13 Pieces of Life Advice From Mr. Feeny That Are Still So True Today

Sometimes Mr. Feeny simply reached the end of his rope, and in this case it was when he was faced with the cutting edge technology of the 90s and how it distracted his students. Thankfully Mr. Feeny never had to navigate Snapchat, but maybe he could inspire all of us to unplug a little.

Guttenburg's generation thirsted for a new book every six months. Your generation gets a new webpage every six seconds. And how do you use this technology? To beat King Koopa and save the princess. Shame on you. You deserve what you get.

The world can be tough, and Mr. Feeny understood that. So he suggested everyone just accept that unpredictability:

We live in a random and chaotic universe.

Mr. Feeny molded young minds, but he also wanted them to develop on their own so they could trust their own intuition. It wasn't about following him, but forging your own path.

If you search your heart and listen to its instruction, you won't go wrong.

Even though Mr. Feeny prepared his students for the world, he also knew that there wasn't an answer for every question. Uncertainty should be embraced, too.

In the course of your education you have always been taught to look for the right answer. But you must also know that in life, sometimes the right answer is that there isn't one.

Look, it's not all about meaningful messages. Sometimes Mr. Feeny was just sassy for the sake of it and that's just as important. When Feeny criticized Cory's chocolate bar breakfast in the very first episode, Cory countered that the coffee Feeny was sucking down wasn't exactly a "high-vitamin astronaut drink." But Feeny's wit would not be bested by a sixth grader.

There is no gravity in space, Mr. Matthews, therefore astronauts suck up. Learn from them.

When Cory was having trouble deciding if he should move on at the end of the series, Mr. Feeny turned to metaphor to make his point.

See that flower? That flower was in a small pot in my living room but it outgrew its surroundings so I transplanted it here in the garden. Now when I pulled the flower out of the small pot in my living room, it resisted a little, you know? It tried to hang on by its roots. I had to force it out. [...] I thought that if I left it there, it would stop growing.

A big speech isn't always necessary to make a point. Mr. Feeny could be just as impactful with a concise statement that said a lot in a few words.

You don't have to be blood to be family.

When discussing what it meant to be a hero, Mr. Feeny explained that there were multiple definitions.

A firefighter can be a hero. I knew a man who worked in a factory for 30 years at a job that he hated. It was the only way he could support his family. I felt that he was a hero. But to me, a real hero is someone who does the right thing when the right thing isn't the easy thing to do.

Mr. Feeny was a big proponent of allowing yourself to change, as long as you also stayed true to who you are and didn't let others influence you.

If you let people's perception of you dictate your behavior, you will never grow as a person.

The many friendships at the heart of Boy Meets World were some of the best parts of the show, and Mr. Feeny knew why.

Friendship, for example, is a real gift. And it's given with no expectation and no gratitude is necessary. Not between real friends. You think about that.

Though he was a teacher, Mr. Feeny knew it wasn't all about book learning. Knowledge came in many forms.

You see, Mr. Matthews, education is not about obscure facts and little test scores. Education is about the overall affects of years of slow absorption. Concepts, philosophies, approaches to problem solving. The whole process is so grand and all-encompassing that it really can't be threatened by the occasional late night no-hitter.

Mr. Feeny might have been a romantic at heart, because he spoke multiple times about the importance of having love in your life.

I believe that when you find love you hold onto it and cherish it because there is nothing finer and it may never come again. And that, my dears, is the most important thing I could teach you.

Perhaps the most emotional Mr. Feeny quote of all is also the one actor William Daniels told Buzzfeed was his very favorite:

Believe in yourself. Dream. Try. Do good.

It was Feeny's last piece of advice before the show ended, and resonated with Daniels for that reason. "Boy, I was close to tears, frankly — it had been seven seasons," he said. "But that was it, that is what I’ll always remember, yes."

Mr. Feeny's wisdom carried on long after Boy Meets World ended, and it's as meaningful now as it was then.