advice from an elderly gentleman

JG: I can hazard only a guess at what he might say, but based on his
many published "admonitions for youth," I'd say this sums it up:

"Think for yourself. Fortune and misfortune: take neither personally.
You have to take a broooooaaaaad, general, view of things, you see."

Oh yes, and here's one he liked to remind people, noting "It may save
your life!" Goes like this:

"If you are holding onto a rope to a lighter-than-air balloon, and it
comes loose from its moorings and heads into the sky, LET GO OF THAT
ROPE! IMMEDIATELY!"