I’m currently reading a book called “Rules of Thumb": Brilliant Guestimates, Shortcuts and a few Shots in the Dark” by Tom Parker.The book features a collection of rules of thumb. As defined by the book, a rule of thumb is “a homespun recipe for making a guess” or an “easy to remember guide that falls somewhere between a mathematical formula and a shot in the dark”. The most popular rule of thumb and how it originated is the rule of thumb itself – if you don’t have any ruler or tape measure and you need to estimate in inches, use your thumb. From knuckle to the fingernail equals 1 inch.
Here are some interesting and useful rules of thumb I picked up from the book.
- Keeping a washable mug at your desk can save as many as 500 disposable paper or plastics cups a year.
- Between two barbers in a shop, choose the one with the worse haircut; barbers cut each other’s hair. – George Cameron
- If you really need something done, ask a busy person. –Ruth Sullivan, editor
- Snapshots encourage memories, videos replace them. After watching a video of your vacation, your memory of the vacation will be what you saw on the video.
- To tell if a pearl is genuine, rub it against your teeth. A fake pearl will feel smooth; the real thing will grate. – Quinith Janssen, pearl expert
- To avoid lunatics on city buses, sit in the middle. The friendly lunatics sit as close to the driver as they can, and the unfriendly ones sit as far away as they can. – Keith Allan Hunter
- If you read on the john every morning, it’ll take you six weeks to finish the book. – Gaard Moses
- If you are in a position to do so, delegate a task to someone else if he or she can do it 80% as well as you would. This will leave you time to do the things that only you can do. – Elliot Miller
- The person doing the most talking after a fender bender is usually the one who caused the accident. –Steve Carver
- It takes 30 hours of conversation to know whether you really like someone. Be wary of anyone who invites you only to places where you can’t chat such as movies, plays and concerts. - B. Bell
- Time goes by faster from the moment one starts paying one’s own bills. -Franklin Crawford, writer
- When ants travel in a straight line, expect rain. When they scatter, expect fair weather.
- If your fiance does something that bothers you before you’re married, it will bother you ten times more after you’re married. – Bruno Colapietro, matrimonial lawyer
I’ll share with you some more rules of thumb next time. :)
