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March 1964

I had a wonderful father. I was his only child. In 1907 my father sent for me and said, “I’m going to die and I’ve nothing to leave you. You’ve got to get out into the world and make your own living. How are you going to do it? You’re nothing much to look at, never will be. You’ve no name. You haven’t any money. But I am going to leave you a legacy. It’s three simple rules. If you follow them, the world will be your oyster.

“First, never be afraid of ‘they.’ People are more afraid of ‘they’ than anything else in the world. Strong generals with great armies will face courageously the most outrageous foes yet be terrified of what ‘they’ might say, ‘they’ might do, ‘they’ mightn’t like.

“The second rule,” he said, “is even more important. Never collect inanimate objects. You can’t do it, for they collect you.” So, I thought, the more you own the more you are possessed; therefore I own nothing except absolute essentials. I’ve been as free as air, and it’s wonderful.

And the third one, which suited me rather well, was, “Always laugh at yourself first. Everybody has a ridiculous side and the whole world loves to laugh at somebody else. You do the laughing at yourself first and their laughter falls off as harmlessly as if you were in golden armor.”

ANONYMOUS