I decided recently to ask all my friends, relatives and even people I meet casually this question:
what are the two most important things you've learned in your life? The variety of responses has been fascinating. I quote them here as I heard them, without editorial comment. My own two things appear after all the other quotes. I do not identify any respondent or the respondent's work in life. I quote the two together for each respondent. In some cases a respondent could give only one reply. The response the importance of family was so frequent that I have not repeated it unless it was accompanied by a more unusual response. I discovered that people under about forty are usually unable to reply meaningfully.
Most of the things I was taught are wrong.
Raising two sons successfully far outweighs the satisfaction of any award I've received.
My word is my bond.
Take each day at a time. The importance of family.
Love is a spiritual dimension. The importance of strategizing and prioritizing.
If you have love and work you have everything.. The need to prioritize in life.
Having the courage to do what I want to do. Having respect for friends, family, all whom I meet.
The importance of patience. That there's a limit to tolerance.
The Importance of friendship and compassion.
My brothers are from Mars and I'm from Venus and I need to accept them for what they are.
No matter how hurt you are, time does heal.
Don't build your whole life around one person. It's more important to make memories with your children
than to buy them things.
Everyone wants the same thing: love.
Don't take anything for granted. Treat others as you want to be treated.
Life is to be shared--requires love. Stay the course--requires faith.
You can find good people wherever you go. Nothing in life is final; everything can be worked on.
To love my wife. That I can arise each day.
Not to harbor resentment--let it go. To do the most I can to make others happy.(102 year old person)
Be nice to your kids. They'll choose.
Just be yourself. Treat everyone as you want to be treated.
To be with Jesus Christ. To love my husband.
To love my wife. This life is just a small slice of eternal life.
Showing consideration in everything you do. Being on time.
You have to train people how to treat you.
I can do whatever I put my mind to. Exercise improves both my physical and mental health.
Religion is nonsense. Death is no big deal.
Relationships are the most important to me.
Luck is the most important determinant of success: good genes, growing up in a democracy, access to education, loving parents.
Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
Importance of work.
Never stop learning and share what you know. Remember how it felt when you first figured something out.
shaare that feeling with others.
Be nice. You don't have to be kind. Nice is good enough. But kind is good too.
To speak my mind. To know when to shut up.
To work. Gratitude to my parents for letting me do what I wanted to do.
To be able to meet people from a variety of backgrounds and relate to them.
To appreciate each day.
Take each day at a time. Nothing is more important than family.
The older I get, the more compassionate I am.
It's important not to judge, to separate the act from the person.
You need to decide your goal for the future by age 21 or so. Life is a series of random events, and despite planning, you should take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
The separation of nature and nurture is artificial; the two are intertwined and can't be separated.
Life is a crapshoot.
To focus on what you're doing or thinking. Time and death are gifts; if we had limitless time nothing we do
would have any meaning.
