PARLORTalk
Millennial
Advice
Parlor Talk continues to be a corner of the Pomona College Magazine set aside as a place for alumni to share ideas, swap stories, reminisce about the old days, and ruminate on the days to come. Here is what some of your classmates suggest for living better and wiser in the next hundred years or so...
Robert Franz '81, R. Craig Kirkpatrick '81,
Anthony Witt '80 and John Siddeek, '81
These four alumni have compiled (and, in a couple cases, created) the following 47 Wise Saws and Modern Instances Potentially Useful to Those Striving to Live Better and Wiser in the Next Millennium.
They present their advice as "saws" and "instances" here, with thanks and profuse apologies to H.D. Thoreau, H.R. Haldeman; D. Xiaoping, H. Ford, B. Gracian, C. Yeshe, P. Kisiluk '82, D. Alighieri, M. Musashi; Rumi, W. Churchill; S. Tzu, E. Hubbard, P. Vergilius Maro, Charles V.K. Gibran, R. Niebuhr, J. Thurber and R. Brautigan.
ON BEING BORN:
1. Life is dangerous and should be approached with caution.
2. All hope abandon, ye who enter here.
3. Keep alert and don't panic.
ON GROWING UP:
4. Everything begins in mystery and ends in politics.
ON LEARNING:
5. Beware of all theories that require new words.
6. It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.
7. Never lose your spirit of discovery.
8. Beat the drum and let the poets speak.
ON DAILY LIVING:
9. Finish each day wanting more.
10. Start each day needing less.
11. Time lost may nought recovered be.
ON JOURNEYS:
12. Never get separated from your lunch.
13. Never get separated from your sleeping bag.
14. Never get separated from your towel.
15. Never get separated from your primal urges.
16. Consider carefully where your primal urges are leading you.
17. Expect to go the wrong way at least some of the time.
18. The best place to keep water is inside of you.
19. Never pass up a chance to pee.
20. The best journey includes a moment of self-doubt overcome.
ON WORK:
21. Beware of all ventures that require new clothes.
22. Never make the mistake of thinking that you work for someone else.
23. Never believe that computers save time.
ON PLAYING NICE WITH OTHERS:
24. Speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to your horse.
25. Advice doesn't help lovers! They're not the kind of mountain stream you can build a dam across.
26. Let there be spaces in your togetherness.
27. Your friend knows all about you, and still likes you.
ON STRATEGY:
28. Tactics are what to do when there is something to do; strategy is what to do when there is nothing to do.
29. Play for more than you can afford to lose, and you will learn the game.
30. Fortune favors the bold.
31. Know how to withdraw.
32. Grasp the nettle tightly, or not at all.
33. Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's hard to get it back in again.
34. Make use of your enemies.
35. Never from obstinacy take the wrong side because your opponent has anticipated you by taking the right one.
36. Apparent confusion is a product of good order; apparent weakness, of strength.
37. Don't count your boobies until they are hatched.
ON THE WAY:
38. Do not think dishonestly.
39. Seek truth from facts.
40. Practice is the sole criterion of truth.
41. When the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of enlightenment.
42. Polish the twofold spirit--heart and mind--and sharpen the twofold gaze--perception and sight.
43. Laughter is the beginning of prayer.
ON KARMA REPAIR:
44. Get enough food to eat and eat it.
45. Find a place to sleep where it is quiet, and sleep there.
46. Reduce intellectual and emotional noise until you arrive at the silence of yourself, and listen to it.
47. Number 47, of course, remains for you to fill in...
Question for Next Issue:
We're always interested in preserving the beauty of Pomona's campus. However, we also want to preserve the memories you have of this beautiful spot of earth. Please share with readers your memories and reminiscences of Pomona's campus--particular spots on campus you remember fondly, buildings you hold dear, or a funny tale you know couldn't have happened anywhere else on earth!
Send submissions by Nov. 20, 1999, to: Sarah Dolinar; ATTN: Parlor Talk; Pomona College; 305 N. College Ave.; Claremont, CA 91711-6323or by e-mail to: sdolinar@pomadm.pomona.edu. Please include your name, class, address, and phone number. Responses will be selected based on content and will be edited as necessary. Mailed responses will be returned if requested.
