10 Life Lessons from Margo Channing

Bette Davis plays Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950). We can all learn a few things from the wonderful Margo; aging stage actress, drunk, and acid-tongued she-devil.

1. Never sell yourself short.

"I'll admit I may have seen better days, but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut."


2. Always give fair warning.

"Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"


3. Always respect the work of others.

"All playwrights should be dead for three hundred years!"

4. Call it like you see it.

"I'm a junkyard."


5. Take some time out to wallow in self pity.

"So many people know me. I wish I did. I wish someone would tell me about me."


6. Stick it to the man.

"Lloyd honey, be a playwright with guts. Write me one about a nice normal woman who just shoots her husband."

7. Always let your true feelings shine through

"Happy birthday, welcome home, and we who are about to die salute you."


8. Always be ready with a snappy comeback.

"Cut it! Print it! What happens in the next reel? Do I get dragged off screaming to the snake pits?"


9. A lady never reveals her age (except when drunk)

"Three months ago I was forty years old. Forty. Four-oh. That slipped out. I hadn't quite made up my mind to admit it. Now I suddenly feel as if I'd taken all my clothes off."

10. Feel free to contradict yourself.

"Everybody has a heart - except some people."

10 Life Lessons from The Princess Bride

Princesses, farm boys, pirates, torture, swordfighting, the fire swamp, rodents of unusual size, and Grandpa - there must be some important words of wisdom in there somewhere. Here are ten life lessons you can learn from watching the Princess Bride.

1. Try to keep old traditions alive.

"When I was your age, television was called books."


2. Don't be afraid to correct your boss.

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."


3. Names mean everything.

"No-one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Westley."

4. Always have something to fall back on.

"I just work for Vizzini to pay the bills. There's not a lot of money in revenge."


5. Always make the best of things.

"It's not that bad. Well  I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely."


6. Always give fair warning.

"Goodnight Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning."

7. It's OK to skip over the boring bits.

"They're kissing again. Do we have to read the kissing parts?"


8. Learn to accept the harsh truth.

"Life is pain highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."


9. Always have an answer for everything.

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

10. Sometimes, when people say one thing, they actually mean another.

"As you wish."



10 Life Lessons from The Big Lebowski

We can learn a lot from films. How to smoke cigarettes, use a record player, build yourself a rudimentary bomb - these are all things that can be picked up from the silver screen alone. But, we can also learn important skills that will stand us in good stead as we move through the unbearable cavalcade of horror that is called life. So put on your dressing gown, mix yourself up a White Russian, and appreciate your favourite rug while you can, as you revisit some home truths from The Big Lebowski. The Dude abides.

1. Always deliver results

"I can get you a toe by three o'clock this afternoon. With nail polish."


2. Appreciate the little things

"That rug really tied the room together."


3. Never be afraid to show emotion

"Strong men also cry... strong men also cry."

4. Play by the rules - when it suits you

"This is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules."


5. Don't sugarcoat the truth, even for your friends

"Walter, I love you, but sooner or later you're going to have to face the fact that you're a Goddamn moron."


6. Don't let people take you for a ride

"Just because we're bereaved, that don't make us saps!"

7. Always remember what you owe to people

"Lady, I got buddies who died face down in the mud so that you and I could enjoy this family restaurant!"


8. Learn to take the good with the bad

"Sometime you eat the bear, and sometimes, well, he eats you."


9. When you're in a hole, stop digging

"I could just be sitting here with pee stains on my rug."

10. Always know when to apologise

"I'm sorry your stepmother is a nympho."