Common sense, in an uncommon degree, is what the world calls wisdom.
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE
Daniel Starch, a business research consultant, has come up with a list of America’s favorite sayings. You could call it our top ten principles for living:
10. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
9. Actions speak louder than words.
8. Knowledge is power.
7. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
6. The only way to have a friend is to be one.
5. The great essentials of happiness are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
4. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
3. Anything that’s worth doing at all is worth doing well.
2. Know yourself.
And the number-one favorite saying of Americans is the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
The principles for successful living are like the physical laws governing nature — they never change. The only thing that changes is our understanding of them.