Words of Wisdom: Advice for Life

By Estella I. Kennedy

Words of Wisdom presents quotes from everyday life as used by my grandmother and both my mothers. The quotes are supported by scriptures from the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490837659

Estella I. Kennedy

Estella is a native of southeastern Georgia. She is the author of Reflection, a collection of inspired poetry, and ABC Fun Facts, featuring biblical characters from A to Z. She is a retired school teacher of forty years. After retirement, she went back to college and received her PhD in Christian psychology. She has a great love for children, which is reflected in her ABC Fun Facts.

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Copyright © 2014 Estella I. Kennedy

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-3766-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3767-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3765-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014909032

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/29/2014

Contents

Acknowledgments

Words of Wisdom

Actions Speak Louder than Words

A Problem

Acting Up

A Fool

A Mess

Anger

Attitude

A Higher Bush

Ask

Bad Situation

Between Between

Blessed

B and B

Boys and Books

Burned Bridge

Cheerful

The Ha-Ha Gang

Company

Common Sense

Crimes

Clean

Disobedience

Dependable

Do Not Make a Fuss

Envy

Evil

Grace

Greedy

Hands

Health Tips

Hearsay

Hell

Honest

Can-Can

Humble

Idle

Judge

Lazy

Laziness

Know It All

Let Bygones Be Bygones

Lies

Listen

Look

Going to See

Manners

Mouth

My Word

Never Run after a Man

Nighttime

God’s All-Seeing Eyes

No Crooked Moves

Please God, Not Man

Obey God

Responsible

Secrets

Secret Sins

Stand Still

Self-Control

Short Sighted

Sleeping

Slow and Steady

Speculation

Spite

Success

Thrifty

The Mind

Think

Time

The Long Way

Turn Right and Go Straight

Listen

Think before You Speak

The Tongue, the Ears

Don’t Meddle in Other People’s Business

Vanity

Study

Visits

Will

Always Pray God’s Will

Wait

Hurry Up and Wait

Ways to Wait

Watch and Pray

Wealth

Three Ways to Be Wealthy

Worry

Why Worry?

Wisdom

Work

Live and Learn

Live, Learn, and Depart

Still

Speculation

Sticks and stones

Words can Encourage or Destroy

In Memory

In memory of my grandma, Mary Adline L. Life.

My parents, Rev. James and Helen M. Green who raised me.

My biological father and mother, Mr. Aaron A. and Sarah E. Life-Kennedy-Gibb.

Both set of parents passed on to me all they knew from their ancestors, plus the College of Hard Knocks. They majored in Kneeology and finished with O’Lordy.

Thank God, thank God, I made it over.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to my grandma who taught my mama (Helen, my mother’s oldest sister) and mother (Sarah, who gave birth to me) all of their quotes, and living long enough to teach me some as well. I am grateful to mama and mother for quoting her on a daily basis passing on to me many of her quotes. Especially, mama!!!

In 1957, mother and I were college roommates at Albany State University. She was completing her BA degree in Education and I was getting my BA as well in Education. I asked her why she gave me away. Her reply was, Honey, I did not give you away. Papa told me to let Sister Helen have you because she did not have any children. When Papa died you were three and I went back to Sister Helen and got you. Every night when I went to bed, I could not go to sleep. Papa would keep me awake all night. I felt I had no other chose but to carry you back.

Years later, I thanked mother for letting mama raise me and forgave her for giving me away. I don’t regret my home training, not having clothes like the others children, or my hair not having a hot comb until I was fifteen years of age. All of that make me into the person that I am today. I too graduated from the College of Hard Knocks majoring in Kneeology and finished with O’Lordy.

I thank Mrs. Janet Cheatham Bell for encouraging me to write down all the things grandma, mama and mother told me when I was growing up. I am so glad that I went to her workshop and purchased Famous Black Quotations. When she autographed my book, I told her how she inspired and motivated me to write Words of Wisdom.

Last but not least, I thank Mrs. Marie Richardson for patiently proofreading my book.

Words of Wisdom

These are the quotes Grandma told us daily. Some are from the Bible, other were handed down in my family and still other could not be written between these pages. Yes, Grandma had a way with words like no other.

Some quotes are Bible verses, but grandma put them in terms for us to understand. On a daily bases she would quote Proverbs 18:21 in one form or another. For example, she phrased it as "Don’t talk so much. Your mouth can cause your whole body to suffer. She believed wholeheartedly in the power of the tongue.

Death and life is in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat fruit thereof (Proverbs 18:21 KJV).

Actions Speak Louder than Words

I’d rather see a sermon than hear one.

—Helen Green

For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass (James