Introduction
A commonplace book is a collection of wisdom - things learned through experience. This collection is primarily for my own benefit, and is probably less wise than I realise.
Testing
This section is for tentative wisdom.
- To clean out a junk drawer, remove the contents and put it in a box. Only when you’ve used one of the items in the box twice is it allowed to live in the drawer again. After a month, pitch or donate the remaining contents—or move the precious or useful stuff to deeper storage. But, yeah, you should probably just pitch it. (Merlin)
- Chesterton’s Fence (Merlin)
Internal
- Photos of people make better memories than photos of places.
- If you’re feeling gloomy inexplicably, drink a large glass of water. Sometimes, it’s just dehydration.
External
- Keep moving and get out of the way. (Thanks, John)
- Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by ignorance. Ignorance is more likely to be unwitting error than stupidity. But sometimes people are dicks. Don’t be a dick.
- Compliment children on something they can see too. “I like your unicorn boots.”
- Related: Works for adults too.
- When somebody says something that makes you angry, don’t respond immediately, but do respond. Unless it’s on the internet.
- Always be kind:
Here’s the thing about being Kind, versus being Nice,” I said. “I have interacted with lots of nice people who are incredibly unkind. Why is that? How do you choose to be nice but not kind?”
I pointed to my head. “This is where nice comes from,” I said. Then, I put my hand over my heart. “This is where kind comes from.”
(Thanks, Wil Wheaton, 2021)
Responsibilities and boundaries
- Poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on mine. (Thanks, Titus)
- Not my circus, not my monkeys (i.e. It’s none of my business)
- Unless: It’s not my fault but it is my problem.
Things
- Two is one and one is none. (Thanks, CGP Grey)
Miscellaneous
- Sometimes rules and deadlines are negotiable. To find out which ones, ask.