Chapter Forty: The Beneficial Rules of the Good Ezra Dunster

The Fifty "Unofficial" Rules Minted

By the Great "good" Ezra Dunster

To the Best of His Ability

Without Regard to Social Desirability

and the Mutual Agreement with 

the Readers of this work,

but for the satisfaction of 

His Own

PEACE AND VESTED SECURITY

"I am free, no matter what rules surrounding

me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them;

if I find them too obnoxious, I break them.

I am free because I know that I alone am

morally responsible for everything I do."

Robert A. Heinlein

-o0o-

1. Do not always trust what you see. It is the main door to deception.
2. Trust no one completely, and never become too confident of yourself. Human nature is very culpable of errors in judgment.
3. If you do not know something, it is better to ask questions. Pretension is a street that everybody takes, and then it gets you lost into oblivion. It is not the path to better understanding.
4. If it sounds too certain, something is wrong with it.
5. The best defense for a lie is aggressive reasoning. The truth is simple. It does not require too much explaining.
6. Facing uncertainty is the best opportunity to reconsider if you actually know or do not know.
7. Intelligence is knowing when to apply what you have learned.
8. Smart people can easily identify patterns in behavior and in the flow of esoteric ideas.
9. Comprehension is the only way towards effective learning. Learn to read between the lines.
10. There are certain realities in life that can only be written in books to effectively transform its message. Literature uses the same tools that is very characteristic of the nature of abstraction in fine art.
11. Monsters exist in the minds of people. Stop looking for it under your bed.
12. Being alone is a place to understand life, and to hear an inaudible voice inside your soul. Trust the process of healing away from the loud noise of the world.
13. Loneliness has nothing to do with the lack of people surrounding you.
14. A person's happiness is an inside job, but visitors must be able to enter to appreciate the goodness of what is there. Beauty is supposed to be appreciated; that is why museums exist.
15. Home is a place where you are comfortable being you without the fear of being judged or humiliated.
16. The greatest disappointments in life usually come from the people we love. Do not be shocked if it happened to you.
17. Never let the failure of relationships of other people affect the beauty that is inside you.
18. Always break the vicious cycle.
19. Books are always your bestfriend. It understands what you are going through better than everyone else.
20. Education is not the ability to recall what you have memorized.
21. Never imitate the voice of your teachers. Learn from them, live in the places and circumstances they teach you, but always be yourself and create your own path.
22. The sun does not shine for itself. Money is meant to circulate. Even honey is taken away from the hard work of the colony of bees. Everything is meant to be shared. Generosity is the basic law of life.
23. If you've already done your best, that's the only thing that matters. Stop blaming yourself from things that needed time.
24. People learn best from their own mistakes. 
25. Your past should only remind you of how far you have come.
26. Life is a mystery. Never come to the conclusion that you have already figured it all out. Everybody is a work-in-progress.
27. Regrets can only be rectified by forgiving yourself.
28. Living is all about your own happiness. Do whatever it is that makes your soul jump with joy.
29. Let other people win.
30. Life is not a competition. Flowers bloom when it is their time.
31. Failure is not definite unless you stop reaching for your goals.
32. People respect the money, not the person.
33. Kindness is the best currency to spend that has indefinite rate of return.
34. What makes someone a good person is a result of how well they have ultimately responded to whatever happens to them.
35. Stop the toxic positivity.
36. Protect your boundaries. Build a tall fence if you have to, but open a door.
37. Use your wounds by sharing your healing. It may inspire other people to do the same.
38. Be strong. In the end, you only have yourself. Take care of your health.
39. Know what you want to achieve. Most people waste their time wandering around life not knowing where to go.
40. What makes you different are the distinct qualities that makes you unique.
41. Aspiring for absolute equality is a bad thing to wish for. You must always be free to be different.
42. Money talks, until it is told to shut up.
43. Never tolerate disrespect. You are teaching people how to treat you.
44. Art is mostly an abstract concept that is too difficult to translate into words with the exact same certainty. You are a work of art. Embrace it. It is okay if people do not understand all the hymns that are inside of you.
45. Celebrate life by feeling everything around you. This is how you ultimately perceive reality.
46. Crying is a sure sign that you are alive.
47. Refuse to be defined by letters and numbers. Break stereotypes.
48. Once you hold the keys to your own happiness, nobody can enter without permission just to ruin what is there.
49. Do not overshare everything. Not all people deserve to know you like that.
50. Being generous is not always about the amount of money you are willing to give for somebody.

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This Chapter is sponsored by K-Swiss.