Lessons from All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

“Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.” — Robert Fulghum

Do you remember your most important lessons from Kindergarten?

Better yet, do you live them?

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is a book by Robert Fulghum, which lists simple, yet profound, lessons that can be drawn from the basic principles taught in kindergarten.

Fulghum’s insights remind us that many of life’s important lessons are learned early on and that these simple principles are foundational to leading a fulfilling life.

I think that sometimes our best lessons are the one we learned long ago, and we just need to remember them.

Lessons You Learned in Kindergarten

Here are some of the key insights from the book:

1. Share everything: The importance of generosity and fairness.
2. Play fair: Ethical conduct and justice are fundamental.
3. Don’t hit people: Resolve conflicts peacefully.
4. Put things back where you found them: Respect for others’ property and orderliness.
5. Clean up your own mess: Take responsibility for your actions.
6. Don’t take things that aren’t yours: Honesty and respect for others’ possessions.
7. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody: The value of apology and reconciliation.
8. Wash your hands before you eat: Personal hygiene and health matter.
9. Flush: Courtesy and maintaining a clean environment for everyone.
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you: The importance of enjoying life’s simple pleasures.
11. Live a balanced life: Learn, think, create, play, work, rest.
12. Take a nap every afternoon: The importance of rest.
13. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together: Safety and community are essential.
14. Be aware of wonder: Remember the little things that make life special.
15. Goldfish, hamsters, and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we: An understanding and acceptance of the cycle of life.

Every Child is an Artist

There is a quote by Pablo Picasso, and it goes like this:

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
— Pablo Picasso

This quote speaks to the innate creativity found in children and the challenge of maintaining that creative spirit into adulthood.

It’s one of my favorite quotes that reminds me how we’re all artists, if we choose to practice and share our art.

Imagination is More Powerful Than Knowledge

There is a quote by Albert Einstein that goes like this:

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”
— Albert Einstein

Early on, I didn’t get it.  And I didn’t believe it.

Then after leading innovation for several years at Microsoft it turned out to be true.

I found that people who could suspend their disbelief and imagine how things could be better, trumped the people who were stuck.

The people who were stuck were busy trying to burst bubbles with facts and knowledge that didn’t apply to the future.

The future doesn’t exist yet.

The future is yours for the making and the shaping.

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