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Wisdom and History
The Original Hippie
When life gives you lemons…
Although few know his name, you’ve surely heard his words repeated many times. Known as the original hippie, he left a legacy of wit and wisdom that still resonates today.
The man
Elbert Hubbard was an American author, editor, publisher, and philosopher at the turn of the twentieth century. It’s said people either loved or hated him, with much controversy surrounding his life in his later years. He is often referred to as the original hippie and 19th-century hippie!
His most famous work was an essay titled A Message to Garcia, in which he bemoans the fate of the mindless worker. He is also known for his fourteen-volume work of Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great.
Pioneering mail-order merchandising in the late 1800s, Hubbard retired at 39 to establish Roycroft, an arts and crafts community in Aurora, New York. He coined the phrase, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
Born in 1856 in Illinois, he tragically perished at 58 when a German U-boat sank his ship off Ireland’s coast in 1915.
Hubbard’s words resonate with timeless wisdom, appearing as relevant today as when he penned them. Let’s examine eight of the many subjects he wrote about, specifically, life, friendship, attitude, thought, mistakes, work, fear, and death.
- Life: Hubbard reminds us, “Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive,” and “Life is a movement outward, an unfolding.” His maxim, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” captures his philosophy of resilience, as does his words that “Every knock is a boost.”
- Friendship: Hubbard’s insights on friendship highlight its delicate balance, unaffected by explanation or disagreement. He reminds us, “In order to have friends, you must first be one.” Likewise, he said, “Never explain — your friends do not need it, and your enemies will not believe you anyway.”
- Attitude: He championed a positive mental attitude as foundational to character, capable of influencing others positively when he wrote, “Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time,” and said, “Positive anything…
