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Robert Fulghum

Robert Fulghum Quotes

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Famous Robert Fulghum Quotes

“Do you ever go off with a long grocery list and come home from the store with a bunch of different stuff? And somebody in the family unsacks the groceries and wants to know why you got this and didn't get that and just where is the whatever? And you want to say, 'Well, just be glad I came back, okay?' And the unpacker says, 'Well, next time bring what's on the list.'”

KnowsWantWellsLongDifferentHomeNextStuffOkayStoresListsGladBunchComing HomeNext TimeGroceriesGrocery Lists
Book:It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It
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“It’s harder to talk about, but what I really, really, really want for Christmas is just this: I want to be 5 years old again for an hour. I want to laugh a lot and cry a lot. I want to be picked or rocked to sleep in someone’s arms, and carried up to be just one more time. I know what I really want for Christmas: I want my childhood back. People who think good thoughts give good gifts.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsWantGivingYearsHoursSleepLaughingChildhoodCryArmsHarderJust OneMore TimeGood Thoughts
Author:Robert Fulghum
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“Then he read the words of the scroll slowly, first in Japanese and then carefully translated into English: 'There is really nothing you must be. And there is nothing you must do. There is really nothing you must have. And there is nothing you must know. There is really nothing you must become. However. It helps to understand that fire burns, and when it rains, the earth gets wet. . . .' 'Whatever, there are consequences. Nobody is exempt,' said the master.”

KnowsFirstsSaidHelpingEarthFireMastersConsequenceRainWet
Book:It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It
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“I know what I really want for Christmas. I want my childhood back. Nobody is going to give me that. I might give at least the memory of it to myself if I try. I know it doesn't make sense, but since when is Christmas about sense, anyway? It is about a child, of long ago and far away, and it is about the child of now. In you and me. Waiting behind the door of or hearts for something wonderful to happen. A child who is impractical, unrealistic, simpleminded and terribly vulnerable to joy.”

IfsKnowsWantGivingTryingHeartChildrenLongMightHappensJoyWaitingMemoriesBehindsWonderfulDoorsChildhoodGive MeChristmasVulnerableMake SenseFar AwayLong Ago
Author:Robert Fulghum
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“I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have - I can reflect light into the dark places of this world - into the black places in the hearts of men - and change somethings in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.”

PeopleKnowsMenWorldHeartMayI CanWholeLightBlackDarkDesignThis WorldShapesMirrorsNeverthelessFragmentsDark Places
Book:Robert Fulghum's All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
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“One of life's best coping mechanisms is to know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you’ve got a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. A lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat and a lump in the breast are not the same kind of lump. One needs to learn the difference.”

IfsKnowsNeedsKindProblemLife IsHouseChallengesDifferencesBreakFireNecksBreastsThroatMechanismCopingLumpsInconvenienceInconvenientCoping MechanismsOatmealLump In The Throat
Author:Robert Fulghum
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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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“The older I get, the more I realize the importance of exercising the various dimensions of my body, soul, mind, and heart. Taken together, these aspects give me a sense of wholeness. I want to be a whole human being rather than one who limps on one leg because I don't know how to use all of my parts. Intellectual, emotional, and physical activity are not separate entities. Rather, they are dimensions of the same human being.”

KnowsWantGivingMindHumansHeartSoulSelfWholeUseBodyTogetherRealizingHuman BeingsKnow HowTakenEmotionalExerciseActivityIntellectualAspectImportanceGive MeVariousLegsDimensionsEntityWholenessHeart And MindPhysical Activity
Author:Robert Fulghum
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“Sometimes during the day, I consciously focus on some ordinary object and allow myself a momentary "paying-attention." This paying-attention gives meaning to my life. I don't know who it was, but someone said that careful attention paid to anything is a window into the universe. Pausing to think this way, even for a brief moment, is very important. It gives quality to my day.”

ThinkingKnowsWayGivingSaidImportantSometimesMomentsUniverseAttentionQualityFocusAwarenessObjectsPerspectiveOrdinaryWindowPaidCarefulPay AttentionMomentaryBrief MomentsPausing
Author:Robert Fulghum
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