Sometimes it's a poignant piece. 

Sometimes it's something uplifting, inspirational. 

But funny or poignant or uplifting or inspirational, they have one thing in common — they all look like hell. 

So I started reformatting them. Picking typefaces. Adding graphics. Laying them out in a visually interesting way. When I was done, I would send them to friends in their new form. And then people started asking me for copies. 

Weeeell, it got to be expensive after a while. Getting stuff printed usually is. So I hit upon the idea of putting the stuff on the Internet. Now, if someone wants a copy, I give him/her the related URL instead. He/she can then take a look at it, and print it out if he/she wishes. 

Now, what you will see on-screen is more or less the same as the original in some cases. Not in others. I won't get into why. It's not important. Only the content is. 

Sooooo, here's one of them. Enjoy! Enjoy!

I haven't read the book, but I thought the excerpts worth repeating. 

 Life is not fair; get used to it. 

The world won't care about your self-esteem. The 
world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE 
you feel good about yourself. 

You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right 
out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone until you earn both. 

If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.  He doesn't have tenure. 

Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your 
grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity. 

If you screw up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes.  Learn from them. 

Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring 
as they are now.  They got that way from paying your 
bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room. 

Your school may have done away with winners and 
losers but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This, of course, doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life. 

Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself.  Do that on your own time. 

Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. 

Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.