Neverisms

or endeavoring something for the common good.THOMAS A KEMPIS, from The Imitation of Christ (c. 1418)

Never depend on anyone except yourself.JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, in his Fables (1668)

Never let an enemy get set. . . .

Never let him move from a secure position

or give him time to move his pieces on the chessboard.LOUIS L’AMOUR, in The Warrior’s Path (1980)

Never tell evil of a man if you do not know it for a certainty.JOHANN KASPAR LAVATER

Lavater, an eighteenth-century Swiss theologian, added, “And if you know it for a certainty, then ask yourself, “Why should I tell it?”

Never open the door to those who

open them even without your permission.STANISLAW JERZY LEC, in Unkempt Thoughts (1962)

This is an important reminder that we should never give extra assistance to those who clearly don’t have our best interests in mind. It’s similar to a proverbial saying about refusing to provide assistance to wrong-doers: “Never hold a candle for the devil.”

Never perform for your family.

They either laugh too hard or not at all.JAY LENO, in Jay Leno’s How to Be the Funniest Kid in

the Whole Wide World (or Just in Your Class) (2007)

Leno added: “Comedy is the only profession where love from a stranger is better than love from a family member. You need to perform for strangers to see if you’re really funny. If they laugh and cheer, it’s the greatest thing in the world.”

Never undertake anything unless you have

the heart to ask Heaven’s blessing on your undertaking.G. C. LICHTENBERG

Never let your correspondence fall behind.ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Lincoln jotted down this thought while preparing for a law lecture in 1850. He began by writing, “The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.”

Never treat time as if you had an unlimited supply.OG MANDINO, in A Better Way to Live (1990)

This appeared in a New York Times bestseller that was subtitled: Og Mandino’s Own Personal Story of Success. Mandino laid out seventeen rules that he used to transform his life from a derelict alcoholic on the brink of suicide into one of history’s most famous inspirational speakers. Here is more advice from the book:

Never be too big to ask questions,

never know too much to learn something new.

Never skimp on that extra effort, that additional few minutes,

that soft word of praise or thanks,

that delivery of the very best that you can do.

Never allow the pains, hurdles, and handicaps of the moment

to poison your attitude and plans for yourself and your future.

You can never win when you wear the ugly cloak of self-pity.

Never again clutter your days or nights

with so many menial and unimportant things that you have no time

to accept a real challenge when it comes along.

Never sound excited.EDWARD R. MURROW

Murrow said this to a young broadcast journalist during WWII. He added that it was also essential to keep news reports simple, but not too simple:Imagine yourself at a dinner table back in the United States with a local editor, a banker, and a professor talking over coffee. You try to tell what it was like, while the maid’s boyfriend, a truck driver, listens from the kitchen. Try to be understood by the truck driver while not insulting the professor’s intelligence.

Never befriend the oppressed

unless you are prepared to take on the oppressor.OGDEN NASH, a “cardinal rule”

in Everyone But Thee and Me (1962)

Never advance anything which cannot be proved

in a simple and decisive fashion.LOUIS PASTEUR

Never talk defeat.

Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory.NORMAN VINCENT PEALE

Never let anyone keep you contained

and never let anyone keep your voice silent.ADAM CLAYTON POWELL, JR., quoting his father, in Adam by Adam: The Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (1971)

Never give advice in a crowd.ARAB PROVERB

Never write a letter when you are angry.CHINESE PROVERB

This advice has been offered for centuries, but in recent years it has been given a neat twist. Go ahead and write a letter when you’re angry, it is now said, but never mail it. The act of composing a letter can clarify important thoughts and feelings. And once they are expressed— even in a letter that is never sent—they tend to dissipate.

Never give advice unless asked.GERMAN PROVERB

Never ask of him who has, but of him who wishes you well.SPANISH PROVERB

Never pass up a garage sale. But pass up most of what’s there.JANE BRYANT QUINN

This appeared in Quinn’s 1997 revision of her personal finance classic Making the Most of Your Money. She added: “It’s hard to believe what people buy at garage sales and then chuck into their own garages.” She also wrote: “Never deposit cash in an ATM. It’s impossible to prove how much you put into the envelope.”