Words to live by... Hey, what's your motto?

[m1469]

This thread is dedicated to words that have stuck with you over the years, something that is in your core or that just comes to mind every now and again.  Maybe something that has gotten you through really hard times, given you inspiration, or words that just sit quietly by your side.  Favorite quote?  Perhaps you will sum up in a few words or sentences, your general motto in life?

I am just interested 


Here are some of my current ones (I will probably add more): 

*How ?

*If s/he did it, so can I !

*Things are rarely what they seem




m1469

[pseudopianist]

When life sucks there is always food and dinner to look toward to.

[Glissando]

One that's really been stuck in my head for a couple months-
"Don't die wondering."
I heard one of my fav. tennis players say that.
That can be taken in a lot of different ways... it probably means something different to everyone. But when I think of it, I think of all the people I know who didn't go into what they loved for their profession and instead did something "practical," and are always thinking 'what if I really did X..." And I think, I am NOT going to do that...

[pianonut]

they should have a t-shirt shop for pianists - there are so many mottos at pac sun (where my son likes to shop).  he bought one that said 'i hate homework' and on the back in small print 'will you do it for me?'

now, i never raised him to be like this.  i feel like chicken little running around.  then at 8 pm he tells me he has a book report.  did you read the book?  well, a bit here and there.  so about 10 o'clock we've read most of the parts he hadn't read and discussed, and get writing.  ok.  my motto:

'never put off for tommorrow what you can do today.'  all those little bits of practice time add up (even if they are minutes).

[Tash]

'whatever you are, be a good one' so put some kind of effort into everything you do- if you're gonna cane it, cane it well, if you're gonna mess it up, put some effort into and and really mess it up!

[ted]

I do not live by a single motto, aphorism, quote or wise saying. There are thousands of good ones, many of which are right in one particular way. For instance the one I quote on my signature is exactly what I do regarding music, and an excellent maxim for art, but Aleister Crowley himself applied it to life, which is ridiculous. Many of these sayings are false, incomplete or contradictory in pairs, e.g. "Many hands make light work" and "Too many cooks spoil the broth", "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" and "Out of sight out of mind".

I generally find my life is far too complicated to direct through the meaning of one sentence.

[m1469]

I generally find my life is far too complicated to direct through the meaning of one sentence.

He he he hee... lol, you just did    (maybe that was on purpose  )

[lagin]

Duhh!  Many hands don't make light work.  Electricians do!  Couldn't resist.  My dad says this all the time.  Guess what his vocation is!

[Waldszenen]

It's nice to be important, but it's important to be nice.

[Torp]

I guess I'm kind of with Ted.  I don't have a single motto by which I live.  Hmm....maybe that's why I personally lack focus?

I usually look for thoughtful quotes, sometimes inspiring, sometimes not, that help me get through the day/week.  I post these at the entrance to my office and my whole department has gotten used to coming by to see what the 'latest' thought for the day is.  I have 3 current postings:

"Violence is the last resort of the incompetent." Isaac Asimov

"I have nothing to say of my working life.  Only that a tie is a noose and, inverted though it is, it will hang a man nonetheless if he's not careful."  Yann Martel (The Life of Pi)

"Do you realize you are trading your life for what you do every day?  Is the trade worth it?"

That's about it for this week.

Jef

[xvimbi]

No matter how complicated my life is, I do indeed have a single motto that it all comes down to for me:

Live and let live.

[anda]

When life sucks there is always food and dinner to look toward to.

the version  i heard is a bit different : life sucks and then you die

words i live by: why?

[Derek]

"There are only two creatures of value in this world, those who are committed and those who require the committment of others." - This was said by John Adams in the musical 1776, I am uncertain whether the real John Adams said it, nor do I care. I agree with it.

I have a few others but a few of them were already mentioned on this thread. 

[puma]

"Life's a pregnant dog but god forbid the pregnant dog to boss me" - Nas

[Waldszenen]

During a crisis, the British make a cup of tea.

[chopinisque]

"Violence is the last resort of the incompetent." Isaac Asimov

Oh, I love that one.

Another favourite would be "we are faced with a problem that cannot be solved by a rational means."  -  Bene Gesserit to Tleilaxu Master, Dune Chronicles, Herbert something...

[klavierkonzerte]

one of my favorites is
(dead fish swims with the flow)

[galonia]

Life is about deciding who to disappoint.

[claudio]

i always loved:

omnia mutantur, nihil interit
(latin for: everything changes but nothing gets lost)

or

we need more teachers and less preachers
(salman rushdie)

[m1469]

you can always make imrpovements

[allchopin]

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
 -Will Rogers

[klavierkonzerte]

here one by my aunts friend.

life sucks we only live it because if you kill yourself you'll go straight to hell.

[m1469]

Brush your teeth 

[keys]

"Cheer up! The worst is yet to come!" - Mark Twain

"Blessed is the man, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact."
- George Eliot

Dew knot trussed yore spell chequer two fined awl yore mistakes.
 - Brendan Hills

[Bob]

Whatever works

What it takes  (difficult to stick to)

Whatever gets the job done


There is no spoon.

[pianonut]

ok Bob.  i have to return a favor.  can you explain 'there is no spoon?' 

in our house 'there are no socks.'  and, often on bad days all the teaspoons are in cups or variously scattered on plates and near the hot chocolate.  where do all the spoons go?  where do all the socks go?  the hairbands.  the bobby pins?  the safety pins?  why are there only half the patterns in the pattern?  does this represent a state of life?  will i need a feeding tube near the end of my life?  will someone pull it out?  will i be stuck with no food?  (possibly in the same room as the refrigerator)  will someone have to roll me over? 

ps. did you know in the 1800's it was common for schooning mast climbers to fall 160 feet (like a sack of beans) and be bagged and thrown overboard?  what happens to squirrels, deer, and skunks that die agonzing deaths on the highway while people drive by?  will we be responsible for finishing them off if our eyesight is not good at night.  (perish the thought).  i would not want to be run over multiple times. 

[Skeptopotamus]

i do it because i can.

[Siberian Husky]

"Whatever i want! Whenever i want! Whyever i want!"


"Thugged out since Cub scouts"

[outsyde yn]

my dad often says, "always remember Clair, the whole of existence is your teacher"  I love him so much he's really so smart.

bye
Clair

[kilini]

Question Everything.

Pragmatic but ain't humor. 

[mound]

"Peace, Love and Greasy Hair"

and

"Whatever you do, take care of your shoes"

 

[minimozart007]

Bach and the Bible

[lagin]

"Remember Clair, the whole of your existance is your teacher?"  I don't get it.  Somebody help the ignorant here!

[Bob]

ok Bob.  i have to return a favor.  can you explain 'there is no spoon?' 

Boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Boy: There is no spoon.

Neo: There is no spoon?

Boy: Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

https://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ThereIsNoSpoon

[outsyde yn]

"Remember Clair, the whole of your existance is your teacher?"  I don't get it.  Somebody help the ignorant here!

not the whole of my existence.  My dad means that i can learn from everything I do, and from every situation.  That I can learn from the entire universe even, oh my gosh!  He doesn't want me to forget so he always says "remember Clair...".  So I do    Like one time I went to get some eggs from my pet chicken and I tried to carry too many at once time and i dropped some on my way in.  I remembered my lesson that I learned to take things into chunks that I can handle, that's what my mom told me.   i remembered that when i teach myself music everyday.

Bye
Clair

[lagin]

Ooooohhhh...  I get it.  This is one of those times when I kick myself for not getting it sooner
Thanks.  You have cool parents.

[Muzakian]

The subscript beneath my post is probably the most accurate description of any motto I have. It is my tried-and-true method for coping with adversities. If you feel like a bad person or have low self-esteem, then do something nice for someone else, or focus on and improve your own talents (by playing the piano, perhaps?) - anything to give yourself the excuse to feel better about who you are. If you feel depressed then engage in pleasurable activities, or just simply smile. Eventually the act will become the reality.

"Assume a virtue, if you have it not."

It's nothing revelatory, I know, but it always makes life that little bit easier to live with.

[outsyde yn]

Ooooohhhh...  I get it.  This is one of those times when I kick myself for not getting it sooner
Thanks.  You have cool parents.

yeah my parents are really, really cool.  They let me move the piano into my room and they encourage me so much while I am growing up.  they are strict to, but they are nice.  my dad lets me help him change the oil of our car, he says it is something that is a good thing to know, even for girls.  Pretty soon maybe I will learn how to change a tire even.

bye,
Clair

[abell88]

Choose joy.

Alice

[Bob]

No limits

[pianonut]

excuse me, Bob, but your mind is bent.  (helps straighten it a bit by spooning some thoughts into his ear)

1. what do you do with a bent spoon anyway?
2. what if you need it to clean out the garbage disposal?
3.  what if it bends in the garbage disposal and you rebend it straight and then bend it again?  will it break?
4. do bent spoons work better for applesauce?
5.  what did the absolute worst spoon you have ever eaten off of look like?  did you bend it yourself, or did the Boy?
6.  did Neo ever go deep sea diving and get the bends?

[m1469]

Don't be afraid to take down from off that shelf the only candle within your possession, and seek out those other candles which you can light with that one little dancing flame.

[steinwayguy]

Well because of events in the last couple days,

Women = sh*t

[Triton LE 76]

Everyone is better than you..practice until you get better than them in YOUR opinion
nothing's impossible

[thalbergmad]

Life is like a pubic hair on a toilet seat. Sometimes you just get pissed off.

[rob47]

my motto has always been, "Don't worry Rob, it's hard being the best at everything."

and also,

"I'm a God-Like adonis"


Seriously though, my teacher always says "Play the piano don't let the piano play you."  That's a good motto to practice to.

Oh and one we all need to know is "Don't smoke crack."

[chopinetta]

oh i have a motto but i am still lazy anyway. only my friend has a use for it. that's why i either don't submit school papers or i submit them very late.

"Better late than never, but never late is better!"

[alraydo]

"If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it all over your shoes!"

[Bob]

Divide and conquer.

Just change one thing.  One thing can make a huge difference.

Don't worry about problems you can solve.  Don't worry about problem you can't solve.

[i_m_robot]

"I have nothing to say of my working life.  Only that a tie is a noose and, inverted though it is, it will hang a man nonetheless if he's not careful."  Yann Martel (The Life of Pi)

that's a great one

"close your eyes; this is life everything else is not"