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Uh-Oh: Some Observations from Both Sides of the Refrigerator Door

Book by Robert Fulghum · 18 quotes · Ifs, Enough, Knows

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Uh-Oh: Some Observations from Both Sides of the Refrigerator Door Quotes

“If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.”

IfsLifeProblemHouseGoalBreakFireTroublePositiveFutureDifficultyAdversityUpliftingPositive AttitudeHard TimesNecksEncouragingTough TimesOvercoming AdversityInconvenienceLife Is HardOvercoming ChallengesWords Of EncouragementTimes Of AdversityCoping MechanismsInspirational AdversityLump In The ThroatTough ProblemsTroubles In Life
Book:Uh-Oh: Some Observations from Both Sides of the Refrigerator Door
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“But it does no good--solves nothing--to distance myself from the front lines of human need by using the mail as a safe shelter. I believe that serving the best ends of humanity means getting out in the middle of it just as it is, not staying home writing checks and thinking hopeful thoughts. The world does not need tourists who ride by in a bus clucking their tongues. The world as it is needs those who will love it enough to change it, with what they have, where they are. And you're damned right that's idealistic. No apology. When idealism goes into the trash as junk mail, we're finished.”

ThinkingWorldNeedsWritingBelieveHumansMeanDoeEndsEnoughHomeHumanityI BelieveLinesMiddleFrontsSafeDistanceSolveTongueFinishedChecksHopefulStayingServingBusMailApologyShelterIdealismTrashJunkTouristsHuman NeedsIdealisticDistance MyselfJunk Mail
Book:Uh-Oh: Some Observations from Both Sides of the Refrigerator Door
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“To look this way is to see. To see is to have vision. To have vision is to understand. To understand is to know. To know is to become. To become is to live fully. To live fully is to matter. And to matter is to become light. And to become light is to be loved. And to be loved is to burn. And to burn is to exist. Off and on.”

KnowsWayLoveLooksMatterLightUnderstandingVision
Book:Uh-Oh: Some Observations from Both Sides of the Refrigerator Door
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“If you notice phrases, ideas, and anecdotes that closely resemble those that appear elsewhere in my writing, it's not a matter of sloppy editing. I'm repeating myself. I'm reshuffling words in the hope that just once I might say something exactly right. And I'm still wrestling with dilemmas that are not easily resolved or easily dismissed. I run at them again and again because I am not finished with them. Any may never be. Work-in- progress on a life-in-progress is what my writing is about. And some progress in the work is enough to keep it going on.”

IfsLifeWritingMayStillsIdeasMatterEnoughMightRunningHopeProgressFinishedPhrasesWrestlingElsewhereAgain And AgainEditingDilemmaAnecdotesSloppyWork In Progress
Book:Uh-Oh: Some Observations from Both Sides of the Refrigerator Door
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“Arguing whether or not a God exists is like fleas arguing whether or not the dog exists. Arguing over the correct name for God is like fleas arguing over the name of the dog. And arguing over whose notion of God is correct is like fleas arguing over who owns the dog.”

NamesDogNotionArguingGod ExistsFleasWhether God Exists
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“My own movement of thought is not meant to be a straight point-to-point, linear line of march, but horizontal exploration from one area of interest to another. There is no ultimate destination - no finish line to cross, no final conclusion to be reached. It's the way I feel about dancing - you move around a lot, not to get somewhere, but to be somewhere in time.”

WayFeelsMovingInterestLinesMy OwnMovementAreasCrossesUltimateDancingFinalsConclusionMarchDestinationExplorationMeant To BeLinearFinish LineHorizontalSomewhere In Time
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“There is a tree. At the downhill edge of a long, narrow field in the western foothills of the La Sal Mountains -- southeastern Utah. A particular tree. A juniper. Large for its species -- maybe twenty feet tall and two feet in diameter. For perhaps three hundred years this tree has stood its ground. Flourishing in good seasons, and holding on in bad times. "Beautiful" is not a word that comes to mind when one first sees it. No naturalist would photograph it as exemplary of its kind. Twisted by wind, split and charred by lightning, scarred by brushfires, chewed on by insects, and pecked by birds. Human beings have stripped long strings of bark from its trunk, stapled barbed wire to it in using it as a corner post for a fence line, and nailed signs on it on three sides: NO HUNTING; NO TRESPASSING; PLEASE CLOSE THE GATE. In commandeering this tree as a corner stake for claims of rights and property, miners and ranchers have hacked signs and symbols in its bark, and left Day-Glo orange survey tape tied to its branches. Now it serves as one side of a gate between an alfalfa field and open range. No matter what, in drought, flood heat and cold, it has continued. There is rot and death in it near the ground. But at the greening tips of its upper branches and in its berrylike seed cones, there is yet the outreach of life. I respect this old juniper tree. For its age, yes. And for its steadfastness in taking whatever is thrown at it. That it has been useful in a practical way beyond itself counts for much, as well. Most of all, I admire its capacity for self-healing beyond all accidents and assaults. There is a will in it -- toward continuing to be, come what may.”

StrengthPerseverance
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