Jedediah Bartman, Deathbed Confessions, Part V

Ten Rules for Success

RULE #1: Be as fit as possible. Physically, mentally and socially. Avoid laziness in all aspects.

RULE #2: Deal only with intelligent people. This will cause you to marry well, dine well, learn well, travel well, and live well.

RULE #3: Set few, but wonderful goals. If too many destinations exist, you'll get nowhere.

RULE #4: Thrill people. Impress them. Delight them. Surprise them. Serve them. Enrich them. Make them hope you never go away, get sick or die.

RULE #5: Work like you love it. To thrive, you must labor. Therefore, as labor is your whetstone, cherish it. Perfect your dutiful behaviour until it is flawless, then move on to greater messes.

RULE #6: Criticize yourself often. A frank assessment of what you are doing right, and how you are wasting your life, will limit your stupidity, somewhat.

RULE #7: Buried in the past, treasures exist. Daily, study the lives and writings of the men and women who most influenced this world, for both good and evil; but concentrate on the good and the useful.

RULE #8: Achieve one thing you thought you couldn't. If you do this just once, it will so excite you, that you'll become addicted to achievement, which is the greatest elixir of all.

RULE #9: Avoid accumulating things that require maintenance, protection, or that can be taxed.

RULE #10: Ignore what the masses endure, consume, and tolerate. Very clever, but lazy manipulators have devised perfect formulas to extract money and time from the less wise. Be quiet. Observe. Learn wisdom from the foolish, and you will survive and prosper.

Jedediah Bartman