A wise wise man.
Willie Nelson full of these little nuggets of wisdom. Just yesterday, I stumbled across one:
“Marijuana is like sex. If I don't do it every day, I get a headache."
– Willie Nelson
— Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) January 8, 2021
But it goes deeper…
"As adults, we try to relax from the never-ending quest for reason & order by drinking whiskey or smoking whatever works for us, but the wisdom isn't in the whiskey or the smoke. The wisdom is in the moments when the madness slips away and we remember the basics.”
-Willie Nelson
— Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) November 10, 2020
Good stuff.
In a recent interview with Slate, Willie got to sharing some more of that signature Willie Nelson wisdom. When asked about his lengthy career, in particular, as a young man, what did he think about being old? And now that he’s older, what does he understand about being young, Willie answered as only the great Willie Nelson can:
“Well, when I was young, I was pretty dumb. And now that I’m older, I’m pretty fucking dumb. I don’t know everything, and I think I do. So there’s the problem. I didn’t ever think I’d get this old… I always thought I was lucky to make it past 21.”
When asked if there was anything he’d tell his younger self:
“Well, I don’t know that anything I would say now is anything that I would’ve listened to back then. I was still too stubborn to listen to anything or anybody, and I’ve had a lot of bruises because of it. And I’ve lived through it. But I don’t know that if I went back I’d change anything.”
Take notes people (even though he says he’s still pretty fucking dumb).
You’re never old enough to know it all. When I turned 22, I looked back on 18 and thought, “man, was I a dumbass.” And then I turned 27 and looked back on 22 and thought, “man, was I a dumbass. And now at 32, I look back on 27 and think, “man, was I a dumbass.” Something tells me it’s going to be that way forever, and it’s probably the same experience for just about everybody. Hopefully we can all do well to realize it in the moment as we move along through this crazy little thing called life. Kinda heavy for a Friday afternoon, eh? Oh well…
God bless Willie Nelson
Willie’s upcoming Frank Sinatra tribute album, That’s Life, is due out on February 26th.
