“A short pencil is better than a long memory.”
– Daniel Hearnsberger Mathis (19 April 1921 — 22 February 1991)

My father’s maxim was a bit unabashed, but Daddy had a sense of humour as well as a sense of wisdom. If I write something down, I am more apt to remember it. If I forget it, I can refer to my scribbles.

I am a list-maker; if something is not on my list of things to do, it probably will not get done. What’s more, I always record debits in my chequebook and reconcile them with the bank statement at the end of the month. This leads me to his next quotation:

“A man with no money has no business leaving town,” Dad would say.

I ignored this advice when I hitchhiked to California as a teenager – and lost ten pounds. Nowadays, I don’t even consider a weekend trip without a financial pillow.

“It’s not important to like what you do,” Dad would say, “It’s important that you do it.”

I think of this when I’m faced with an unpleasant task: a plumbing chore or yardwork. Then I just rear on back and “git ’er done.”

Back in the Great Depression of the 1930s, it probably was not as important to like what you do; jobs were in such scarce supply, you were lucky to have a livelihood. But as regards a 21st-century profession, I think it IS important to like what you do.

“If you like your work, it’s not work.” That’s my motto.

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