Farmers' Words of Wisdom

In our lives growing up in St. Louis Park, we were living and learning about life in a first-tier suburb of a great metropolitan area.  We gained many perspectives on life by simultaneously experiencing both the rural and the urban.  That made us who we are.  We were generally "suburban".  Life in "The Burbs" was what we lived during the school week.  But maybe on weekends we were "at the lake," or "at the cabin."  Or maybe even "on the farm," where the farm was owned by an uncle and aunt, or grandparents. 

So, did the experiences of our grandparents and other relatives who lived in far more rural areas of Minnesota teach other lessons than we learned in St. Louis Park?  What were the lessons on life that we learned on the farm?  Many of us had the good fortune of traveling to visit relatives on the farm and seeing what life was like for them. Here's one set of answers:

 Life from the seat of an old tractor.

An old farmer's 29 words of wisdom we could all live by.

  1. Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
  2. Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.
  3. Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
  4. A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
  5. Words that soak into your ears are whispered....not yelled.
  6. Meanness don't just happen overnight.
  7. Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.
  8. Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
  9. It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
  10. You cannot unsay a cruel word.
  11. Every path has a few puddles. 
  12. When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty. 
  13. The best sermons are lived, not preached.
  14. Most of the stuff people worry about, ain't never gonna happen anyway. 
  15. Don't judge folks by their relatives. 
  16. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
  17. Live a good and honorable life, then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
  18. Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.
  19. Timin' has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance. 
  20. If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
  21. Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got. 
  22. The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.
  23. Always drink upstream from the herd.
  24. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
  25. Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.
  26. If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
  27. Live simply, love generously, care deeply, 
  28. Speak kindly, and leave the rest to God.
  29. Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.

 



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