Quotes from Robert Fulghum

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.

Arguing whether or not God exists is like fleas arguing whether or not the dog exists. Arguing over the correct name of God is like fleas arguing over the name of the dog. And arguing over whose notion of God is correct is like fleas arguing over who owns the dog.

all things live only if something else is cleared out of the path to make way. No death; no life. No exceptions. Things must come and go. People. Years. Ideas. Everything. The wheel turns, and the old is cleared away as fodder for the new.

Out of the mouths of babes may come gems of wisdom, but also garbage.

No relationships were made in heaven. They were made because living things were looking for good company. And when you found good company, you valued it deeply and were responsible for its upkeep and well-being.

Imagination is better than knowledge.

Keep your eyes open. Suspend judgment. Be useful

V??ím, že fantazie je silnÄ›jÅ¡í než vÄ›dÄ›ní. Že mýty mají vÄ›tÅ¡í moc než historie. Že sny jsou mocnÄ›jÅ¡í než skute?nost. Že nadÄ›je vždy zvítÄ›zí nad zkuÅ¡eností. Že smích je jediným lékem na zármutek. A v??ím, že láska je silnÄ›jÅ¡í než smrt.

If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat or your house is on fire, you've got a problem. Everything else is merely an inconvenience.

The seeds of the day are best planted in the first hour. DUTCH PROVERB

Moths and butterflies are not the same thing. Moths sneak around in the dark munching your sweater and are ugly. Butterflies hand out with flowers in the daytime and are pretty. Never mind any facts or what silkworm moths are responsible for, or what poisonous butterflies do.

Revisiting the music of one's youth is part of the reunion with self. Whatever your parents may have thought of the music, however the music may survive the test of time, if it was the music you listened to in high school or college days, then it plays forever in some ballroom of your mind. You can still mouth the words and do the dances.

Circumstances, luck, mutual need, affection and time played a part. No relationships were made in heaven. They were made because living things were looking for good company. And when you found good company, you valued it deeply and were responsible for its up-keep and well-being.

My mother was pulling my leg on that one. I have collected so much gift-wrapped trash over the years from people who copped out and hurriedly bought a little plastic cheapie to give under the protective flag of good thoughts. I tell you, it is the gift that counts. Or rather, people who think good thoughts give good gifts. It ought to be a rule—the Brass Rule of Gift Exchange.

Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.

As these anecdotes illustrate, ritual refers to two kinds of acts: those things we do for the first time that, in fact, have been done by the human race again and again forever—and those patterns that we ourselves repeat again and again because they bring structure and meaning to our individual and collective lives.

We can do no great things; only small things with great love.

People requested help with the rituals of solitude, such as meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

In that moment of educational ennui, a freshman girl says, "I can bring a human brain to school if you want–my father has lots of them." (Talk about a full-scale class alert: She's going to do WHAT?!")

This is not just storytelling. It is the sharing of personal mythology. It's how we all make sense out of our lives and give its events significance. It parallels the mythmaking of the human race. It is the ritual of remembrance.

Why isn't love easy? I don't know. And the raccoons don't say.

It is not true, by the way, that mermaids do not exist. I know at least one personally. I have held her hand.

I and you—we are infinite, rich, large, contradictory, living, breathing miracles—free human beings, children of God and the everlasting universe. That's what we do.

You know, without realizing it we fill important places in each other's lives.