Book One, Paragraphs 1-10

From parents, relatives, teachers and friends I have seen what makes a life worth living: 

Decency and a mild temper;

Integrity and manliness; 

Generosity;

The avoidance of wrongdoing;

Simplicity of living;

To invest in education;

To tolerate pain and to feel few needs;

To work with my own hands and mind my own business;

To be deaf to malicious gossip;

To avoid empty enthusiasms;

To disbelieve all that is talked by miracle mongers and quacks;

To be curious about the opinions of those who think differently;

To have an affinity for philosophy;

To grasp that I need correction and treatment for my character;

To avoid speechifying and pretentious language;

To be readily recalled to conciliation with those who have taken or given offense;

To read carefully, not satisfied with my own views or
too quick to accept the views of others;

Steadiness of purpose;

To have no other perspective, even for a moment, than that of "reason" alone;

To be always the same man, unchanged in sudden misfortune;

To live life according to nature, "with the grain";

A balance of intensity and relaxation;

Unaffected dignity;

Intuitive concern for one's friends;

Tolerance of people of all kinds, but the self-possession to speak up when needed;

To pursue the discovery and organization of the essential
principles of life (philosophy);

To combine complete freedom from inordinate emotions
with the greatest human affection;

To praise without fanfare;

To wear great learning lightly;

Not to leap on another's mistakes without good cause;

Never to think that a person's vocabulary, grammar, tone of voice or vulgar or
uneducated style of expression matters more than what they are saying.