Instructions for Life

  1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
  2. Memorize your favourite poem.
  3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
  4. When you say, "I love you", mean it.
  5. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.
  6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
  7. Believe in love at first sight.
  8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams.
  9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it is the only way to live life completely.
  10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name-calling.
  11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
  12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
  13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
  14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
  15. Call your mom.
  16. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
  17. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
  18. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
  19. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
  20. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps.
  21. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
  22. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
  23. Spend some time alone.
  24. Open your arms to change but don't let go of your values.
  25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
  26. Read more books and watch less TV.
  27. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll get to enjoy it a second time.
  28. Trust in God but lock your car.
  29. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home.
  30. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don't bring up the past. Read between the lines.
  31. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
  32. Be gentle with the earth.
  33. Pray. There's immeasurable power in it.
  34. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.
  35. Mind your own business.
  36. Don't trust a man/woman who doesn't close his/her eyes when you kiss.
  37. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
  38. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth's greatest satisfaction.
  39. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.
  40. Learn the rules then break some.
  41. Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other is greater than your need for each other.
  42. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
  43. Remember that your character is your destiny.
  44. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
  45. To handle yourself, use your head.
    To handle others, use your heart.
  46. Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.
  47. Anger is only one letter short of danger.
  48. If someone betrays you once, it's his fault. If he betrays you twice, it's your fault.
  49. Great minds discuss ideas;
    Average minds discuss events;
    Small minds discuss people.
  50. God gives every bird it's food,
    But He does not throw it into it's nest.
  51. He who loses money, loses much;
    He who loses a friend, loses more;
    He who loses faith, loses all.
  52. Beautiful young people are acts of nature,
    But beautiful old people are works of art.
  53. Learn from the mistakes of others.
    You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.
  54. The tongue weighs practically nothing,
    But so few people can hold it.
  55. Live like there's no tomorrow,
    Love like you've never been burned and Dance like no one is watching.

"Life's Little Instruction Book", Jackson Brown and H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
The dad gave most of this advice to his son when he went to college, and the son wrote it into a book and sold it.