All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

"All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten" is a book of short essays by Robert Fulghum, first published in 1986.

The title of the book is taken from the first essay in the volume, in which Fulghum lists lessons normally learned in American kindergarten classrooms and explains how the world would be improved if adults adhered to the same basic rules as children, i.e. sharing, being kind to one another, cleaning up after themselves, and living "a balanced life" of work, play, and learning.

The book contains fifty short essays, ranging in length from approximately 200 to approximately 1,000 words, which are ruminations on topics ranging from surprises, holidays, childhood, death, and the lives of interesting people including Mother Teresa. In his introduction, Fulghum describes these as having been "written over many years and addressed to friends, family, a religious community, and myself, with no thought of publication in book form."

Although amazingly popular, some critics found Fulghum's essays (especially the title piece) to be trite and saccharine. Fulghum addresses this in an essay in his subsequent book, "It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It" wherein he mentions "grown-up" subjects such as sexuality.

Fulghum worked with Ernie Zulia (Director) and David Caldwell (composer and music director) to create a musical based on Kindergarten (Mill Mountain Theatre, Roanoke VA, June, 1992) of the same name, and an extension of the third book in his trilogy, "Uh Oh", called "Uh Oh, Here Comes Christmas." (Mill Mountain Theater, Roanoke VA, December 1998)

Over nearly two decades, the title essay, "All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten," has spawned countless parodies involving television shows, movies, books, and other phenomena. The standard format mirrors Fulghum's own work, starting with "All I Really Need To Know I Learned From [name] ," followed by a list of quotes and/or in-jokes from the subject being parodied.

Bart Simpson's chalkboard gag in You Only Move Twice is "I did not learn everything I need to know in kindergarten". Fulghum was a member of The Rock Bottom Remainders, a group where Matt Groening too was a member.