The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember by Fred Rogers

 

Who do you look to for words of wisdom for living your life?  While I tend to usually look first to the Gospels in the Bible, Fred Rogers or Mister Rogers was a Christian and good man who had many words of wisdom for being a good person and living a good life. 

Fred Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister and was the host of the PBS TV show, Mister Rogers Neighborhood.  I sadly did not have PBS where I lived and did not become familiar with Mister Rogers until I was an adult.  Mister Rogers believed in “Love thy neighbor as thyself” and had a lot of thoughts on how we all could do this.

The introduction of this book was a sweet story by Joanne Rogers about her husband, how they met, their romance, and what kind of person he was, which overall, she said was a kind person.  I think we could all use this type of kindness in the world right now.  The book is a short book filled with quotes, observations, short stories, and anecdotes.  There is also a short biography of Fred Rogers at the end.

A few of my favorites:

“When I was a boy, I used to think that strong meant having big muscles, great physical power; but the longer I live, the more I realize that real strength has much more to do with what is not seen.  Real strength has to do with helping others.”

“There is no normal life that is free of pain.  It’s the very wrestling with our problems that can be the impetus for our growth.”

“Often our periods of losing come the greatest strivings toward a new winning streak.”

“All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we’re giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world.  That’s one of things that connects us as neighbors – in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver.”

“We want to raise our children so that they can take a sense of pleasure in both their own heritage and the diversity of others."

“It’s very dramatic when two people come together to work something out.  It’s easy to take a gun and annihilate your opposition, but what is really exciting to me is to see people with different views come together and finally respect each other.”

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘ Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”

Overall, The World According to Mister Rogers:  Important Things to Remember by Fred Rogers is a book that I am going to keep in my nightstand for something to pull out and read when I need cheering up.

Book Source:  Gift from my mother-in-law. Thank-you.