Asklemmy

“Don’t regret. Remember.” From the movie “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.” Changed how I think about a lot of the events in my past. The director said that fans have come up to her and shown her tattoos of that line, so it’s not just me.

This line from Schindler's List always stuck with me:

“Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.”

The context is that at the end of the movie Schindler is distraught thinking of how many more he could have saved if he just did certain things differently, like selling a ring and using that money to hire another Jewish worker. One of the people he saved tells him the above line.

It's stuck with me for two reasons, I think.

First, it's an interesting perspective on individuality. Each person has their own unique perspective of the world. When that person dies, that perspective is gone forever. An entire universe dies with them, never to be seen again. I think that's a powerful way to view the individual.

Second, it's a reminder that we do what we can, and while it may be imperfect, it's enough. You can't save everyone, just live well and help those you can in the capacity that you can. If you save one of those people, you've saved the world.

THERE IS NO JUSTICE, JUST US. ~Mort

From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me

Everything remains possible, as long as you don't choose.

Mr. Nobody (2009)

A teacher of mine once said:"I can't understand, why a person needs a ton, to move itself."

20 years later I found r/fuckcars.

I heard one once that goes like "a fool does what he hates, a wise man does what he loves, but a great man learns to love what is necessary."
I think I am butchering the original phrasing which is probably why I can't find any source for this quote. But I think about it a lot.

The future is no place to place your better days.

My grandfather used to tell me: "What I know is that I know nothing". He used to tell me that even in his old age, he was still amazed by the things he discovered, just like a child. That taught me to always be humble and to understand the point of view of others and to always learn in life. So I will always remember this quote.

A little cheesy, but in middle school we read this essay called “Give!” By Anne Frank

How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment; we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straight away

Her excitement is what always stuck with me

Decide what you're gonna do before you do it.

When I was like 8, a liftee at my local ski hill told me that as I dangled from the chairlift about 5 feet off the ground because I waffled getting on the lift.

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got."

Usually comes to mind when people are waiting around for others to solve their problems for them.

"Live on, survive, for the Earth gives forth wonders. It may swallow your heart, but the wonders keep on coming. You stand before them bareheaded, shriven. What is expected of you is attention."

Salman Rushdie, from The Ground Beneath Her Feet.

A more recent one, meditation-related, short and simple and I have no idea who said it, I just happened to catch it a couple of years ago on a website-that-shall-not-be-named:

"I am not my thoughts."

Sometimes the good you do, doesn’t do you any good.

There's no room on Mars for limp dicks.

It's a quote for a horrible 90s indie film that's always struck with me for some reason. My social group and I have since taken this quote as an absolute/truism that gets referenced whenever a situation calls for absolute certainty. Because as we all know, there's no room on Mars for limp dicks.

"Get to the Choppa"

If you hide your whole life, you'll forget who you are.

Misery isn’t a currency. (this applies to when you make yourself suffer with sadness as a way to buy yourself out of guilt)

This was told to my by my best friend over 30 years ago, he passed away on Thursday.

You brush at night to keep your teeth.

You brush in the morning to keep your friends.

“When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all”. -God (futurama)

This little quote helps make me thorough in my work

Theres two -

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" - Dr. Seuss

And a recent one - "Your life starts where your comfort zone ends"

"Never underestimate the power of denial."

― Ricky Fitts (American Beauty)

I now constantly test myself to see if I'm overlooking the truth. Refusal to admit reality or refusal to acknowledge an unpleasant truth can ultimately hold you back.

This too shall pass.

"Be Better", a college professor/mentor always aid that to me. Whenever I think about taking the easy way or the shortest way I just say "Be Better" and then do the right thing.

Don't hold grudges. While you're holding a grudge, the other guy's out dancing.

“You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

I have two that keep finding their way to be relevant. "smooth seas never made a skilled sailor" and "dont break anything you cant fix"

May the bridges I burn light the way.

"The name's Bond, James Bond". Because of that quote, I have never failed to remember James Bond's name.

"Friends and Family fuck you first". Sounds like a pretty shitty quote, but it proves to be true as you get older.

Time is the most expensive currency. You will never ever get back the time spent. So spend it wisely.

When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die! You don't know whose children are going to scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning: Sit — down — and — talk!

Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor

We suffer more in imagination than reality

Comparison is the thief of joy.

“One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.”

• Bertrand Russell

Not sure where it is from, misquoting and probably butchering the quote:

"If you think a headache is bad, break your arm then the headache doesn't feel so bad anymore"

Basically if something is bad, but something worse comes along, then the bad thing doesn't seem so bad anymore

Update:

Because this has got me thinking, going to update when I quote source ( also don't want to double post)

Heard in Mass Effect 2, Thane quoting:

"When all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every man, by victory or death." Thomas Hobbes

"Oh, monsters are scared, that's why they're monsters" The Ocean at the End of the Lane

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler"

"It's easy to grab a tiger by it's balls, but it takes a real man to squeeze"

• idontrememberwhereigotitfrom

"You wouldn't worry what other people thought of you if you knew how seldom they did" ... good for those awkward teenage years. Conversely, it also highlights the value of receiving and giving attention.