All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things

By Robert Fulghum

Essays on life that will resonate deeply as readers discover how universal insights can be found in ordinary events.

More than thirty years ago, Robert Fulghum published a simple credo—a credo that became the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Today, after being embraced around the world and selling more than seven million copies, Fulghum’s book retains the potency of a common though no less relevant piece of wisdom: that the most basic aspects of life bear its most important opportunities.

Here Fulghum engages us with musings on life, death, love, pain, joy, sorrow, and the best chicken-fried steak in the continental United States. The little seed in the Styrofoam cup offers a reminder about our own mortality and the delicate nature of life . . . a spider who catches (and loses) a full-grown woman in its web one fine morning teaches us about surviving catastrophe . . . the love story of Jean-Francois Pilatre and his hot-air balloon reminds us to be brave and unafraid to “fly” . . . life lessons hidden in the laundry pile . . . magical qualities found in a box of crayons . . . hide-and-seek vs. sardines—and how these games relate to the nature of God. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is brimming with the very stuff of life and the significance found in the smallest details.

In the editions since the first publication of this book, Robert Fulghum has had some time to ponder, to reevaluate, and to reconsider, adding fresh thoughts on classic topics including a short new introduction.

Praise for All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

“A healthy antidote to the horrors that pummel us in this dicey age.”—Baltimore Sun

“Within simplicity lies the sublime.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“It is interesting how much of it applies not only to individuals, grown or small, but even to nations.”—New York Daily News

“As universal as fresh air and invigorating as the fragrance of a Douglas fir.”—Los Angeles Times

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 4, 2004
• ISBN: 9780345479105

Robert Fulghum

Robert Fulghum is a writer, philosopher, and public speaker, but he has also worked as a cowboy, a folksinger, an IBM salesman, a professional artist, a parish minister, a bartender, a teacher of drawing and painting, and a father. He is the author of many New York Times bestsellers, including All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, Uh-Oh, and Maybe (Maybe Not), as well as two plays: All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten and Uh-Oh, Here Comes Christmas. Fulghum grew up in Waco, Texas. He now divides his time among Seattle, Utah, and Crete.

Reviews for All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

[vyode_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

warm hearted hokeyness.

[toniry · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Highly recommended

[nlm2nd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought it was rather humourous

[breejamie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book offers so much wisdom. Seeing life through Mr. Fulghum's eyes has the potential to turn your own life upside down. This is definitely one to make you stop and think.

[snukes-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Feel-good, easy reading.

[marse_4 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is another book I picked up in the "for free" basket at the library bookstore. All you really need to read of this book is on pages 4 and 5. That is where the list of what the author learned in kindergarten is placed. The rest of the book is filled with little anecdotes from the author's life that carry some supposedly interesting message that may or may not be related to the things he learned in kindergarten. The subtitle of this book is: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things, so I suppose the rest of the book (after pages 4-5) are those uncommon thoughts. The author is not a horrible writer, his stories remind me of the short, half-humorous, half-philosophic anecdotes that are strewn between articles and stories in Reader's Digest. As a book, however, I found myself getting really irritated with his style and frankly, quite bored. I began reading only the first sentence of each paragraph, and then just the first sentence of each section. The more I read, the duller the anecdotes and his style of writing became. Back in the donate pile it goes.

[flying_monkeys_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I get a kick outta reading "uncommon thoughts on common things" from different people's perspectives. Fulghum's thoughts were about silly things AND deep stuff, and usually with a great deal of humor. His goal in writing this book didn't seem to be profound wisdom or anything so self-helpy: I appreciated that. His voice was very down to earth and conversational. While I enjoyed most of the essays, the collection was just okay for me. Yet I did find a few bits I want to remember and, someday, possibly throw my own uncommon thoughts on the same or related topics into the mix.3.5 stars"It's the spirit here that counts. The time may be long, the vehicle may be strange or unexpected. But if the dream is held close to the heart, and imagination is applied to what there is close at hand, everything is still possible (139).""Innate skepticism or innate stupidity? I confess I do not know. A psychiatrist friend tells me it's a sample of an unconscious need to deny--that everyone wants the road or The Way to continue on instead of ending. So you drive as far as you can, even when you can clearly read the sign. You want to think you are exempt, that it doesn't apply to you. But it does (161-62).""Murphy's Law does not always hold, says Grandfather Sam. Every once in a while the fundamental laws of the universe seem to be momentarily suspended, and not only does everything go right, nothing seems to be able to keep it from going right. It's not always something as dramatic as the long bomb or the slam-dunk that wins ball games (178)." He goes on to list examples like dropping a glass in the sink, it bounces a gazillion times, and not only does not break but doesn't even chip. A near-miss at an intersection. Jumping in the right lane (the one that's moving) in a traffic jam.

[kslade-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good observations on good life practices.

[evenlake_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this book long ago, when I was in high school. I remember thinking it was a really deep, important book at the time. On re-reading it in adulthood, I no longer think it is either deep or important.

There is a sort of smug satisfaction cloaked in humility in a lot of these very short essays about life, and they now feel like someone who is trying to seem wise, rather than someone who is wise.

But, there is definite value to be found in this book. I especially like his idea that we shouldn't bother searching for the meaning of life, and instead should be looking, all the time, to find the meaning in life.

Perhaps this book is best enjoyed by dipping into it here and there, rather than reading it from start to finish in a short period of time.

[gbill_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

5 stars for the absolutely brilliant title essay, which I’ve always loved. Unfortunately it only covers pages 3 to 6. The rest of the short essays, fifty in total, are uneven; certainly Fulghum’s heart is always in the right place, but his observations sometimes get a little simple, and not in a good way.Just this ‘quote’, the title essay; words to live by:“Here’s my credo: ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. Take any of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had a basic policy to always put thing back where they found them and to clean up their own mess. And it is still true, no matter how old you are - when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.”

[nlmii · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought it was rather humourous

[jmcdbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Rated: A+1st in his series of little reflections about life; easy reading; makes you laugh and cry from story to story

[wassilissa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Das Buch ist pathetisch und sentimental. Und trotzdem hat es etwas, was mich tief berührt . Diese einfachen Geschichten sprechen mich teilweise sehr stark an. Am liebsten mag ich die titelgebende Geschichte und die mit den Meerjungfrauen. Beide haben in mir etwas angerührt. Ich musste bei diesem Buch an vielen Stellen richtig weinen. Auch die Geschichte mit dem Versteckspiel fand ich gut. Die Geschichten sind recht einfach, aber sie haben eben auch deshalb einen ganz einfach zu findenden wahren Kern.

[jubjub_luver1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A cynical view of the world through an older man's eyes. Interesting to read, nothing really to stand by. Quick read.

[cataylor_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I recently reread this book and found it as wonderful as I remembered. Fulghum is funny and smart and his remarks can be touching and endearing. I agree with so much of his philosophy of life and, like him, would treasure having one day, even one hour, of my childhood back. His memory of riding in a pickup truck with an elderly dog for company is priceless.

[callista83 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

All of Robert Fulgham's books are hilarious! His stories are well told and easy to read and follow.

[heather19_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have no idea why I bought this book. It was.... an impulse buy, I guess. It was 10cents at a thrift store and I added it to my pile of books without really thinking. I put off reading it for a long time. It just didn't jump out at me. I flipped through the pages, read a few paragraphs, and always seemed to come to the same conclusion: "meh". The thing is, I think this is one of those books that *seems* so cliched and annoyingly simple and maybe even stupid, that so many people (including myself) don't want to admit it's underlying awesomeness. Because that's what it really is. Awesomeness. Pure and simple. I'm not going to say that my life was changed by this book, but I do know for sure that it's lifted my spirits on more then one occasion. Made me think about simpler things, even if only for a minute. Made me realize the little truths that seem so obvious. It's not an end all be all book, and I don't know if I'm any better of a person for reading it. But it put a smile on my face and hope in my heart, and that is more then enough for me.

[merrymary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The kind of warm-hearted musings on life that I really enjoy. The man is an expert word-weaver.

[cal8769 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very entertaining. I found myself laughing out loud at times. Mr Fulghum's life lessons should lead other people to change their attitudes.

[omrythea_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Simple truths. A good book to read when life is overwhelming.