I am one of those people who is always having brilliant ideas and random musings, which I almost never remember once I've finished cogitating them. But some I remember - probably because I'm not finished with them yet. For instance, I have accumulated over the years my little pearls of wisdom about what life is all about:
1) "Good builds good" and of course, the related "bad builds bad". Now this seems so obvious as to be simplistic, until you actually think about it. How many parents spank their kids to make them stop hitting? Did we or did we not go to war in Iraq to create a peaceful democracy? It just isn't the way the world really works, or how you break a cycle.
2) "Reality is a powerful ally" - being overly optimistic or gloomy, being in denial, outright lying - there are a lot of ways people abandon reality, but it keeps being there, solid as rock - might as well have it on your side.
3) "There are little pearls of wisdom scattered throughout the universe" so no matter how unlikely the source, pick it up. Self-help books are a prime example - there might be one good idea in with the dreck, and you're inclined to throw it out cause the rest is so stupid, but if it's a good idea, it's a good idea on it's own merits, so I pluck it out. Children are a great source of these types of things - "out of the mouths of babes" and all that.
4) "Everything that happens in a relationship stays in that relationship". People always think if they have a fight and say things they don't mean, but then apologize, it is over. In my experience, the fight may be over, but what they did and said never is. It will always affect the relationship. I don't mean like holding a grudge, I mean like the person always thinks you really meant they were stupid or will never amount to anything or are fat, or whatever. They will also be changed in the way they approach you with a controversial issue - either more avoidant or more aggressive, but still changed. So I guess the moral of the story is to hold yourself responsible for everything you say or do, then you won't be surprised when someone else does.
More to come when I remember what they are ...