbed, Gee, if Id only spent more time at the office. Give life your best. Youll never regret it. I dont know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. children want discipline
and guidelines because
it shows you care. children want discipline
and guidelines because
it shows you care.

AGE 32 ... if youre too busy to
do a friend a favor, youre
too busy. AGE 39 Love is the only gold. ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON Children will not remember you for the material things you provided, but for the feeling that you cherished them. GAIL SWEET It is not the critic who counts, not strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. THEODORE ROOSEVELT Choose your lifes mate carefully. From this one decision will come 90 percent of your happiness or misery. L ive so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you. I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles: the character of an Honest Man. GEORGE WASHINGTON Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.

JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE EXCERPTS FROM
THE ROCKEFELLER CREED I BELIEVE that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity an obligation; every possession a duty. I BELIEVE that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order. I BELIEVE in the sacredness of a promise, that a mans word should be as good as his bond; that characternot wealth or power or position is of supreme worth. I BELIEVE that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might. I ve learned that... ... children need loving the
most when they are the
hardest to love.

AGE 79 ... marriage is all about
compromising and forgiving. AGE 35 E very person you meet knows something you dont know. Learn from them. D ont let the weeds grow around your dreams. B ecome someones hero.

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal
to your powers. Pray for
powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your
work will be no miracle,
but you shall be the miracle. PHILLIPS BROOKS D onate two pints of blood every year. S ign and carry your organ donor card.

C ommit yourself to constant self-improvement. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor.... Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ROMANS 12:9-12 (RSV) I ve learned that... ... if you let your integrity
slip just a little, it can have
lasting consequences. a happy person is not
a person with a certain set
of circumstances but rather
a person with a certain set
of attitudes. a happy person is not
a person with a certain set
of circumstances but rather
a person with a certain set