it's not a short, pithy statement. this is what happened:

i was one of two or three jews in the whole school. i say two or three because i knew about me and i knew about ronnie fletcher, who was cool because he wore purple shoelaces. i wasn't cool. i am not sure, even to this day, about the principal, mr. rose. anyway, the math teacher, mr. house, used to talk smack about me in class when i was out at band sectional (a friend kept tabs for me). he did not like jews. the core teacher, mr. whitmore, was not much help, telling the students (again in my absence) not to hate me just because i was jewish and carried a briefcase and wore glasses and didn't like rock 'n roll.... by the time he got through all the reasons they should set aside in order not to hate me, they probably hated me twice as much.

the kid who say behind me in home room and core (all the core subjects -- this was junior high) started calling me a dirty jew. i told him to stop. he didn't stop. in the hallway on the way to band (not sectional but regular band practice) he did it again. i told him if he called me dirty jew again i would hit him in the mouth so hard his teeth would come out of his toenails.

in the instrument storage room, i was getting out my drumsticks and he was getting his french horn, and he called me a dirty jew again. i started to beat him up, but i had to stop because he was so astonished that he just stood there. disgusted, i went back up to the percussion section, where i was greeted laughingly by a huge ninth-grader who already had gray hair. (i was only an eighth-grader, a year younger than all the other eighth-graders and small for my age at that.) he asked me what i would do it HE called me a dirty jew. i looked way up at him and said "i'd beat you up too!"

the head of the section decided, for the first time ever, that i should play the tympani part in the arabian dance from the nutcracker suite. i was thrilled! but while we were all playing it, the kid who usually had the tympani part loudly told an antisemitic joke. i turned around and kicked him in the knee. (i was so naive! i didn't know where to kick!) he yelled, the teacher stopped the band and demanded to know what had happened and ended up sending us down to the principal's office.

mr. rose came out and spoke to me. he didn't address the boy, though he was standing right there too. he asked me if i knew what "rabbi" meant.

i knew he knew that i knew what a rabbi was, but i also knew that's not what he meant.

"it means 'teacher,'" he said. "you're going to meet a lot of ignorant people in your life. you can't beat them all up." then he looked at the boy for the first time and added, to him, "understand?"

the boy nodded.

i wasn't bothered again that year (but of course i was in a new school the next year and that's a whole other story).

that was pretty good advice, yes?

g

“The only thing you have that cannot be taken away from you,but must be given up willingly, is your integrity. Don’t give up your integrity”

Thanks Dad.

50% of something is more than 100% of nothing. TRUE TO THIS DAY AND REVALIDATED THE 1ST OF EVERY MONTH.

"Be bold."

Be particular.

"Never complain about how much tax you're paying it means you had the money in the first place." Most likely makes more sense with our marginal rates in Australia.

To daughters, but it applies to all. It is a proverb.

"Truth is the daughter of time."

Unless evidence to the contrary appears, one cannot possibly KNOW about another person's character without familiarity over a period of time allowing for observation of any inconsistencies.

Unfortunately, the process is often 'short circuited' by what I call chemistry or physical attraction. Especially when the drive is secondary (substitutional), getting to know the target of the attraction can cause anxiety because a certain amount of fantasy is created early and cognitive corrections provided within longer time frames are not welcome.

New technology has provided means, like this site for example, for getting acquainted with others without having perceptions distracted by such drives until later in the progression where they more naturally belong.

You can always tell a drunk....you just can't tell him much.

Change your thinking and you'll change your world.

From my godfather at my confirmation: "Wherever you go and whatever you do, always be sure you can look at yourself in the shaving mirror every morning."

Think twice speak once

You must fight with your bad days to keep your good days with you.

Shit happens.

Lead by example.

To be aware that the purpose of virtually all businesses, and especially coporations, is to separate me from my money.

You have to deal with them in daily life, bu tyou can insist of gettign good value for the money you spend.

50% only??

"Doing the right thing is easy when you let go of what's holding you back."

As a child, I was taught to ALWAYS save 10% of any money coming to you. And use it only for real emergencies. Because of this habit, I've been able to travel to over 40 countries, see things/meet people I'd never have been able to encounter if I hadn't had a ''travel'' savings account.

Do your own thinking.

This was given to me indirectly but I have found it useful on occasion, "The dreading is worse than the doing." ~ Annabelle Plunkett. How often do we put things off for fear of what might happen?!!

"Everyone's carrying around their own bag of shit. Shit is shit, there's no point in comparing sizes."

Be yourself.

Mom always warned us, don't cook bacon naked. Years later, I learned that was good advice!

If you want your children to come to you, don't freak out when they do.

My children came to me with a pregnancy scare and questions about drugs or other mischief because I never assumed a question about something meant they were doing it.

Fight Fire with Fire