- The School of Hard Knocks -

- life's toughest lessons are learned at the school of hard knocks -

The School of Hard Knocks represents the inevitable series of bad or undesirable events and eventualities that can be inflicted on us by Life - the misfortunes, set-backs, accidents, traumas and bereavements that be-devil our all too brief stab at existence. This school's lessons are learned the hard way - by experience - and until you have experienced your first metaphorical Hard Knock from the universe at large you can not say that you have attended the School of Hard knocks.

Graduating from the School of Hard Knocks

Only those truly aware of their own mortality can be said to have graduated from the school of hard knocks. Coming to the realization that we (and everyone else) WILL die sooner or later is the ultimate life lesson and, for the vast majority, it is a very sobering one - if not just plane terrifying.
      You must accept that at some point in the not too distant future Death's bony finger WILL point your way - and that there is NOTHING you can do to stop it. You can try to delay the inevitable all you want - but you WILL still die! Acceptance of Death is a part of growing up and becoming an adult - until then you are still a child.

Persons belonging to any of the following groups of people can be said to attend this school as a matter of course. If you don't belong to any of these groups, or to the one above, you cannot say that you went to the School of Hard Knocks... your life has been too easy and is as yet untested - wait till your first brush with misfortune or death!
All of the following automatically qualify for the School of Hard Knocks... whether they want to or not!

The Dispossessed, the Transient and the Homeless.

The Victimized and Oppressed.

The Criminal, the Subversive and the Raving Mad.

The Humble, the Meek and the Truly Virtuous.

The Misfits, the Weirdos and those Ahead of Their Time.

The Poor and Disenfranchised.

The Working Classes.

The Bereaved.

The Terrorized, the Terrified and the Fallen.

The School is a Faculty of the University of Life, the Universe and Everything.
Life is an education from start to finish. Experience leads to the knowledge of truth and to a healthy respect for stark reality. The path to truth in all its forms leads to understanding, wisdom and ultimately to Gnosis... learn how the World works so you can learn how to work the World - and you can look forward to a VERY dark sense of humour, for all those cold hard truths can be life-changingly harsh, but a healthy and cynical dose of Schadenfreude can get you through it... it's a survival thing! Imagining the worst thing that can happen is simply planning for the worst, hope for the best by all means, but prepare for the worst at all cost.

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Harbinger451, Principle at the School, is on Twitter