Words to Live By, or at Least Near

I like smart people. I like to listen to smart people talk. I like to read what smart people write. I don’t always understand what they are saying but I like to try. In my office I have a long roll of paper tacked to the wall on which I have images of people I admire as well as quotes from smart people.
I know these several syllable prescriptions for a better existence are superficial when removed from the bigger picture from whence they originated, but I get a kick out of them. I frequently fail to use what wisdom they do offer when making the choices which decide my fate, but I still like them and I do endeavor to remember them as I stumble through life.
Smart is important, but I think kindness is the most important personality trait a person can possess. For proof of that I point to a quote on my wall which was attributed to one of the most world renowned smart guys ever, Plato. The quote is: “Be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle.” My less than brilliant Greek philosopher interpretation of that is: “Life can really stink so don’t add to someone else’s stinky life by being mean to them.” My way won’t fit so nicely on a marble tablet or a papyrus scroll which is probably the only reason Plato didn’t say it the way I did.
Another aspect of human nature I have to keep reminding myself about connects with Mr. Plato’s statement. People have a tendency to be more than a little self-centered. I don’t mean thoughtless of other people but rather most folks think of the world only how it relates to themselves. Another quote on my wall points this out. Franklin D. Roosevelt is quoted as saying: “Remember, you are just an extra in everyone else’s play.”
Think about it. As you go through your day you are the star. The story doesn’t start until you wake up. The theme music fires up when you get out of bed. Personally, I imagine the theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark even if I cut a less than dashing figure as I trudge towards the shower in my flannel pants adorned with dozens of penguins and prepare for my day of not uncovering riches and defeating Nazis.
The thing President Roosevelt was telling us is as we move through our day as the star of the show we keep bumping into people who are the star of their shows. What we need to remember is not unlike too many cooks spoiling the broth too many stars can spoil the movie. Case in point, the movie Wholly Moses had more A-list movie stars than you can shake a stick at and after watching it you would want to use the stick less for shaking and more for striking, pummeling, and bludgeoning. Anyway, we need to remember everyone thinks they are the most important person in the story and we are the wacky neighbor. I don’t mind being Fred Mertz but I draw the line if someone wants to cast me as Monroe Ficus (the Jim J. Bullock character on Too Close for Comfort).
Another one of the quotes on my wall is attributed to William James. It says: The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. I really like that one because being able to correctly select which things to care about and which things to let fall away truly makes life better.
Admit it you have spent a good deal of time and effort focusing on things which later turned out to be of no real importance. There have also been times you ignored things which should have garnered your full attention. Like that time in college you left undone your term paper comparing and contrasting the basic tenets espoused by Machiavelli and those put forth by Jean Jacques Rousseau because the Twilight Zone marathon was running on television. (Actually, in retrospect I think you made the right choice.)
Finally, the last quote on my wall is not from a great philosopher taught in universities throughout the land but it sums up much of what I feel on a regular basis. It speaks to life being a struggle which cannot always be understood, a struggle which gets the better of us all from time to time. I leave you with these words from Warren Zevon: Sometimes I feel like my shadow’s casting me.

Christopher Pyle also loves a quote once attributed to Socrates: I drank what? You may dispute this by e-mailing him at occasionallykeen@yahoo.com