NationStates Jolt Archive


Life's little Instruction book

Mad hatters in jeans
21-12-2008, 19:22
I decided to show you guys a few quotes from "Life's little instruction book" 511 suggestions, observations and reminders on how to live a happy and rewarding life. by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

I got this as a Christmas present from my Granny for last year, now fair enough it's the thought that counts, and it's nice she remembers me and get's me a present.
So this is more a critique of the sheer poor content, so without further ado...

From the book de shit
1 Compliment three people every day
2 Have a dog
3 Watch the sunrise at least once a year
4 remember other people's birthdays
5 overtip breakfast waitresses
6 Have a firm handshake
7 look people in the eye
8 say thank you a lot
9 say please a lot
10 learn to play a musical instrument
11 sing in the shower
12 Use the good silver
13 Learn to make great chilli
14 plant flowers every spring
15 Own a great stereo system
16 be the first to say hello
17 live beneath your means
18 Drive inexpensive cars but own the best house you can afford
19 buy great books even if you never read them
20 Be forgiving of yourself and others
21 Learn clean jokes
22 Wear polished shoes
23 Floss your teeth
24 drink champagne for no reason at all
25 Ask for a raise when you feel you've earned it
26 if in a fight, hit first and hit hard (the sucker punch tactic is sure to piss off the other person)
27 Return all things you borrow
28 teach some kind of class
29 be a student in some kind of class
30 never buy a house without a fireplace
31 buy whatever kids are selling on card tables in their front gardens
32 once in your life own a convertible
33 Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
34 Learn to identify the music of Chopin, MOzart and Beethoven
35 Plant a tree on your birthday
36 Donate two pints of blood every year
37 Make new friends but cherish the old ones
38 Keep secrets
39 Take lots of snapshots
40 Never refuse homemade biscuits (???)
41 Don't postpone joy
42 Write thank you notes promptly
43 Never give up on anybody miracles happen every day (debatable actually)
44 show respect for teachers (depends who it is)
45 Show respect for police officers and firefighters
46 Show respect to military personnel
47 Don't waste time learning the 'tricks of the trade'. Instead learn the trade.
48 Keep a tight rein on your temper
49 Buy vegetables from farmers who advertise with hand-lettered signs
50 Put the cap back on the toothpaste
51 take out the rubbish without having to be told
52 Avoid over-exposure to the sun
53 Vote
54 Surprise loved ones with little unexpected gifts.
55 Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
56 Never mention being on a diet (why???)
57 make the best of bad situations (well duh)
58 Always accept an outstretched hand
59 Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring and integrity they think of you. (what if i don't want to have children?)
60 Admit your mistakes (NEVER!)
61 Ask someone to pick up your mail and daily paper when you're out of town. Those are the fist two things potential burglars look for.
62 Use your partner to amuse not abuse
63 Remember that all news is biased.
64 Take a photography course. (what? why?)
65 Let people pull in front of you when you're stopped in traffic.
66 Support a school orchestra or band. (how's about no?)
67 Demand excellence and be willing to pay for it.
68 Be brave. Even if you're not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference.
69 Whistle (no it's irritating)
70 hug children after you discipline them. (even when they aren't my own?)
71 learn to make something beautiful with your hands. (..must resist obvious joke...)
72 Give charity all the clothes you haven't worn for three years.
73 Never forget your anniversary. (and who am i married to?)
74 Eat prunes.
75 Ride a bike.
76 Choose a charity in your community and support it generously with your time and money
...
and the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.
I gave up on it at about 266 i only read it because i was immensly bored.

But i'll leave you with one momentous one i just flicked open on

459 Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. (i know i know the irony is killing me)


So i thought i'd show you guys to get a laugh out of it.
agree with any of them, want some more?
Skallvia
21-12-2008, 19:26
I fully intend and/or have done all of those things, lol...
Maineiacs
21-12-2008, 19:26
You forgot the "I couldn't possibly care less" option in the poll.
Mad hatters in jeans
21-12-2008, 19:29
You forgot the "I couldn't possibly care less" option in the poll.

But if you don't care then you wouldn't bother with the poll?
Ashmoria
21-12-2008, 19:31
#64 take a photography course

99% of people take photos and 90% of those could be much better if they had some understanding of photography.
Skallvia
21-12-2008, 19:34
#64 take a photography course

99% of people take photos and 90% of those could be much better if they had some understanding of photography.

Idk...I must be in that 10% cause I took a Photography class but I dont think it really helped me any....we mostly just sat around on the interwebs, lol....
Mad hatters in jeans
21-12-2008, 19:41
I fully intend and/or have done all of those things, lol...

oh my oh my...okay Mad hatter breathe breathe. just keep breathing and everything will be better....
okay okay, whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyy?
Rambhutan
21-12-2008, 19:46
I don't agree with 26, counter punching is better.
Ashmoria
21-12-2008, 19:56
Idk...I must be in that 10% cause I took a Photography class but I dont think it really helped me any....we mostly just sat around on the interwebs, lol....
#512 make sure that the course you propose to take doesnt suck
Skallvia
21-12-2008, 20:02
oh my oh my...okay Mad hatter breathe breathe. just keep breathing and everything will be better....
okay okay, whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyy?

idk...I had just already intended to do the ones i hadnt done...Whether it actually happens is still up for speculation...but, my intention is there, lol...
Call to power
21-12-2008, 20:32
31 buy whatever kids are selling on card tables in their front gardens

I immediately thought of a kissing booth

74 Eat prunes.

put him in a Cannon and fire him into the Sun! (I wonder if they ever got a man in space that way?)

we mostly just sat around on the interwebs, lol....

I am now a photographer.
Veblenia
21-12-2008, 20:33
*brain melts*
Smunkeeville
21-12-2008, 20:37
I got the little instruction book for "Moms" one year.........it was bullshit.

#68 Live for your children.

Fuck that.
Skallvia
21-12-2008, 20:40
#512 make sure that the course you propose to take doesnt suck

Admittedly I was only there cause I quit the football team and they needed somewhere to stick me....

And unfortunately, Study Hall is no longer offered in MS schools...

I just realized, Im still mad about that...and im not in high school...weird, lol...
Lunatic Goofballs
21-12-2008, 20:52
I see nothing there about pie-flinging, jumping into mud or mad tickle attacks.

Clearly a biased list.
Ashmoria
21-12-2008, 21:01
I got the little instruction book for "Moms" one year.........it was bullshit.

#68 Live for your children.

Fuck that.
that wasnt really one of life's little instructions was it? that is horrible advice.
Call to power
21-12-2008, 21:05
SNIP

are your children teenagers yet? :p

I see nothing there about pie-flinging, jumping into mud or mad tickle attacks.

Clearly a biased list.

maybe he has had the experience of tickling someone who doesn't like to be tickled :(
Ifreann
22-12-2008, 00:44
You need 2 rules in life.
1. Don't panic
2. Know where your towel is
Articoa
22-12-2008, 00:46
What if I don't eat prunes, huh?
Collectivity
22-12-2008, 00:56
Tell your family members you love them - and tell your friends too. (I'm sure that was in the 501)
Vault 10
22-12-2008, 01:06
About 1% of these are actually useful.

24% are common sense.

25% are personal opinions.

50% are stupid moralizing.
Mad hatters in jeans
22-12-2008, 01:08
Tell your family members you love them - and tell your friends too. (I'm sure that was in the 501)
Well in this book 501 is:
Keep several irons in the fire
About 1% of these are actually useful.

24% are common sense.

25% are personal opinions.

50% are stupid moralizing.

agreed, although where would eating prunes come into that equation/
Mad hatters in jeans
22-12-2008, 01:09
What if I don't eat prunes, huh?

oh i don't know i suppose you're damnned to a life of eternal damnation in hell or something.
Mad hatters in jeans
22-12-2008, 01:48
Call to power]I immediately thought of a kissing booth
You're a dirty man
put him in a Cannon and fire him into the Sun! (I wonder if they ever got a man in space that way?)
I think David Bowie came close, "Rocket man into outer space"

I am now a photographer.
yes..we all appreciated that move didn't we?

I see nothing there about pie-flinging, jumping into mud or mad tickle attacks.

Clearly a biased list.
I know LG, it's a horrible book
You need 2 rules in life.
1. Don't panic
2. Know where your towel is

First Rule of life, you do not talk about life. Second Rule of life, you do not talke about life!

I love my towel
Call to power
22-12-2008, 02:21
Tell your family members you love them - and
tell your friends too. (I'm sure that was in the 501)

hmmm strange man telling me he loves me everyday? :p

You're a dirty man

a dirty man with a passion for tomorrows capitalists :p

(okay I'll stop before I get arrested)

I think David Bowie came close, "Rocket man into outer space"

yeah but the shat man can do anything (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DvQwXOCKNLY&feature=related)
Mad hatters in jeans
22-12-2008, 02:27
Call to power]hmmm strange man telling me he loves me everyday? :p
i love you man.

a dirty man with a passion for tomorrows capitalists :p

(okay I'll stop before I get arrested)

hey what do you think the communists did instead?

yeah but the shat man can do anything (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DvQwXOCKNLY&feature=related)
Oh yeah!!!
Call to power
22-12-2008, 02:36
i love you man.

*sleeps with your best friend* :p

hey what do you think the communists did instead?

they got sent to the gulag.

Oh yeah!!!

*sets phasers on cool*
Mad hatters in jeans
22-12-2008, 02:38
Call to power*sleeps with your best friend* :p

No not Joey the Hamster! how could you?

they got sent to the gulag.
oh dear, the future doesn't look too good for those kids selling things on card tables.


*sets phasers on cool*
i prefer this version (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rzrKlEtxTx4)
SaintB
22-12-2008, 04:20
#666
If you truly love your freinds and family you will slaughter them so that nobody can ever harm them again.
Katganistan
22-12-2008, 04:27
You need 2 rules in life.
1. Don't panic
2. Know where your towel is
:)

There's a frood who really knows where his towel is
Smunkeeville
22-12-2008, 05:19
that wasnt really one of life's little instructions was it? that is horrible advice.
There was lots of horrible advice in that book. It was more of the "your job as a woman is to keep the children satiated" bullshit.

are your children teenagers yet? :p
No, thank FSM. That's when I go on an extended vacation until they graduate college.
Maineiacs
22-12-2008, 10:16
But if you don't care then you wouldn't bother with the poll?

I didn't bother with it.
The blessed Chris
22-12-2008, 13:11
Are books like that actually still produced?
Doitzel
22-12-2008, 13:16
23 Floss your teeth

This should be #1. No, really it should be. I have been through some pretty rough shit but there is nothing like having a gigantic cavity down into the nerve. 1,000 mg of vicodin does nothing. Absolutely unbearable.
No Names Left Damn It
22-12-2008, 13:21
19 buy great books even if you never read them

What? Why?

31 buy whatever kids are selling on card tables in their front gardens

Even if it's crack?

40 Never refuse homemade biscuits (???)

What if they're green and glowing, or contain something your allergic to?

Bunch of shit.
Doitzel
22-12-2008, 13:25
What? Why?

Because people think you're smarter than you are when they see a vast collection of literature you can't read sitting on the shelf above your head. This increase in social status improves your likelihood of scoring sex. This is Freud 101 man, if you'd bought more books you weren't going to read maybe you'd have absorbed some of this knowledge by osmosis. And maybe if I had, I'd know that's not how osmosis works.
The blessed Chris
22-12-2008, 13:25
#whatever we're on now; always rigidly follow any medical advice given.
Western Mercenary Unio
22-12-2008, 13:29
Because people think you're smarter than you are when they see a vast collection of literature you can't read sitting on the shelf above your head. This increase in social status improves your likelihood of scoring sex. This is Freud 101 man, if you'd bought more books you weren't going to read maybe you'd have absorbed some of this knowledge by osmosis. And maybe if I had, I'd know that's not how osmosis works.

Just buy scifi. It'll do the trick.
No Names Left Damn It
22-12-2008, 14:39
Just buy scifi. It'll do the trick.

In getting sex? No. Not at all.