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All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts On Common Things

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'All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten' by Robert Fulghum is a collection of short and thoughtful essays that offer wisdom and insight on life, love, and happiness. Fulghum, a retired Unitarian minister, shares his reflections on common things through anecdotes and stories, often with a touch of humor and warmth. is centered around the idea that the basic principles we learn in childhood, such as sharing, playing fair, and being kind, hold true throughout our lives and can guide us in navigating the complexities of adulthood.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is accessible and relatable, combining humor with thoughtful reflections, making it engaging for a wide range of readers.

Plot/Storyline:

The narrative consists of a series of personal essays that reflect on everyday experiences, extracting life lessons and moral values from simple interactions and observations.

Setting:

Settings in the book span various personal experiences across everyday life situations, contributing to its relatable and universal appeal.

Pacing:

The pacing of the book is fast, with short essays that allow for quick reading and easy digestion of concepts.
We are sent to school to be civilized—to be introduced to the essential machinery of human society. Early on in our lives we are sent out of the home into the world. To school. We have no choice in th...

Notes:

The book was published over 30 years ago and has sold more than seven million copies.
Its last edition added 25 new essays, showcasing its long-lasting relevance.
Fulghum shares life lessons he learned in kindergarten, emphasizing simple values like sharing and playing fair.
His essays often reflect on ordinary people and events, highlighting their unique wisdom and simplicity.
Fulghum believes true education often comes from unexpected experiences rather than traditional schooling.
He gained insights about life from everyday items and experiences, like chicken fried steak and a simple vacuum.
The book encourages readers to observe the extraordinary in the mundane and the profound in everyday life.
Fulghum's humorous and down-to-earth writing style resonates more with common experiences than lofty philosophies.
He emphasizes the importance of love, kindness, and connections between people, akin to the spirit of Mother Teresa.
The title essay became popular and was even read in the U.S. Senate, illustrating its cultural impact.

From The Publisher:

Essays on life that will resonate deeply as readers discover how universal insights can be found in ordinary events.

More than thirty years ago, Robert Fulghum published a simple credo-a credo that became the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Today, after being embraced around the world and selling more than seven million copies, Fulghum's book retains the potency of a common though no less relevant piece of wisdom: that the most basic aspects of life bear its most important opportunities.

Here Fulghum engages us with musings on life, death, love, pain, joy, sorrow, and the best chicken-fried steak in the continental United States. The little seed in the Styrofoam cup offers a reminder about our own mortality and the delicate nature of life . . . a spider who catches (and loses) a full-grown woman in its web one fine morning teaches us about surviving catastrophe . . . the love story of Jean-Francois Pilatre and his hot-air balloon reminds us to be brave and unafraid to "fly" . . . life lessons hidden in the laundry pile . . . magical qualities found in a box of crayons . . . hide-and-seek vs. sardines-and how these games relate to the nature of God. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is brimming with the very stuff of life and the significance found in the smallest details.

Praise for All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

"A healthy antidote to the horrors that pummel us in this dicey age."-Baltimore Sun

"Within simplicity lies the sublime."-San Francisco Chronicle

"It is interesting how much of it applies not only to individuals, grown or small, but even to nations."-New York Daily News

"As universal as fresh air and invigorating as the fragrance of a Douglas fir."-Los Angeles Times

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About the Author:

Robert Fulghum is a writer, philosopher, and public speaker, but he has also worked as a cowboy, a folksinger, an IBM salesman, a professional artist, a parish minister, a bartender, a teacher of drawing and painting, and a father. All…

 
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