La mayor parte de la gran admiración que siento por Frank Sinatra no se debe a su música (aunque nadie duda de que ha sido una de las mejores voces, por no decir la mejor) ni al hecho de que probablemente haya sido, junto a Michael Jackson, el mejor showman de la historia. Lo que más me fascina, es que fue un claro ejemplo de saber vivir, algo que me parece extremadamente difícil.
La suya si que fue una vida plena. Actuaba, lo pasaba bien con la gente que le rodeaba (los relatos de sus noches con el resto del Rat Pack siguen siendo legendarias), tenía todo el dinero del mundo, ganó Oscars, Grammys y lo más importante: hacía lo que quería cuando quería.
También legendarias son sus citas, palabras que usaba como guía para su vida. Aquí os dejo unas cuantas lecciones sobre la vida, está más que claro que el hombre no decía más que verdades.
PROLOGUE
“I think my greatest ambition in life is to pass on to others what I know.”
STATEMENTS OF PURPOSE
“Live every day like it’s your last.”
“Stay alive, stay active, and get as much practice as you can.”
“You only live once – and the way I live, once is enough.”
FASHION
“Cock your hat–angles are attitudes.”
FAITH
“I believe in you and me. I’m like Albert Schweitzer and Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein in that I have a respect for life–in any form. I believe in nature, in the birds, the sea, the sky, in everything I can see or that there is real evidence for. If these things are what you mean by God, then I believe in God.”
WOMEN
“I’m supposed to have a Ph.D. on the subject of women. But the truth is I’ve flunked more often than not. I’m very fond of women; I admire them. But, like all men, I don’t understand them.”
“Never yawn in front of a lady.”
SURVIVAL
“Basically, I’m for anything that gets you through the night–be it prayer, tranquilizers or a bottle of Jack Daniels.”
LIBATION
“I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.”
“Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.”
PASSION
“You can be the most artistically perfect performer in the world, but an audience is like a broad–if you’re indifferent, Endsville.”
SUCCESS
“The best revenge is massive success.”
“Luck is only important in so far as getting the chance to sell yourself at the right moment. After that, you’ve got to have talent and know how to use it.”
“Fear is the enemy of logic. There is no more debilitating, crushing, self-defeating, sickening thing in the world–to an individual or to a nation.”
TOASTS
“Here’s to the confusion of our enemies!”
“May you live to be 100, and may the last voice you hear be mine.”
EPILOGUE
“Do be do be do”
