Barlow’s principles of adult behaviour

John Perry Barlow (1947-2018) was a visionary American writer, cyberlibertarian, and digital rights activist who co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation while also being known as a lyricist for the Grateful Dead. Despite his roots as a Wyoming cattle rancher, he became one of the internet’s earliest and most influential thinkers, famously penning “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace” and advocating for digital freedom and civil liberties. His diverse career spanned from writing lyrics for the Grateful Dead to teaching at Harvard University, while his “25 Principles of Adult Behavior,” written on his 30th birthday, remains one of his most enduring and widely shared contributions to popular culture.

1. Be patient. No matter what.
2. Don’t badmouth: Assign responsibility, never blame. Say nothing behind another’s back you’d be unwilling to say, in exactly the same tone and language, to his face.
3. Never assume the motives of others are, to them, less noble than yours are to you.
4. Expand your sense of the possible.
5. Don’t trouble yourself with matters you truly cannot change.
6. Expect no more of anyone than you yourself can deliver.
7. Tolerate ambiguity.
8. Laugh at yourself frequently.
9. Concern yourself with what is right rather than whom is right.
10. Never forget that, no matter how certain, you might be wrong.
11. Give up blood sports.
12. Remember that your life belongs to others as well. Do not endanger it frivolously. And never endanger the life of another.
13. Never lie to anyone for any reason.
14. Learn the needs of those around you and respect them.
15. Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that.
16. Reduce your use of the first personal pronoun.
17. Praise at least as often as you disparage.
18. Never let your errors pass without admission.
19. Become less suspicious of joy.
20. Understand humility.
21. Forgive.
22. Foster dignity.
23. Live memorably.
24. Love yourself.
25. Endure.

These seem like excellent principles to hold yourself to.

Source: https://www.mail-archive.com/silklist@lists.hserus.net/msg08034.html