All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten
All I really need to know about how to live, what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom
was not at the top the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the
things I learned.
Share everything; Play Fair; Don't hit people; Put things back where you found them; Clean up your own
mess; Don't take things that aren't yours; Say you're sorry if you hurt somebody; Wash your hands before
you eat; Flush; Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you; Live a balanced life--learn some, think some,
draw, paint, sing, dance, play and work some everyday.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out
for traffic; hold hands; and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody
really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish, hamsters, white mice
and even the little seed in the styrofoam cup--they all die. So do we. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books,
and the first word you ever learned--the biggest word of all--LOOK!
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule, love and
basic sanitation. Ecology, politics, equality and sane living.
Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life,
your work, your government, or your world and it holds true, clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we
all--the whole world--had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a
nap. Or if all governments had as basic a policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their
own mess.
And it is still true, no matter how old you are--when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.
by Robert Fulghum