Robert Fulghum

Here Fulghum engages us with musings on life, death, love, pain, joy, sorrow, and the best chicken-fried steak in the continental U.S.A. 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.

Pequeños relatos para grandes reflexiones.Hace quince años Robert Fulghum publicó un sencillo credo que, para su sorpresa, se convirtió en uno de los más descomunales best sellers de su epoca. Ahora, diez años despues, Fulghum ha revisado su libro y escrito veinticinco nuevos ensayos, que siguen girando alrededor de una idea basica, pero no peor ello menos iluminadora: En los aspectos mas sencillos y aparentemente insignificantes de la vida se encuentran las mas importantes oportunidades para ser feliz. Fulghum no expresa pensamientos rebuscados, y nos cautiva con sus meditaciones llenas de humanidad sobre la vida, la muerte, el dolor, la dicha y la tristeza. Las cosas importantes las aprendi en el parvulario bulle con la esencia misma de la vida, y en este mundo cada vez mas caotico y retador, sus pequeñas historias logran una resonancia aun mas profunda. Sin duda, en estas paginas el lector hallara un saludable antidoto para los dificiles tiempos que corren, porque Fughum sabe encontrar la magia en los lugares mas insospechados, y descubre en la sencillez el misterio de lo sublime.

Uh-oh embraces Here we go again and Now What? and You never can tell whats going to happen next and So much for plan A and Hang on, were coming to a tunnel and No sweat and Tomorrows another day and You cant unscramble an egg and A hundred years from now it wont make any difference. Uh-oh is more than a momentary reaction to small problems. Uh-oh is an attitudea perspective on the universe. It is a power of an equation that summarizes my view of the conditions of existence: Uh-huh + oh-wow + uh-oh + oh, God = ah-hah!

FROM BEGINNING TO ENDWhy "rituals"?My thinking was set in motion by those who, knowing I was a parish minister for many years, have asked me for advice about ceremonies and celebrations. They wanted words to use at graduations, funerals, and the welcoming of children. They inquired about grace at family meals, the reaffirmation of wedding vows, and ways to heal wounds suffered in personal conflict. People requested help with the rituals of solitude, such as meditation, prayer, and contemplation. . . .Rituals do not always involve words, occasions, officials, or an audience. Rituals are often silent, solitary, and self-contained. The most powerful rites of passage are reflective--when you look back on your life again and again, paying attention to the rivers you have crossed and the gates you have opened and walked on through, the thresholds you have passed over.I see ritual when people sit together silently by an open fire.Remembering.As human beings have remembered for thousands and thousands of years.FULGHUM

Tot el que de veritat em cal saber ho vaig aprendre al parvulari fou el primer llibre publicat per Robert Fulghum el 1986. Anys més tard, el 2003, l’autor en va oferir una edició revisada i ampliada,

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERI once began a list of the contradictory notions I hold:Look before you leap.He who hesitates is lost.Two heads are better than one.If you want something done right, do it yourself.Nothing ventured, nothing gained.Better safe than sorry.Out of sight, out of mind.Absence makes the heart grow fonder.You cant tell a book by its cover.Clothes make the man.Many hands make light work.Too many cooks spoil the broth.You cant teach an old dog new tricks.Its never too late to learn.Never sweat the small stuff.God is in the details.And so on. The list goes on forever. Once I got so caught up in this kind of thinking that I wore two buttons on my smock when I was teaching art. One said, "Trust me, Im a teacher." The other replied, "Question Authority."[signature]Fulghum