01UndatedLadies and gentlemen of the class of '97:Wear sunscreen.If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.Mary Schmich / quote ↗
02UndatedDon't be reckless with other people's hearts, and don't put up with people that are reckless with yours.Mary Schmich / quote ↗
03UndatedBe careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia.Mary Schmich / quote ↗
05UndatedI couldn't have foreseen all the good things that have followed my mother's death. The renewed energy, the surprising sweetness of grief. The tenderness I feel for strangers on walkers. The deeper love I have for my siblings and friends. The desire to play the mandolin. The gift of a visitation.Mary Schmich / quote ↗
06UndatedDon't waste time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.Mary Schmich / quote ↗
07UndatedA line from one of my 1997 columns - 'Do one thing every day that scares you' - is now widely attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, though I have yet to see any evidence that she ever said it and I don't believe she did. She said some things about fear, but not that thing.Mary Schmich / quote ↗
09UndatedThe movies we love and admire are to some extent a function of who we are when we see them.Mary Schmich / quote ↗
10UndatedYou can map your life through your favorite movies, and no two people's maps will be the same.Mary Schmich / quote ↗
11UndatedGood art is art that allows you to enter it from a variety of angles and to emerge with a variety of views.Mary Schmich / quote ↗
