Asklemmy

"For every man there is a purpose which he sets up in his life. Let yours be the doing of all good deeds." Robin Hood quoteing the turk bible (quran)

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

"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.

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

"it's just work" --a buddy of mine

helps me every time I'm about to take something personal at work or am annoyed about processes.

"If you want to shine like sun, first you have to burn like it."

Not my circus, not my monkeys. Let go or get dragged.

I heard them from my mom who went to Al Anon (I was in alcoholics anonymous). The first one is don't make other people's problems your problems. The second relates to letting people make their own mistakes. They're the greatest teacher

"Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not." -Uncle Iroh (Avatar the Last Airbender).

I watched this show as a kid when it originally aired and this quote stuck with me. It's reminded me to make the best of the situation I'm currently in and enjoy the good things around me.

"Molten wounds still glow where the two nuclear bombs detonated. And I wonder, in my last moments, if the planet does not mind that we wound her surface or pillage her bounty, because she knows we silly warm things are not even a breath in her cosmic life. We have grown and spread, and will rage and die. And when all that remains of us is our steel monuments and plastic idols, her winds will whisper, her sands will shift, and she will spin on and on, forgetting about the bold, hairless apes who thought they deserved immortality."

-- Pierce Brown, Morning Star Novel (P. 166)

God gives his silliest battles to his funniest clowns

Not really a quote, but a poem that I read in school. It's called মৃত্যুঞ্জয় (The Death-defier). A rough translation is available here.

A couple of lines have stuck with me ever since.

''যখন উদ্যত ছিল তোমার অশনি

তোমারে আমার চেয়ে বড়ো বলে নিয়েছিনু গণি

তোমার আঘাত-সাথে নেমে এলে তুমি

যেথা মোর আপনার ভূমি।''

It translates roughly to

"When your thunder was ready to strike, I considered you mightier than me. But with your blows you came down. Here, with me, where I stand."

It has taught me not to fear hardships, since nothing is ultimate. Everything looks scary from afar. But if we have the grit and determination to face it, all will crumble in front of our might. Even death has nothing on us, since out deeds and achievements will live on. This poem has given me inspiration in dark times. It has reminded me that all hope is not lost, no matter how grim everything might seem.

My Dad: “If you see a problem and you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.”

Basically, if you can make things better, stop moaning and at least try.

(This also assumes you’re a properly adjusted individual)

"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people"

Perhaps its an overgeneralization, but I like the concept behind it and at least it keeps me from gossiping / talking about people behind their backs. I am mostly an average mind though, by this definition.

Thank you! This might be my favorite thread ever! I've learned more life lessons sitting in s coffee shop this morning than i have in the last 50 years. If i could remember any of these, i would probably be more kind, thoughtful, and appreciative.

When I was 11, my teacher told the class "if you don't have time, make time" and it just stuck to me ever since.

Now it just irritates me whenever someone says they don't have time.

If you loan someone $20 and never see them again, it was probably worth it.

(I propose replacing $20 with one day of your wages/salary, to keep up with your life situation and inflation)

Everything burns if the flame is hot enough, The world is nothing but a crucible. -Andrew Davidson - The Gargoyle.

"The enemy of good is perfect."

“Leaders lead by example.”

If you want to be a good leader, you have to be the first to follow your own rules.

"It's not the years, honey. It's the mileage."

• Indiana Jones

I have two that have stuck with me most my adult life-- and I find that they apply frequently.

I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it. And what is this liberty which must lie in the hearts of men and women? It is not the ruthless, the unbridled will; it is not freedom to do as one likes. That is the denial of liberty, and leads straight to its overthrow. A society in which men recognize no check upon their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few; as we have learned to our sorrow.

-- Judge Learned Hand, The Spirit of Liberty Speech, 1944

I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:

1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.

-- Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt, 2002

"Whoever can laugh at themself has the right to laugh at everything else they find funny" Lousily translated quote from Jaroslaf Werich

"One is free from depression when they derive their self worth from the truth of their own feelings, and not from the posession of certain things or qualities." - Alice Miller, The Drama of The Gifted Child

Do everything in moderation. Including moderation.

Helped me realize I don't need to be perfect all the time.

A Yes, a No, a straight line, a goal. Progress is meaningless unless it is aimed at something specific. - Nietzsche

But the Butthole Surfers said, "It's better to regret something you did than something you didn't do"

"Every path is the right path. Everything could've been anything else. And it would have just as much meaning."

From the movie Mr. Nobody. It's a good thought provoking movie despite Jared Leto.

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

And here is Jeff Goldblum it reciting from memory

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” - Ferris Beuller

So true

It hasn't been that long, only few years, but it always hits me deep:

"Everyone thinks they are the hero of their own story." - Handsome Jack

Probably not something original, but the voice acting and the scene it was in made it way more powerful than any philosopher in a book could.

Paraphrased probably, but:

“What is an ocean but a thousand drops?”

It’s a really good way to get rid of the mentality of one person can’t make a difference. Because everyone is a drop, and without so many drops, there is no ocean. Maybe one individual drop doesn’t truly make a difference alone. But what if every drop was gone?

It helps me feel that, even if the difference I make isn’t big enough to make an impact, an impact only exists BECAUSE of all the drops.

That goes for both positive and negative things. A thousand bad drops are needed to make a bad thing. A thousand good drops to make a good one.

"Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame."

"Psh, friends? Who needs them? They roll more off the line every day."

Sounds super callous out of context, but the guy was incredibly friendly and kind. He had originally moved across the country to where his wife was living, and at this point they were going through a really bad divorce. I strongly suspect his local support network was entirely her friends, and they were turning their backs on him. I always took it as advice on being unafraid to remove the people who are dragging you down, and be confident that there are better ones out there.

"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything." - Nietzsche

"You must know what happened happened and couldn't have happened any other way." -Morpheus

“The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday.” - unsure of who first said it

“I am a GOLDEN GOD!” - Almost Famous

It only ever ends once, everything else is just progress.

Jacob on Lost

"Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky, they are people who say 'This is my community and it's my responsibility to make it better.'" Tom McCall - Oregon Governor 1967-1975.