F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Advice for Daughter Scottie

In 1933, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a letter to his 11-year-old daughter Scottie — whose mother Zelda is rumored to have said, like Daisy Buchanan, that she hoped her daughter would be a “beautiful little fool” — and ended it with a list of things to worry about, not worry about, and think about.

Fitzgerald’s things to worry about are short: courage, cleanliness, efficiency, horsemanship. And then:

Things not to worry about:

Don’t worry about popular opinion
Don’t worry about dolls
Don’t worry about the past
Don’t worry about the future
Don’t worry about growing up
Don’t worry about anybody getting ahead of you
Don’t worry about triumph
Don’t worry about failure unless it comes through your own fault
Don’t worry about mosquitoes
Don’t worry about flies
Don’t worry about insects in general
Don’t worry about parents
Don’t worry about boys
Don’t worry about disappointments
Don’t worry about pleasures
Don’t worry about satisfactions

Don’t worry about the past, the future, or mosquitoes/flies/insects in general. Either Fitzgerald was writing this in the midst of a cicada swarm or Scottie was deathly afraid of bugs. Also: Scottie.