• Do not trust the advice of an obese nurse.
• Never hire a lawyer who has a neon sign.
• You know you're getting old when the barber asks you if you want your eyebrows done.
• People are unequal in many ways, including the effect they have on others around them. In some cases, some people amplify your ambitions and inspire you to surpass yourself. Find these people and keep them close to you. Others belittle your dreams and shrink your soul and ruin your appetite for living. Recognize who they are and avoid them.
The best thought about the distinction of the two that I know of is from Vonnegut's 'Jailbird' (1979), which contains his own response to recognizing this difference in effect that people have:
"So I have always been enchanted by brave veterans like Powers Hapgood, and some others, who were still eager for information of what was really going on, who were still full of ideas of how victory might yet be snatched from the jaws of defeat. "If I am going to go on living," I have thought, "I had better follow them."• Anytime something is improved, it's made worse.
• I heard someone described a sweet person, but someone who never seemed to get anything done. It seems in the modern world, where nothing can be done in one day, it's quite easy to let things slide without there being any day-to-day impact. But over time, if things don't get done, that's a problem. And this was a person who was well-liked, but still was fired from an important job. Lesson to keep in mind there. Do what you say you'll do, but also do what you're supposed to do.
• Do not combine sweet and non-sweet foods for breakfast. Blueberry waffle + eggs + sausage = not a good idea.
