All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Some wisdom doesn’t come from textbooks or grand speeches. It comes from sandpits, shared snacks, and learning to say “sorry.” Robert Fulghum’s All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten reminds us that the foundations of a good life—and a good marriage—are often the simplest things: play fair, clean up your mess, say please and thank you, and hold hands when you cross the street.

In a world that loves to overcomplicate, this reading brings us back to basics. It’s a reflection on kindness, honesty, and human decency—qualities that turn an ordinary life into an extraordinary one when shared with someone you love.

This potential wedding reading captures that spirit perfectly.

All of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school. These are the things I learned… Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Give them to someone who feels sad. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day. Take a nap every afternoon. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.