I have noticed that there are many things that I have been told to do or not to do growing up, and I must say now that I'm older, these statements just do not seem to be true. Maybe it hasn't been long-term enough for me to really see the end results, or maybe it's just crap.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.
Who hasn't heard this rhyme? Supposedly, there is no power behind words. But once you get old enough people readily admit that there is indeed a great deal of strength behind what others say about you and what you say. Word-of-mouth can make you or break you. "The pen is mightier than the sword."

You have to do your best in school, study hard, and get good grades to succeed.
I did all three of those. And right now I'm working part-time at McDonald's. There are kids who slacked off their first two or three years of high school who still managed to get into college. You don't specifically need a diploma. You can just get a G.E.D. and you can still get accepted. Heck, Bill Gates is a high school drop-out and yet he has over $50 billion dollars.

You shouldn't be concerned about the opposite gender until you're older.
Does that even work? It didn't for me. When school and work are more important than the opposite gender, you eventually find yourself getting too caught up in them to ever focus on men/women, or so it seems to me.

Post any others that you've heard over the years. I'd like to see some opinions on why we, as kids and teens, would be told these things.