John Perry Barlow's Principles of Adult Behavior

John Perry Barlow, founding member of the EFF, poet and sometimes lyricist for the Grateful Dead, has left our plane 7 February 2018.

In an email he sent after turning 30, he wrote:

In any event, it occurred to me that, past 30, I could no longer
defend my peccadillos on basis of youth. I would have to acquire some
minimal sense of responsibility. While I didn't want to be a
grown-up, I wanted at least to act like one in the less toxic and
stultifying sense of the term.

• John Perry Barlow

Below is the list of 25 Principles he gave for Adult behavior:

PRINCIPLES OF ADULT BEHAVIOR

1. Be patient. No matter what.
2. Don't badmouth: Assign responsibility, never blame. Say nothing behind another's back you'd be unwilling to say, in exactly the same tone and language, to his face.
3. Never assume the motives of others are, to them, less noble than yours are to you.
4. Expand your sense of the possible.
5. Don't trouble yourself with matters you truly cannot change.
6. Expect no more of anyone than you yourself can deliver.
7. Tolerate ambiguity.
8. Laugh at yourself frequently.
9. Concern yourself with what is right rather than whom is right.
10. Never forget that, no matter how certain, you might be wrong.
11. Give up blood sports.
12. Remember that your life belongs to others as well. Do not endanger it frivolously. And never endanger the life of another.
13. Never lie to anyone for any reason.
14. Learn the needs of those around you and respect them.
15. Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that.
16. Reduce your use of the first personal pronoun.
17. Praise at least as often as you disparage.
18. Never let your errors pass without admission.
19. Become less suspicious of joy.
20. Understand humility.
    21 Forgive.
21. Foster dignity.
22. Live memorably.
23. Love yourself.
24. Endure.

I don't expect the perfect attainment of these principles. However, I post them as a standard for my conduct as an adult. Should any of my friends or colleagues catch me violating any one of them, bust me.

• John Perry Barlow October 3, 1977

I found a link to this email at kottke

And I find it an excellent set of guidelines to strive towards. Hats off to you, Mr. Barlow, and thank you for all the great work