Thomas Jefferson's 10 rules

1. Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.

3. Never spend your money before you have earned it.

4. Never buy what you don't want because it is cheap.

5. Pride costs more than hunger, thirst and cold.

6. We seldom repent of having eaten too little.

7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.

8. How much pain the evils have cost us that have never happened ?

9. Take things always by the smooth handle.

10. When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry count to a hundred.

And also: 

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.

It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.