Ernest Hemingway

“Before you act, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try.”  - Ernest Hemingway

I was asked to write an autobiography about what I believe in. I believe in love. I believe in faith. I believe in happiness, and I believe in hope. I believe that my actions shape my future and that my fate rests in my decisions. I am brought to these stepping stones in my life because I was meant to. Initially when I was looking for a naturalist or a critic who had the same beliefs as I did, I had no idea where to start. So, I simply googled “life quotes.” After looking at a couple websites I found one by Ernest Hemingway that I really liked reading. I went back to google and typed in “Ernest Hemingway.” Here, again I find this quote on goodreads.com.

“Before you act, listen.” My actions shape me as a person. If I impulsively act all of the time, which I am definitely guilty of doing so,  then I would be stuck in some seriously bad situations. I need to breathe, and listen. “Before you react, think.” Simply said, if you react before you listen or think, then boom, back into your bad situation. Life is all about the choices that you make. “Before you spend, earn.” Hello, credit cards. Perfect example for the life of a 21 year old female, however, I have outsmarted these con artists and I do not own one. “Before you criticize, wait.” I hate criticism in the first place, so I love this for the fact that you do need to wait and cannot judge a book by its cover. “Before you pray, forgive.” I think this is my favorite part of the quote in that it brings out my belief in faith. Finally, “Before you quit, try.” You will get nowhere in life if you do not try.

This quote defines me as a person because it has that “keep calm, and carry on” attitude about it. I have had hard times, and if I wasn’t as strong as I am I would have never made it past the bad and made it into this beautiful life I have now. I have a family; my beautiful 6 month old daughter, my unintelligent brown dog, and my amazing fiancé. I have a dysfunctional, yet perfect family and I’m marrying into the best family I could have asked for.