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20 rules for a good life @rabbisacks of blessed memory shared with the world.
1. Never try to be clever, always try to be wise.
2. Respect others, even if they disrespect you.
1. Never try to be clever, always try to be wise.
2. Respect others, even if they disrespect you.
3. Never seek publicity for what you do. If you deserve it, you will receive it. If you don’t, you will be attacked. In any
case, goodness never needs to draw attention to itself.
4. When you do good to others, it is yourself, your conscience and your self-respect, that will be..
case, goodness never needs to draw attention to itself.
4. When you do good to others, it is yourself, your conscience and your self-respect, that will be..
.. the beneficiary. The greatest gift of giving is the opportunity to give.
5. In life, never take shortcuts. There is no success without
effort, no achievement without hard work.
5. In life, never take shortcuts. There is no success without
effort, no achievement without hard work.
6. Keep your distance from those who seek honour. Be
respectful, but none of us is called on to be a looking glass
for those in love with themselves.
7. In everything you do, be mindful that G-d sees all we do.
There's no cheating G-d. When we try to deceive others,
usually the..
respectful, but none of us is called on to be a looking glass
for those in love with themselves.
7. In everything you do, be mindful that G-d sees all we do.
There's no cheating G-d. When we try to deceive others,
usually the..
only person we succeed in deceiving is ourself.
8. Be very slow indeed to judge others. If they are wrong, G-d will judge them. If we are wrong, G-d will judge us.
9. Greater by far than the love we receive is the love we give.
8. Be very slow indeed to judge others. If they are wrong, G-d will judge them. If we are wrong, G-d will judge us.
9. Greater by far than the love we receive is the love we give.
10. It was once said of a great religious leader, that he was a
man who took G-d so seriously that he never felt the need
to take himself seriously at all. That is worth aspiring to.
11. Use your time well. Life is short, too short to waste on
television, computer games and..
man who took G-d so seriously that he never felt the need
to take himself seriously at all. That is worth aspiring to.
11. Use your time well. Life is short, too short to waste on
television, computer games and..
unnecessary emails; too short to waste on idle gossip, or envying others for what they have, too short for anger and indignation; too short to waste on criticising others. “Teach us to number our days”, says the Psalm, “that we may get a heart of wisdom.” But any day on which..
you have done some good to someone has not been wasted.
12. You will find much in life to distress you. People can be
careless, cruel, thoughtless, offensive, arrogant, harsh,
destructive, insensitive, and rude. That is their problem,
not yours. Your problem is how to respond..
12. You will find much in life to distress you. People can be
careless, cruel, thoughtless, offensive, arrogant, harsh,
destructive, insensitive, and rude. That is their problem,
not yours. Your problem is how to respond..
“No one”, a wise lady once said, “can make you feel inferior without your permission”. The same applies to other negative emotions. Don’t react. Don’t respond. Don’t feel angry, or if you do, pause for as long as it takes for the anger to dissipate, and then carry on with the..
rest of life. Don’t hand others a victory over your own emotional state. Forgive, or if you can’t forgive, ignore.
13. If you tried and failed, don’t feel bad. G-d forgives our
failures as soon as we acknowledge them as failures – and
that spares us from the self-deception of
13. If you tried and failed, don’t feel bad. G-d forgives our
failures as soon as we acknowledge them as failures – and
that spares us from the self-deception of
trying to see them as success. No one worth admiring ever succeeded without many failures on the way. The great poets wrote bad poems; the great artists painted undistinguished canvases; not every symphony by Mozart is a masterpiece. If you lack the courage to fail, then you..
lack the courage to succeed.
14. Always seek out the friendship of those who are strong
where you are weak. None of us has all the virtues. Even a
Moses needed an Aaron. The work of a team, a
partnership, a collaboration with others who have different
gifts or different ways of..
14. Always seek out the friendship of those who are strong
where you are weak. None of us has all the virtues. Even a
Moses needed an Aaron. The work of a team, a
partnership, a collaboration with others who have different
gifts or different ways of..
looking at things, is always greater than any one individual can achieve alone.
15. Create moments of silence in your soul if you want to hear the voice of G-d.
15. Create moments of silence in your soul if you want to hear the voice of G-d.
16. If something is wrong, don’t blame others. Ask, how can I help to put it right?
Remember that you create the atmosphere that
surrounds you. If you want others to smile, you must smile.
If you want others to give, you must give.If you want others
to respect you, you must show your respect for them. How
the world treats us is a mirror of how we treat the world
surrounds you. If you want others to smile, you must smile.
If you want others to give, you must give.If you want others
to respect you, you must show your respect for them. How
the world treats us is a mirror of how we treat the world
18. Be patient. Sometimes the world is slower than you are.
Wait for it to catch up with you, for if you are on the right
path, eventually it will…
Wait for it to catch up with you, for if you are on the right
path, eventually it will…
19. Never worry when people say that you are being too
idealistic. It is only idealistic people who change the world,
and do you really want, in the course of your life, to leave
the world unchanged?
idealistic. It is only idealistic people who change the world,
and do you really want, in the course of your life, to leave
the world unchanged?
20. Be straight, be honest, and always do what you say you are going to do. There really is no other way to live.
