Both funny, and sorta serious, :)

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13 Aug 2013 20:32 #115310 by
Found this on stumble upon, Good read,

"This piece was presented as Kurt Vonnegut's commencement address at MIT in 1997. It's great stuff, but apparently it wasn't written or delivered by Vonnegut. It's still a beautiful piece...
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen."

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13 Aug 2013 20:48 - 13 Aug 2013 20:48 #115311 by
Replied by on topic Both funny, and sorta serious, :)
I remember hearing this in "song" form on the radio all the time when I was younger.
It was pretty popular back then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI
Last edit: 13 Aug 2013 20:48 by .

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14 Aug 2013 13:56 #115359 by
Replied by on topic Both funny, and sorta serious, :)
Very nice. Vonnegut is one of the great minds of history.

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21 Aug 2013 23:05 #115942 by
Replied by on topic Both funny, and sorta serious, :)
Gets those cogs turning up in the dusty ol' brain machine.

Thought you might enjoy this as well, it's along the same vein (its even a commencement speech as well, by David Foster Wallace)

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21 Aug 2013 23:13 #115943 by Alexandre Orion
Thilde -- would you please post the above vid also into "from a corner of the library" ?

I was going to some weeks ago, but by the time I got to it, it had been removed.

Thank you for finding it again ... :cheer:

http://www.templeofthejediorder.org/forum/General-Discussions/66052-from-a-corner-of-the-library

Be a philosopher ; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.
~ David Hume

Chaque homme a des devoirs envers l'homme en tant qu'homme.
~ Henri Bergson
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22 Aug 2013 03:18 #115954 by
Replied by on topic Both funny, and sorta serious, :)

Alexandre Orion wrote: Thilde -- would you please post the above vid also into "from a corner of the library" ?

I was going to some weeks ago, but by the time I got to it, it had been removed.

Thank you for finding it again ... :cheer:

http://www.templeofthejediorder.org/forum/General-Discussions/66052-from-a-corner-of-the-library


Done! :lol:

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22 Aug 2013 03:45 #115959 by Whyte Horse
don't wear sunscreen, it causes skin cancer.

Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.

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