When a lesson can be summed up in a few well-chosen words, the message often stays with the student.
A little tool to jog the memory, a clever saying to remind you what is truly important – that’s why “Mackay’s Moral” appears at the end of each of my columns.
All of my books also have aphorisms to sum up chapters, as I find it a great way to teach.
I file away helpful sayings and use them to drive home the point when the occasion presents itself.
I know this method is effective, because my readers often cite these witticisms in their letters and emails to me.
I love that they remember these little nuggets and find them so useful.

For today’s column I am pleased to offer up some of my favorite aphorisms not used in my columns or books.  They are self-explanatory and can stand on their own without a longer explanation.  If you prefer, think of it as quick columns all in one.  

         

• Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

• Goals are like stars; they may not be reached, but they can always be a guide.

• A mistake proves that someone at least tried.

• If we are facing the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.

• What you build easily will fall quickly.

• When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.

• A word and a stone once thrown away cannot be returned.

• It isn’t hard to make a mountain out of a molehill; just add a little dirt.

• Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.

• Friendship is like a bank account.  You can’t continue to draw on it without making deposits.

• A positive attitude is a magnet for positive results.

• The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you’ve lost it.

• Remember:  It’s not what you have; it’s what you do with what you have that makes all the difference.

• Life is a continuous process of getting used to things we hadn’t expected.

• There’s only one endeavor in which you can start at the top, and that’s digging a hole.

• You have to take it as it happens, but you should try to make it happen the way you want to take it.

• Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

• The trouble with self-made people is that they worship their creator.

• If you always give, you will always have.

• You can’t get ahead when you’re trying to get even.

• The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.

• No matter how much dirt you throw at someone else, you’ll always be dirtier.

• Judge other people’s faults by their effect on the work, not by their effect on you.

• The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

• Too many people stop to think and forget to start again.

• If you’re not sure where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.

• Ten out of nine people don’t realize they’re weak in math.

• Try not to become a person of success, but rather a person of value.

• The grass isn’t greener over there.  It’s greener where you water it.

• Hire for character; train for skill.

• You know you need a change when all you exercise is caution.

• The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn’t make anything.

• Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themself.

• Nursing a grudge is bad for your health.

• Life is a bumpy road, and laughter is your best shock absorber.

• Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.

• We could learn a lot from crayons:  Some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names and all are different colors … but they all exist very nicely in the same box.

 

Mackay’s Moral:  In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make.