Pearls of wisdom
Offering advice can sometimes leave people in a cold sweat, it's hard to know what to say in certain situations. So, if all else fails go with the classic, 'Make the most of everyday' - it's bound to make sense in most instances.
The phrase has been named as the nation’s favourite piece of advice, in a new survey conducted by UK health and social care charity, Jewish Care.
The phrase, often referred to as ‘Carpe Diem’, is over 2000 years old and topped the poll with 29 per cent of Brits voting it the most valuable pearl of wisdom handed down from older generations. ‘Believe in yourself and be brave’ came in second place, voted as essential life advice for 16 per cent of people, followed by ‘having no regrets' and ‘never stop learning’.
These wise words, which were shared by a group of 14 elderly care home residents for Jewish Care’s ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ viral campaign, were ranked in order of importance by 1000 respondents. The top five pearls also included ‘do not judge any man until you have stood in his shoes’ – voted for by 9 per cent of respondents.
The candid group, aged between 83 and 100 (with a combined 1,271 years between them) became the latest unlikely stars of the web after the ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ video was spotted on Twitter by a host of celebrities including Jonathan Ross, Sarah Brown, Claudia Winkleman and Lord Alan Sugar. You can watch the videos on Youtube.
Our top ten favourite words of wisdom were revealed as:
1. Make the most of every day
2. Believe in yourself and be brave
3. Don’t regret a thing
4. Never stop learning
5. Don’t judge any man until you have stood in his shoes
6. Each day you spend leaves you with one less, so spend them wisely
7. Take care of your friends, you never know when you might need them
8. Always look forward, but every so often take a glance back
9. Don’t buy things that you can’t afford
10. Have sex before marriage! Try it out
Femalefirst Taryn Davies