THIMAS JEFFERSON'S 10 RULES OF LIFE

 

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Thomas Jefferson, the third American president, was a great one for giving advice, often to advise family and friends on all-around "best practices."

Jeferson’s axioms were both of his own invention and from classical or literary sources.

Here is a "decalogue of canons for observation in practical life" that the former president imparted in 1825. The list was more popularly known as:

Thomas Jefferson's 10 Rules Of Life

These are Thomas Jefferson’s ten rules for a good life:

1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.

3. Never spend your money before you have it.

4. Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap: it will never be dear to you.

5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.

6. Never repent of having eaten too little.

7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.

8. Don’t let the evils that have never happened cost you pain.

9. Always take things by their smooth handle.

10. When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry, count to 100.

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Throughout the 19th century, "Jefferson's 10 Rules" were printed and reprinted in newspapers and magazines. All across the country, the rules were recited and debated and taken to heart.

Inspired by Jefferson's commandments, a twisted list of rules appeared in the Chicago Daily Tribune on Nov. 11, 1878. Numbered and rearranged for clarity, here are

Ten Rules for Young Men

1. Never pay to-day the man you can put off until tomorrow.

2. Never trouble yourself to do for another man what he can do just as well for himself.

3. Never spend your own money when you can get things for nothing.

4. Never buy what you don't want, simply because the man says he is just out of it.

5. Remember that it costs more to go to a high-priced theatre than it does to take a back pew in a free church.

6. Do not despise a 20 cent cigar or a $1 dinner because another man pays for it.

7. Nothing is troublesome to you that other people do for you willingly.

8. Do not poultice your own elbow for the boil on another man's neck.

9. Always pick up a hot poker by the cold end.

10.When angry, be sure you can handle your man before you call him a liar.