Old Hillbilly Wisdom

Let’s not even talk about being “woke” and “cancelling” those who don’t agree with you.

In this day and age of 24/7 go, go, go, and filling our minds with useless information, I thought a little Hillbilly wisdom might be warranted.

Old Hillbilly Wisdom

• Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

• Keep skunks, bankers, and politicians at a distance.

• Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

• A bumblebee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

• Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.

• The best sermons are lived, not preached.

• If you don’t take the time to do it right, you'll find the time to do it twice.

• Don’t corner something that is meaner than you.

• Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.

• It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.

• You cannot unsay a cruel word.

• Every path has a few puddles.

• When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

• Don’t be banging your shin on a stool that’s not in the way.

• Borrowing trouble from the future doesn’t deplete the supply.

• Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.

• Don’t judge folks by their relatives.

• Silence is sometimes the best answer.

• Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t botherin’ you none.

• Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

• If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.

• Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

• The biggest troublemaker you’ll ever have to deal with watches you from the mirror every mornin’.

• Always drink upstream from the herd.

• Good judgment comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgment.

• Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.

• If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.

• Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.

• Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Most times, it just gets down to common sense.

My three favorites ones are:

• Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

• The best sermons are lived, not preached.

• If you don’t take the time to do it right, you'll find the time to do it twice.

Each of those has served me well through the years.

There’s no use knocking my head up against something when I can just go around it.

I have little desire to be around people who are all talk and no action.

And finally, I’ve learned to just do things right the first time even though I’m tempted to take the easy way out from time to time. If I do try to take the easy way out, it never turns out well.

Until next week, have a good week!

Mike Probst can be reached at publisher@rockportpilot.com.