I've reached the age when, neuroscience claims, the "wisdom centers" of the brain (the anterior cingulate and ventromedial prefrontal cortices) are supposed to leap into action. Do they? Tell truth, I don't know. Have I, without awareness or drama, metamorphosed from a jejune larva, dull as dishwater, into a butterfly of wisdom? When did it happen? At this moment or writing, I confess that I feel less wise than tired.
Nevertheless, let me offer, with maximum diffidence, a few homemade aphorisms and sententiae. Whether they amount to wisdom, and whether they do credit to my anterior or prefrontal lobes, my loyal readers will have to decide.
A) "Nothing ever happens until it happens." This proverb is slightly gnomic, so let me gloss. If you assume that just because you've carefully planned your trip to Tahiti or your visit to the new restaurant or even your outing to the local barbershop that it's going to happen, you might be in for disappointment. Wait until you're there before you get excited. There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. Rejoice appropriately -- when it's time. By doing so, you avoid elation deflation.
B) "No one knows what's going on between two people, even if you're one of them." I think this proverb is eminently self-explanatory. It applies mostly to marriage but equally so to all dyadic relationships. Even between you and your dog.
C) "The only people who idealize the past are those that know nothing about it." Slavery, plague, torture, injustice, famine, rapine, brutality, poverty, starvation. Etc.
D) "You're immortal until the day you die." Of course you are and don't let the nay-sayers and "realists" bother you.
E) "Religion: my Prince of Peace can beat up your Prince of Peace." Tribalism sucks.
F) "Enough is as good as a feast, and often better." Figurative meaning: a modest sufficiency is all that is needed for a happy life. Literal meaning: one hamburger (or half a hamburger) lies more easily on the stomach than two or three. And hold the fries.
G) "The secret of life is to turn routines into rituals." Self-explanatory, I think. Make a fuss about that glass of wine at four o'clock. Savor it.
H) "The longer something has been believed by mankind, the less likely it is to be true." See C above.
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