Those were Kenneth Bamford’s words of advice from his 100 years of life.
His family gathered in Del Mar on Monday to celebrate the milestone.
Kenneth’s son Mark said his father was a good man with a good heart.
"He’s always had a good heart.
"Just a good fella to be around and he loved doing all sorts of things like boating and making things and tramping," he said.
Mark said Kenneth really enjoyed visiting one of his other sons Peter in Darwin, Australia.
"He spent quite a bit of time in Darwin, in the tropics, he quite enjoyed it."
Kenneth was born and raised in Redcliffe in Queensland but spent most of his life in Christchurch.
An electrician by trade, he worked on hydro dams at Roxburgh and Benmore.
He moved back to Christchurch in the mid-1960s until 2011, when he shifted south to Oamaru following the Christchurch earthquakes.
"I was living here so he just came to here then," Mark said.
He recalled his father was always tinkering away with some project, whether it be a boat engine or a home-made table saw.
"He made everything.
"Fixes everything, makes everything," he said.
Kenneth married his wife Charmayne in 1951 and they were together for more than 60 years until she died in 2012.
The couple had three children and five grandchildren.
