I was a philosophy grad student, and worked long and hard on rules to live by that would stand up to extreme philosophical scrutiny. I ended up with three maxims that have stood the test of time.

"Never pour live beer on dead beer." (It makes the fresh beer go flat instantly, so get a fresh glass.)

"Always make friends with the cook." (Even if everyone else hates your guts, you'll eat well.)

Every other rule to living I tried to make an absolute, I ended up having to apply my "Rule 2".

This came about when I was fencing, which rewards quickness, speed, agility, and which tends to favor small fast people over big fast people for those reasons. (I'm 6'4") I was fencing a small fast guy, who thought he was pretty good. I asked him if he knew the two rules of fencing. When he replied negatively, I recited them, while continuing to cross blades with him. "The first rule of fencing is that small people are faster than big people." "OK,"he said,"what's rule two?" I then nailed him smack dab in the middle of his chest, and replied, "Rule Two? There's always an exception to Rule One."

So that has become my third maxim. Whenever someone comes up with an absolute rule of life, in the back of my head, my little voice says, "Remember Rule Two."

Peace, Blues