LIFE ADVICE FROM THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS

“The Signature of All Things” was written by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of “Big Magic” a couple of years ago and I recently finished reading it, having had a wonderful experience with it and I would like to share with you the life advice learned through it.

“If one wanted to continue living and if one wanted to ultimately prosper, then anything that can be learned, should be learned.”

“Do not be bold. You can butcher the sheep only once. But if are careful, you can shear the sheep every year.”

“Henry had no idea what the man was talking about, but he stayed silent. He had learned in the past 4 years to speak only when he knew that which he was speaking about. Moreover, he had learned that silence can sometimes relax a listener into thinking that one might be intelligent.”

“Be tight with your money. The less you indulge yourself now, the more you can indulge yourself in the future, when you have made your fortune.”

“The only accurate word for their union was a Dutch word, a business word: partenrederji – a partnership based on honest trade and plain dealing, where tomorrow’s profits are a result of today’s promises and where the cooperation of both parties equally contributes to prosperity.”

“The basis of every one of Henry Whittaker’s calculations was I shall win!, and invariably he did win.”

“A parent is inexcusable who does not personally teach her child to think.”

“Good behaviour should be expected, not rewarded.”

“The world is a fool who longs to be tricked. There is a mighty gap between the idiots and the clever and one must come down on the side of cleverness. To show a longing for anything that one cannot have, for instance, is not a clever position.”

“Not everything has an answer.”

“Beauty is not required. Beauty is accuracy’s distraction.”

“Any child who was old enough to walk, speak, and reason ought to be able – without any further assistance – to comfort herself.”

“The more money one has, the better people’s manner become. It is a notable fact.”

“Beatrix instructed Prudence that she must never say back and forth, when backwards and forwards was so much more refined. The word fancy in any context sounded crude, as did the word folks. When one wrote a letter at White Acre, it went sent in the post, not the mail. A person did not fall sick; a person fell ill. One was not partly there; one was nearly there. One did not stove along; one hurried along. And one did not talk in this family; one conversed.”

“Shyness is simply another species of vanity. Banish it.”

“I also wish to speak to you, Prudence, about Mr. Edward Porter’s behaviour this evening at the dinning table. You should not have let that man stare at you for quite so long as you did. Engrossment of this sort is demeaning to all. You must learn how to abort this sort of behaviour in men by speaking to them with intelligence and firmness about serious topics. It is not sufficient to be merely good, you must also become clever. As a woman, of course, you will always have a heightened moral awareness over men, but if you do not sharpen your wits in defence of yourself, your morality will serve you little good.”

How to say thank you:

“I offer you my unfeigned thanks for your encouragement. Unfortunately, my thanks are the only compensation I can make at the moment, but they are sincere.”

“Wild creatures belong in wild places.”

“Don’t go too far with the cleaning. A little neglect can be of benefit. Have you ever noticed how the most splendid lilacs, for instance, are the ones that grow up alongside derelict barns and abandoned shacks ? Sometimes beauty needs a bit of ignoring, to properly come into being.”

“If you ask me what I believe, I shall tell you this: the whole sphere of air that surrounds us is alive with invisible attractions – electric, magnetic, fiery and thoughtful. There is a universal sympathy all around us. There is hidden means of knowing. When we cease all argument and debate – both internal and external – our true questions can be heard and answered. That is the powerful mover. That is the book of nature, written neither in Greek nor in Latin. That is the gathering of magic, and it is a gathering that, I have always believed and wished, can be shared.”