The Ten Commandments -- Writer's Poke #86

For Writers:

Moses may lay claim to the most famous Ten Commandments list, but a quick Internet search shows that many other people have used the format for their own purposes.

Did you know that the Mafia has its own Ten Commandments list? It's true. My favorite is Commandment #2: "Never look at the wives of friends." This begs the question: are only men in the mafia? Can female mafia not look at their male friends' wives?

http://www.kottke.org/07/11/the-mafias-ten-commandments

Anyway...

In 1949, Major League Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick developed the Ten Commandments of Umpiring. Most of us, umpires or not, can probably work on Commandment #3: "Avoid sarcasm. Don't insist on the last word." Yeah, right.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/lifrick2.shtml

And then there are some people who just feel that Commandments is too harsh a word; if you're in that group, how about Ten Suggestions? The ten suggestions at the website with the same name make a lot of sense to me. What do you think? Will we see these in the Courthouses of Alabama any time soon?

http://thetensuggestions.com/

Today, come up with your own Ten Commandments (or Suggestions) list. Feel free to make it general to the principles of good living, or have some fun and make it specific to your career, family, specific hobby or interest area.

"'Thou shalt not get found out' is not one of God's commandments; and no man can be saved by trying to keep it." -- Leonard Bacon

"I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress." -- Ronald Reagan

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