New Year Resolutions - Brandreth's Dozen
Over many years (more than sixty in fact!) I have been collecting words of wisdom – things people have said or written that struck me as worth remembering. One day I must sort them out and put them into a book of some sort. Meanwhile, here are few that feel appropriate for a New Year’s Eve blog: a dozen sage sayings to take us in to 2020.
THE REAL MONTY
When I was just twenty I wrote to Field Marshal Montgomery (1887-1976), one of our great wartime generals, and I asked him what qualities he believed to be essential for success in life. His reply was characteristically concise and to the point:
Moral courage – always do what you believe to be right.
Complete integrity – no lies, no deceptions, honesty and transparency.
Ceaseless hard work.
KEEP AT IT
‘Ceaseless hard work’ – it’s the only way. As The Book of Proverbs in the Bible reminds us:
‘A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest - and poverty will come on you like a vagabond and want like an armed man.’
LIVE LIFE TO THE FULL
‘Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.’ William Saroyan (1908-1981)
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
Irwin Shaw (1913-1984, American playwright and screenwriter) once advised all writers, ‘in order to withstand criticism from without and compromise from within, to be vain about their work.’
BE BRAVE
‘Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.’ Anais Nin (1903-1977, French-Cuban American writer and diarist)
‘Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.’ Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
GET STUCK IN
Brenda Boyd (@Bentonbag), one of my Twitter followers (I’m @GylesB1), tweeted this morning: ‘I'd be as happy if people stopped saying "Somebody should" and started saying "Shall I?"’. Great sentiment. At the general election I so admired all the people (from all parties and none) who boldly stood for election. Sitting on the sidelines shouting the odds is all very well, but the people who make the difference are the ones who get stuck in. Here is Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919; US President 1901-09) putting the point his way:
‘It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again: because there is not effort without error and shortcomings: but who does actually strive to do the deed: who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.’
DON’T RESIST CHANGE
‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.’ Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
The Boy Scouts and Girl Guides movement was founded by Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941). On 4 July 1911, in a letter to a friend, he wrote: ‘I know my weak points and am only thankful that I have managed to get along in spite of them! I think that’s the policy for this world: Be glad of what you have got, and not miserable about what you would like to have had, and not over-anxious about what the future will bring.’
‘A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.’ Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)
SATCHEL FULL
Satchel Paige (1906-1982) was born in Mobile, Alabama, and went on to become one of the giants of American baseball. He was also a fount of wisdom:
Paige’s Six Rules of Life (guaranteed to bring anyone to a happy old age) (1) Avoid fried foods that angry up the blood. (2) If your stomach antagonises you, pacify it with cool thoughts. (3) Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move (4) Go very lightly on the vices, such as carrying on in society, as the social ramble ain’t restful. (5) Avoid running at all times. (6) Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you.
POSTSCRIPT
One of my New Year Resolutions is to try to relax about emails. I get so many and I feel so bad not replying to them – either promptly or at all. I do try, but perhaps I shouldn’t. I have things to do – books to write, a tv series to film, shows to plan, a tour to deliver . . . I’m reminded of something Oscar Wilde (1856-1900) said when he was editor of the Woman’s World: ‘I have known men come to London full of bright prospects and seen them complete wrecks in a few months through a habit of answering letters.’ If I don’t get back to you, I hope you’ll understand. Happy New Year!