{"id":226795,"date":"2026-05-11T03:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T03:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/226795\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T03:01:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T03:01:19","slug":"words-of-wisdom-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/226795\/","title":{"rendered":"Words of Wisdom – The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

When our younger son was deep in a picky eating stage, my husband and I would often tell him: \u201cDon\u2019t yuck someone else\u2019s yum.\u201d He didn\u2019t have to eat everything being served, but he couldn\u2019t be rude. We repeated it whenever he sneered at the fish, meat or \u2014 heaven forbid \u2014 green vegetables on our plates.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, his picky eating has mostly faded. But the expression has stuck around, and it has grown to encompass much more than food. I find myself reminding both of our sons not to \u201cyuck\u201d other people\u2019s tastes, passions, or the things that make them happy. It may not be great poetry, and they may roll their eyes at me, but it is a pithy reminder of the virtues of tolerance.<\/p>\n

For Mother\u2019s Day, my colleagues on the Well desk asked Times readers to share their moms\u2019 favorite expressions, and we were flooded with more than 5,000 submissions. It gave me hope that my own favorite saying will stick with my sons.<\/p>\n

We have picked a handful of readers\u2019 responses to share in today\u2019s newsletter.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019ll quilt out.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mom was a quilter, as am I. If there was a small mistake in a quilt project, once the final stitches were in and the project was washed, no one would ever see the problem. Most things just don\u2019t have to be perfect. \u2014 Laura Falk, 57, St. Louis, Missouri<\/p>\n

\u2018All people bring joy: some by coming, some by going!\u2019<\/p>\n

It\u2019s such a lighthearted way to reframe interactions with difficult people. Always makes me laugh! \u2014 Michelle Pauk, 42, Franklin, Tennessee<\/p>\n

\u2018\u5c11\u5403, \u591a\u6ecb\u5473\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cEat less, taste more.\u201d At a time of scarcity of food during the war, mother used to say her motto to us at meal time. \u2014 Christa Shih, 92, New York City<\/p>\n

\u2018Knock with your elbows.\u2019<\/p>\n

It meant show up at a friend\u2019s place burdened with contributions for the party. \u2014 Natalie Serber, 64, Portland, Oregon<\/p>\n

\u2018Better to wear out than rust out.\u2019<\/p>\n

Having had polio, my mother\u2019s inclination was toward motion, in which she often was a blur. She could best her three daughters in sports and accomplish more in a day than all of us combined. \u2014 Catherine R. Seeley, 78, Easton, Maryland<\/p>\n

\u2018A man riding by on a fast horse would never notice.\u2019<\/p>\n

She used to say this whenever I complained that something wasn\u2019t perfect. It taught me to always remember that \u201cgood enough\u201d is good enough. \u2014 Susan Moxon, 81, San Diego, California<\/p>\n

\u2018Tout passe et tout s\u2019efface, sauf les souvenirs.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything passes and everything fades away, except memories.\u201d I find myself using my Haitian mom\u2019s saying whenever someone frets over something of little importance. \u2014 Babette Wainwright, 73, Madison, Wisconsin<\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t push the river.\u2019<\/p>\n

Now I say this to friends \u2014 stop striving and forcing outcomes, trust the natural flow of life, let go and stay present. \u2014 Julie Merrick, 56, Olympia, Washington<\/p>\n

\u2018Sing out, Louise!\u2019<\/p>\n

To my mom, this line from the musical \u201cGypsy\u201d meant always let your presence be known. Make a choice, be specific and carpe diem. \u201cCurtain up, light the lights!\u201d \u2014 Jonathan Cobrda, 35, New York City<\/p>\n

\u2018Never pass up an opportunity to pee.\u2019<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very true, especially on road trips, but it also has a deeper meaning in my life: Take care of something when you get the chance. \u2014 Cari Stoltz, 42, Richland Center, Wisconsin<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m in your pocket.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mom always said this to me, and it made me feel safe. Now that she is gone, I hear her in my mind\u2019s ear and know she is still always with me. \u2014 Julie Lewis, 70, Providence, Rhode Island<\/p>\n

And you can find much more motherly wisdom in our full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

THE LATEST NEWSHantavirusTHE SUNDAY DEBATE<\/p>\n

Countries have been scrambling to contain a hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship. Though experts say the risk to the public is low, the outbreak has raised a question: Are we ready for the next pandemic?<\/p>\n

Yes. The mRNA approach, used for the Covid-19 vaccines, can help develop vaccines a lot faster than before, and A.I. can help identify and track possible threats, Andrew Thurston writes for The Brink<\/a>: \u201cWith the mRNA platform in place and proven, it could rapidly be turned against other diseases in future.\u201d <\/p>\n

No. Funding for pandemic countermeasures have fallen, and the world is overly reliant on the U.S. for research, Dr. Alex Asamoah Ankomah writes for Geographical<\/a>: \u201cIn the wake of the carnage from the Covid-19 pandemic, the public rightly expects us to be better prepared, not less, for future outbreaks and to collaborate more closely.\u201d<\/p>\n

FROM OPINION<\/p>\n

Molly Jong-Fast tried to emulate her famous mother, the novelist Erica Jong. It didn\u2019t work: \u201cI became the kind of woman my mother used to make fun of<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carving station: Spaniards line up<\/a> to eat ham prepared by Ernesto Soriano, one of the world\u2019s best slicers of jam\u00f3n ib\u00e9rico.<\/p>\n

Voice of nature: David Attenborough celebrated his 100th birthday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Context: Silicon Valley oligarchs worried about the risks their technology posed to the world. They forgot about people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SPORTS<\/p>\n

M.L.B.: Bobby Cox led the Atlanta Braves to five National League pennants and a World Series championship in the 1990s. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 as \u201cone of the most successful managers in history.\u201d He died at 84<\/a>.<\/p>\n

N.B.A.: The draft lottery is at 3 p.m. Eastern on ABC. John Hollinger\u2019s rankings offer some options for who the winner will take at No. 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

College softball: Yesterday, U.C.L.A.\u2019s Megan Grant broke the sport\u2019s 31-year-old home run record. Read more about the player known as \u201cChef Megan<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

BOOK OF THE WEEK\"Elisabeth<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAngel Down,\u201d by Daniel Kraus: Few authors can pull off a novel that unfolds in a single sentence, but Kraus nailed it, landing this year\u2019s Pulitzer Prize for fiction. \u201cAngel Down,\u201d one of the Book Review\u2019s 10 Best Books of 2025<\/a>, tells the dizzying and gruesome story of a group of World War I soldiers who encounter a fallen angel on the battlefield. Our reviewer described the novel as a \u201cthunderous gallop,\u201d adding, \u201cThe conclusion is a stunner, although I\u2019m not sure if a book that ends with a comma rather than a period can be said to conclude at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"David<\/a><\/p>\n

This week\u2019s subject for The Interview is Ramit Sethi, a personal finance expert and the author of \u201cI Will Teach You to Be Rich.\u201d He also helps couples with their finances on his podcast, \u201cMoney for Couples.\u201d<\/p>\n

I see couples come on your show, and to outward appearances they look like they should be doing well, but they\u2019re really struggling. They\u2019re talking about losing their house or the specter of divorce because of tensions around money. And on the other side you have people on the show who have a lot of money but seem completely unable to enjoy it. It all paints a grim portrait. What do you think your podcast is saying about American society?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise to me that money is fraught and that even the people I have on the podcast who are multimillionaires \u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Aren\u2019t happy!<\/p>\n

Yeah, they\u2019re not happy. You look at it from the outside and go, \u201cThat is shocking.\u201d I have couples who are two months away from running out of money \u2014 and they have kids! They will lose their house, they will lose their multiple vehicles, they are months away from it, and they\u2019re remarkably lackadaisical about it. They have never really faced any consequences. When I ask them, \u201cWhat are the consequences that you have faced?\u201d\u2026 \u201cOh, I have $25,000 of credit card debt.\u201d I ask, \u201cHow does that affect you day to day?\u201d \u2026 \u201cNothing. It\u2019s just a number.\u201d<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t help that we live in a society that thinks people who have money are better than people who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bizarre relationship. We love the wealthy in America. We aspire to be them. But we hate them. We hate them for evading tax increases. We hate them for being evil capitalists. And these simple labels actually do us a disservice. We need to understand that just because you have money does not mean you are evil or bad. But if you have billions and you argue against paying a slight marginal tax increase \u2014 you might be an asshole.<\/p>\n

Read more of the interview here<\/a>. Or watch a longer version on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Mother\u2019s Day. If you can, you should cook a great meal for your mom, or someone\u2019s mom. If you have kids, appoint them as your sous-chefs and tablescapers. It doesn\u2019t have to be fancy. Just try to make it nice! And don\u2019t worry too much about the recipe selection \u2014 Emily Weinstein, the editor in chief of NYT Cooking, has some great recs<\/a>, including gnocchi and peas with whipped feta and butter-basted steak with asparagus.<\/p>\n

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