Top 179 Quotes & Sayings by Robert Fulghum

All I really need to know... I learned in kindergarten.

Clean up your own mess.

Most of the time, a kid doesn't think about what he's doing or why. This is the privilege of childhood.

It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need, and our air force has to have a bake-sale to buy a bomber.

The examined life is no picnic.

'Who do you think you are?' That's the big one, isn't it? A flourishing life depends on how you answer that.

Patterns of repetition govern each day, week, year, and lifetime. 'Personal habits' is one term we use to describe the most common of these repeated patterns. But I say these habits are sacred because they give deliberate structure to our lives. Structure gives us a sense of security. And that sense of security is the ground of meaning.

I've always thought anyone can make money. Making a life worth living, that's the real test.

My goal now is to dance all the dances as long as I can, and then to sit down contented after the last elegant tango some sweet night and pass on because there wasn't another dance left in me.

On a very local scale, a refrigerator is the center of the universe. On the inside is food essential to life, and on the outside of the door is a summary of the life events of the household.

Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.

Leftovers in their less visible form are called memories. Stored in the refrigerator of the mind and the cupboard of the heart.

Do you notice that all presidents have a dog? There is always a First Dog. Or two or three. You have to have a dog to be president, I guess.

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.

I believe it is in my nature to dance by virtue of the beat of my heart, the pulse of my blood and the music in my mind.

Any fool can make enough money to survive. It's another thing to keep yourself consistently entertained. It's a lot of work, and a lot of fun, to make a life.

Sticks and stones will break our bones, but words will break our hearts.

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.

No. I was an only child.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Share everything. Don't take things that aren't yours. Put things back where you found them.

You are free to give life meaning, whatever meaning you want to give it.

I've always made a clear distinction between making a life and making a living.

The winding down of summer puts me in a heavy philosophical mood.

My secret agenda is to convey my values to my kids.

The solution to alone-ness is not more solitude, but companionship and community.

Solitude is not the same as loneliness. Solitude is a solitary boat floating in a sea of possible companions.

If you want an interesting party sometime, combine cocktails and a fresh box of crayons for everyone.

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.

I wanted to be a citizen of the world but not in a superficial way.

I think my writing is part of my ministry.

Weddings seem to be magnets for mishap and for whatever craziness lurks in family closets. In more ways than one, weddings bring out the ding-dong in everybody involved.

Everything we do in our growing up has been done before. But it needs recognition and validation each time for each one of us - public, private, and secret.

Play fair. Don't hit people. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

You feel like an ant contemplating Chicago.

Children are sent to school to be civilized, to learn to be part of the social enterprise.

To be human is to keep rattling the bars of the cage of existence, hollering, 'What's it for?'

I talk about very serious human affairs but with a lightness of heart.

Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

I don't think there is a hidden purpose to the universe that you have to puzzle out.

I believe in dancing.

'Maybe.' There's our word. The wisest answer to ultimate questions.

I fear the boredom that comes with not learning and not taking chances.

Peace is not something you wish for, ? it is something you make, something you are, something you do,?and something you give away.

We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box.

Life is. I am. Anything might happen. And I believe I may invest my life with meaning. The uncertainty is a blessing in disguise. If I were absolutely certain about all things, I would spend my life in anxious misery, fearful of losing my way. But since everything and anything are always possible, the miraculous is always nearby and wonders shall never, ever cease.

It doesn’t matter what you say you believe - it only matters what you do.

If someone were to ask me whether I believed in God, or saw God, or had a particular relationship with God, I would reply that I don't separate God from my world in my thinking. I feel that God is everywhere. That's why I never feel separated from God or feel I must seek God, any more than a fish in the ocean feels it must seek water. In a sense, God is the "ocean" in which we live.

Making a living and having a life are not the same thing. Making a living and making a life that's worthwhile are not the same thing. Living the good life and living a good life are not the same thing. A job title doesn't even come close to answering the question. "What do you do?".

All I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten. Share everything ... Don't hit people ... Clean up your own mess.

The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. No, not at all. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.

These are the things I learned: share everything, play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw some and paint and sing and dance and play and work some every day. Take a nap every afternoon, and, when you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

Even if your watch is full of diamonds the hour is still 60 minutes

Ignorance and power and pride are a deadly mixture, you know.

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.

Every person passing through this life will unknowingly leave something and take something away. Most of this “something” cannot be seen or heard or numbered or scientifically detected or counted. It’s what we leave in the minds of other people and what they leave in ours. Memory. The census doesn’t count it. Nothing counts without it.

Anything not worth doing is worth not doing well.

Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess. And it is still true, no matter how old you are - when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness — and call it love — true love.

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.