# Simple lessons you have learned. And they have stayed with you all your life. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 21, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302 "2016-12-21T15:48:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/21 "2016-12-21T22:46:52Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Never underestimate the power of a smile. Never underestimate the power of a compliment. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/22 "2016-12-21T23:19:52Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late. Beaten into our heads in high school marching band. If we were scheduled to be on the field at 3, we needed to be there at 250, ready to go BY 3. If we were not, we ran laps around the field. To this day, I am 10 minutes early for everything. I got that in marching band, too. I also tell my band students. In my professional life, I’ve gotten and kept gigs for just this reason. I show up on time. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/23 "2016-12-21T23:49:53Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late. Beaten into our heads in high school marching band. If we were scheduled to be on the field at 3, we needed to be there at 250, ready to go BY 3. If we were not, we ran laps around the field. To this day, I am 10 minutes early for everything. Sorry, can’t subscribe to that, at least not in every social situation. If I invited you for 8 PM, and you showed up at 10 to eight, you’ll get the stink-eye from me, probably with a towel round my head because I expected to have enough time to dry my hair. Punctuality is good, but sometimes arriving too early is just as obnoxious as being late. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/24 "2016-12-21T23:57:58Z")
Two things I learned in Hunter Ed when I was 13: every gun is always loaded, and if your feet aren’t happy, you aren’t happy. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/25 "2016-12-22T00:06:31Z")
The cost of a borrowing to make a purchase is not just the interest you pay, it’s also the interest you didn’t earn on what you would have saved up. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/26 "2016-12-22T01:39:20Z")
“Little things give us little problems. Big things give us big problems.” – Cecil Adams. Not so much a principle I use every day, but rather a summation of my generalized “shader” rather than “lumper” philosophy. IMO one of the biggest roadblocks to clear thinking is falsely grouping things together which are not similar enough to treat equally. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/27 "2016-12-22T01:55:13Z")
If you have a lot of work to do, set a finishing time beyond which you know you won’t be productive, and quit at that time and no later. This lets you accomplish more and get adequate rest, as compared to telling yourself you’ve got to work however long it takes to complete your tasks. I actually saw that suggestion years ago on the Dope. It helps, except when I really really want to finish up on something and yield to temptation to stay until it’s done. ---
**Author:** ![Soulcatcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Soulcatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soulcatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/28 "2016-12-22T02:00:51Z")
Take time to check your work before submitting it. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/29 "2016-12-22T02:17:05Z")
Have a place for everything and always put things back in their place. Following this simple rule can save a year out of your life searching for stuff you’ve “lost”. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/30 "2016-12-22T03:38:48Z")
I’m not always great at following it, but it is magic advice, straight from my mother-- When you can make a person feel like they are special, they will love you for it. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/31 "2016-12-22T04:03:08Z")
Be where you are, doing what you say you are. It makes life much simpler. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/32 "2016-12-22T04:04:51Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Have a place for everything and always put things back in their place. Following this simple rule can save a year out of your life searching for stuff you’ve “lost”. I wish I could get my wife to live by this simple principle. Decide where you’re going to keep things. Then keep them there. It’s not hard! ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/33 "2016-12-22T04:43:21Z")
Never loan money. If you want to help somebody just give it to them, it is so much cheaper. Just brush your teeth, even if you don’t feel like it. Friendship takes work. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/34 "2016-12-22T06:07:07Z")
Watch where you step. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/35 "2016-12-22T06:36:26Z")
From my dad: “Measure twice, cut once.” “The job’s not done until the tools are put away and the sawdust swept up.” Those precepts go far beyond mere woodworking, I’ll tell you. The importance of proper preparation, mentally working through it, before committing to action, and of making sure that the action leaves no problems behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/36 "2016-12-22T07:23:20Z")
I’ve had a few acquaintances who made life harder on themselves by never being decisive. They’d stew and procrastinate a problem until something finally happened TO them, rather than them doing something about it. Observing this, a boss once advised me, “Make a decision. Make a good decision, make a bad decision. But don’t make no decision.” ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/37 "2016-12-22T08:25:09Z")
When using tools always know where both hands are. When you are focused on what you are doing you are doing with one hand you might absentmindedly place the other hand in a dangerous location. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/38 "2016-12-22T08:29:46Z")
Only because someone has been declared responsible for something, doesn’t mean they’ve got the will or the ability to do it (my eldest cousin had the caretaking instincts of a chunk of granite, God rest his soul but he was more likely to get the little ones in trouble than keep them out of it). This one is a cultural shibboleth, or at least the specific phrasing I learned as a child is: _la primera, conocerás al personal_. The first (rule of getting anything done, or relationships, or pretty much anything in life), know the people you’re dealing with. You can’t solve a problem until you recognize it exists. Be realistic about your situation. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Sorry, can’t subscribe to that, at least not in every social situation. If I invited you for 8 PM, and you showed up at 10 to eight, you’ll get the stink-eye from me, probably with a towel round my head because I expected to have enough time to dry my hair. Punctuality is good, but sometimes arriving too early is just as obnoxious as being late. That’s actually adressed, not to people who if they set out to arrive at 19:50 will arrive at 19:50, but to those like my brother Ed whose travel time calculations are always “from tollbooth to tollbooth” instead of “from door to door”. If he tries to arrive at 19:50 he may be finally there a little before 20:30 rather than at 21-and-change… ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/39 "2016-12-22T08:38:47Z")
Work smarter not harder. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302/40 "2016-12-22T10:44:52Z")
Stuff I tell my kids: The common element in most success stories is a good alarm clock. Failure is usually an orphan. The first step to success is becoming its father. You won’t always succeed. Sometimes the only light you have left is coming from a burning bridge. When it happens, welcome to the human race… we’ve all been there. You will learn more about a future spouse in the 5 minutes following a waitress spilling food on them, then you will in a year of dating. Watch carefully when it happens, there will come a time in a long marriage where you’ll be in the position of that waitress, and you need to know how he/she acts when they have all the power. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-lessons-you-have-learned-and-they-have-stayed-with-you-all-your-life/775302.md?page=3)