Neverisms

Never begin the day until it is finished on paper.JIM ROHN, on the importance of formally planning

out one’s day in writing before it actually begins

Never be bothered by what people say,

as long as you know in your heart you are right.ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

This was Mrs. Roosevelt’s reply when she was asked by Dale Carnegie how she dealt with unjust criticism. She was quoting her Aunt Bye (Theodore Roosevelt’s sister).

Never do it for the money. I mean it.ROGER ROSENBLATT

This appeared in Rules for Aging (2000), a delightful little book containing fifty-six rules for living, along with Rosenblatt’s wry and witty explanations. Here are a few more:

Never miss an opportunity to do nothing.

Never bring news of slander to a friend.

(Yes, he cites Twain as the original author of the sentiment)

Never work for anyone more insecure than yourself.

If you want to keep a man honest, never call him a liar.

Never go to a cocktail party, and, in any case,

do not stay more than 20 minutes.

Never think on vacation.

Something odd happens to the mind when it is on holiday.

Never assume the obvious is true.WILLIAM SAFIRE

Never pay attention to what critics say.

Remember, a statue has never been set up in honor of a critic.JEAN SIBELIUS

Never give way to melancholy;

resist it steadily, for the habit will encroach.SYDNEY SMITH

Never let a drunk catch your eye.JOHN STEINBECK

Steinbeck was quoted as saying this in J. Bryan III’s 1985 book Merry Gentleman (and One Lady). It’s now often called “Steinbeck’s code for social survival.”

Never be afraid to try something new.

Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.ABIGAIL VAN BUREN (“Dear Abby”)

This appeared in a 2001 Dear Abby column. The second portion was not original to Van Buren; she was simply passing along a saying that had recently become popular.

I don’t really understand the purpose of flat shoes—

my top tip for any girl would have to be:

Never be seen out of the house in anything other than heels.DONATELLA VERSACE

Never say “I.” Always say “we.”DIANA VREELAND, from her 1980 book Allure

Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise.

View life as a continuous learning experience.DENIS WAITLEY

Waitley, like so many popular motivational speakers, is fond of expressing advice in neveristic ways. Here are a few more from him:

Never assume you have all the answers.

Never take a seat in the back of the room. Winners sit up front.

Above all, never forget the real secret of mental toughness

is contingency planning.

Never argue at the dinner table,

for the one who is not hungry always gets the best of the argument.RICHARD WHATELY

Whately was a nineteenth-century English economist and theologian who served for a time as the Anglican Archbishop of Dublin. He had a reputation as a great talker, a keen wit, and a formidable foe in disputes and arguments. It was said of him that he loved a good debate—except when he was at dinner.

Never hurry and never worry!E. B. WHITE, in Charlotte’s Web (1952)

This is one of the best-known pieces of advice that Charlotte gave to her friend Wilbur, a small pig who feared he was going to become the main dish for Christmas dinner.

Never let the urgent-but-unimportant

crowd out the important-but-not-urgent.H. EVAN WOODHEAD, in The Power of Paradox (2006)

Describing the importance of setting priorities, Woodhead concluded: “Do not do the unimportant-and-not-urgent at all unless there is nothing else to do.”

Never wait for trouble.CHARLES “CHUCK” YEAGER

A 1986 issue of Air & Space, a publication of the Smithsonian Institution, included a feature on Yeager titled “At Mach 1.5 or 55 MPH, Never Wait for Trouble.” Ever since, the saying has been associated with Yeager, a U.S. Air Force pilot who, in 1947, became the first man to travel faster than sound. The admonition is similar to an English proverb that dates to the seventeenth century: “Never meet trouble half-way.”

Never stop until your good becomes better,

and your better becomes the best.FRANK ZAPPA

This is one of Zappa’s most frequently quoted lines. So far, though, I’ve been unable to verify the quotation.

Never charge anything on a credit card

that you don’t have money to pay for.ZIG ZIGLAR, in his 2006 book Better Than Good:

Creating a Life You Can’t Wait to Live

This was the first in “a three-part plan for staying out of credit card debt” that Ziglar got from financial counselor Larry Burkett. Financial writer Robert G. Allen set an even higher bar in his 1983 book Creating Wealth: “Never borrow money to pay for a car, a boat,