From the Memory Vault: I’ve learned that…. in Daydreaming on the Porch

  • April 2, 2026, 8:04 a.m.
  • |
  • Public

June, 25, 2005
I found an interesting book at the used books place recently, Live and Learn and Pass It On: People ages 5-93 share what they’ve discovered about life, love, and other good stuff.
I want to list a few of the kernals of wisdom contained therein, and then list a few of my own.

From the book, I’ve learned that:

  • Homemade toll house cookies should be eaten while still warm. Age 29

  • The great challenge of life is to learn what is important and to disregard everything else. Age 51

  • Almost no quality product sells for a cheap price. Age 52

  • A person is only as good as his or her word. Age 90

  • Lying in the green grass of an empty field makes you feel so good. Age 14

  • You should always take time to answer young children when they ask “why?” Age 38

  • You can keep going long after you think you can’t. Age 69

  • I have never been bored in the presence of a cheerful person. Age 63

  • Untold treasures are found in the imagination of a child. Age 30

  • If you depend on others to make you happy, you’ll be endlessly disappointed. Age 60

  • My mother sometimes laughs so hard she snorts. Age 7

  • The most creative ideas come from beginners, not the experts. Age 62

  • How people treat me is more a reflection of how they see themselves than how they see me. Age 49

  • Middle age is the best time of my life — so far. Age 50

  • You can always find time to do the things you really want to. Age 64

  • Cokes taste better in the small bottles. Age 54

My list: (Age 54)

I’ve learned that:

  • The best things in life are free.

  • A homemade apple pie with a flaky crust made with Crisco is better than anything you can buy at a store or restaurant.

  • A weather prediction of 50 percent chance of rain usually ends up being 100 percent.

  • It’s exceedingly hard, if not impossible, to maintain the best friendships of your life from long distances away.

  • Time does fly by much faster the older you get.

  • The sustained reading of a good book outweighs most of what you can read on the Internet.

  • Your family is there for you when no one else is.

  • A spectacular sunset, yellow gold and orange trees in autumn, and waterfalls all help assure me that God is at work in the creation of the universe and its myriad wonders.

  • You can’t deny that you gossip.

  • There is no better smell than sheets and pillow cases dried on the clothesline in warm summer air.

  • You never forget how refreshing a grape snow cone (we called them snowballs) or an ice-cold Nehi orange drink is on a hot summer day, decades after you last had one.

Untitled

  • Flowers are sublime.

  • A good writer is highly intelligent.

  • I can’t avoid the news.

  • A ceiling fan and a swing on a porch can beat staying indoors in an air-conditioned house all day.

  • Sad movies really do make me cry.

Parting quote: “Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of 80 and gradually approach eighteen.”

Mark Twain


Last updated 12 hours ago


Loading comments...

You must be logged in to comment. Please sign in or join Prosebox to leave a comment.