Five dollars was a matter of tremendous importance in out household on the Lower East Side of New York. There were not many five dollar bills for use at any one time. I was a kid of about 10 or 11 and I lost a five dollar bill. My mother gave it to me to buy something and I lost it. I don’t know how, but I lost it and that’s all. I sat in the park most of the day afraid to go home. I walked the streets. Wherever I went I kept looking for that five dollar bill. I knew that this was foolish, but I was frantic. I kept thinking that maybe I could find another five dollar bill to replace the one I lost. Finally it was dark, and I just had to go home. I hardly knew where or how to begin. What could I say? But I have to say. I told my mother that I had lost the money. She grabbed me tight and seemed to be as happy as could be and kept repeating in Yiddish over and over again, “It’s better than giving it to a doctor.” -Harry Golden
“To say the right thing at the right time, keep still most of the time.” John W. Roper Those who get in trouble most often are those cannot seem to keep still, remain silent. Life teaches many lessons. Among the best lessons of life is one my father taught me at an early age was, “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.” The contributions we make to life via our mouth are many and varied. Most of the time, I reckon, they are not contributions at all, but things that diminish the richness of life.
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