"Think harder; write better."
--from one of my favorite professors to the English 47B class as a whole; he was a tad frustrated with the first essays we had handed in . . . .
"Don't indulge your natural diffidence."
--from a professor after a mock-interview back in the graduate school days; spot on, by the way.
"Be wary of that tendency to idealize, to see the best qualities and to be oblivious to all others."
--note to self, echoed by a therapist
I'm finding myself reflecting on the advice, the possible wisdom or useful statements, that I've encountered or confronted. These three stand out, though I have no doubt forgotten even better advice that I have failed to benefit from; to those advisers who meant well for me, I wish I'd been paying closer attention.
(I think that last piece of advice was/is meant to be applied to myself by myself too.)
P.S. A good friend who was there corrects me:
'And, I think it was: "Think harder, write better, be smarter."'