Some lessons for all to live by

The following thought provokers have been my guiding lights as far back as the Great Depression of the 1930s. Some of them were mounted on the wall of my North Jackson Street home on the East Side. I remember checking them out regularly.

1. Action speaks louder than words.

2. Don’t let your emotion overrule your good judgment.

3. Emulate the postage stamp — it always sticks to one thing — until it gets to where it’s going.

4. Bulldog persistence pays off.

5. Lead by setting a good example.

6. Procrastination is the thief of time.

7. The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.

8. Life is like a bowl of cherries — sometimes sweet and sometimes sour.

9. Your best friend can become your worst enemy — and your worst enemy your best friend.

10. Never get yourself behind the eight ball — and you won’t get blasted into the pocket.

11. Too soon we grow old = too late smart.

12. Life is too short, and death is too long.

13. Grandpa is going to leave us a legacy of wisdom — not money. (By grandson Michael Krieger)

Finally, I must include my “life-changing” inspirational message, which I have been following for the past half-century.

It is attributed to President Theodore Roosevelt, quote “far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered with failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits, who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

Michael J. Lacivita is a Youngstown retiree, World War II veteran and member of the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame and Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.