Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

For me, it's a quote from Beowulf. Beowulf finally realizes what it is he's facing and after a night of drinking and partying, (preparing for his final battle with Grendel), he goes down to the beach and plants his sword in the tide, leaving it.

As he heads off to fight Grendel, he is asked, "why do you leave your sword?" and he answers "because you can't fight the sea with a sword".

I cannot believe how many times in my life that quote has popped into my head because it was relevant and helped me to deal with a situation.

You cannot fight the sea with a sword.

PS: If you respond, even just to comment, please include a quote or aphorism that has actually helped you in life. You don't even have to explain, but please give the source.

I have a couple more that I'll follow up with tomorrow.

natedogg

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details.
-Albert Einstein

If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep getting what were getting.
-Stephen Covey

Thus, the task is, not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees.
-Erwin Schrodinger

Docendo discimus
We learn by teaching.
-Latin Proverb.

The first one very commonly gives me goosebumps.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

Nate,

I'd be interested in a few stories where you think that quote helped you.

Personally, as a grad student I find this quote to be extremely important:

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
- Einstein

It's pretty clear to me that successful students, as far as getting a job and doing well in grad school after the classes are over, spend their time thinking on working on things. The unsuccessful students tend to continue trying to learn things. They are the ones that tend to take forever to finish, or they never do, despite the fact that they work and work and work.

For those that read my other thread, I think this is one reason that I haven't been a total failure as far as grad school goes. I have come up with some nice ideas, not as many as I would like naturally, that people seem to like. Despite not having finished anything completely the potential is there.

Even outside of academia, I think creative thought is majorly helpful. For example, when fixing something it is often hugely beneficial to figure out how to do it rather than just looking up how and following the directions.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven." -- Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, Chapter 5

Baywatch
 

[ QUOTE ]
Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life. For me, it's a quote from Beowulf. Beowulf finally realizes what it is he's facing and after a night of drinking and partying, (preparing for his final battle with Grendel), he goes down to the beach and plants his sword in the tide, leaving it.
<font color="white"> . </font>
As he heads off to fight Grendel, he is asked, "why do you leave your sword?" and he answers "because you can't fight the sea with a sword".
<font color="white"> . </font>
I cannot believe how many times in my life that quote has popped into my head because it was relevant and helped me to deal with a situation.
<font color="white"> . </font>
You cannot fight the sea with a sword.

[/ QUOTE ]Can you, please, clarify if Beowulf meant to use the sword to fight the sea in the first place ?

Because, otherwise, I admit I fail to see the significance of his statement, or why he planted his sword in the tide, leaving it there. He could have planted there his nail clipper and exclaim "You cannot fight the sea with a nail clipper".

Mickey Brausch

Re: Baywatch
 

"Distance lends perspective"--I printed this out in block letters and had it on my bedroom wall for years.

Re: Baywatch
 

I'll take a different angle here;

Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty [for threaded screws, bolts, etc.]

Never Eat Shredded Wheat [how i figure out what direction i'm going in]

"good ideas are worthless. hell, i could put 10 people in a room all day, and i bet i could get a hundred great ideas. it's actually doing something with the idea that is the hard part."

and

"if you have a truely good idea, finding money is the easiest part"

-Sam Shelton, professor of mine during college (designs the olympic torches now)

Re: Baywatch
 

"Deserve's got nothing to do with it"

Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven, standing over Gene Hackman who is pleading for his life: "I don't deserve to die"

"But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
We'ld jump the life to come" Macbeth. The project in mind does not have to be the brutal slaughter of all your rivals for this to be useful.

Re: Baywatch
 

"Remember now what you are about to fight for."
General George Washington

This quote reminds me that before I do anything important in life, it is valuable to take a moment to pause and reflect on my goals and aspirations for what I am about to do, in other words, what I am about to fight for.

Another patriotic one, the inscription on the tomb of the unknown soldier in D.C.:
"Beneath the stone rests a soldier of Washington's army who died to give you liberty."

This is just a powerful statement... as cliche as it sounds, I sometimes just have to sit back and appreciate those who have died for me to enjoy the freedom I enjoy.

Re: Baywatch
 

When in an argument with your woman, ask yourself:
"Would I rather be right, or happy"
-Dad

Unless you're absolutely, positively, 100% certain she's pregnant, never ask a woman when she's due.
-Mom

Re: Baywatch
 

[ QUOTE ]
"Distance lends perspective" -- I printed this out in block letters and had it on my bedroom wall for years.

[/ QUOTE ]How far from your bed ?

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"A quitter never wins. A winner never quits. But if you never win and never quit, you're an idiot."

"Get to work. You're not being paid for the power of your dreams."

Both of these are from despair.com, and both are prominently displayed on large posters in my office.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

[ QUOTE ]
both are prominently displayed on large posters in my office.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why? I mean, why displayed, not why do you like them?

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

When I feel, for whatever reason, more loving than loved, I find wisdom in these lines:

[ QUOTE ]
"How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me."

--W.H. Auden, The More Loving One

[/ QUOTE ]

This poem from Hart Crane has frequently helped me to grow from pain:

[ QUOTE ]
<u>The Hive</u>



Up the chasm-walls of my bleeding heart
Humanity pecks, claws, sobs, and climbs;
Up the inside, and over every part
Of the hive of the world that is my heart.


And of all the sowing, and all the tear-tendering,
And reaping, have mercy and love issued forth.
Mercy, white milk, and honey, gold love--
And I watch, and say, "These the anguish are worth."

[/ QUOTE ]

I find staggering wisdom in these lines from Hamlet; hearing them recited in a class once was one of the most intense experiences of my life:

[ QUOTE ]
Hamlet: Not a whit, we defy augury; there’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.

[/ QUOTE ]

--Nate

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
both are prominently displayed on large posters in my office.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why? I mean, why displayed, not why do you like them?

[/ QUOTE ]

The first one reminds me to avoid falling in love with my own arguments. It's the siren song of law practice. There's a delicate judgment call you must make from time to time: repeating an argument gives it added force, but repeat it too many times without winning it, and you're screwed. Too many people I've worked with don't get this right, and it reminds me to take time to think macroscopically about the arguments we're pushing.

I display the second one because I'm effing lazy. I could sit and daydream for hours about winning the WSOP ME or hanging out with the twins. But that doesn't bring home the bacon, and the poster is a constant reminder of the fact that if I really want the twins, I'd better keep my ass on the grindstone.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"Don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff."

- Richard Carlson

I never read the book, but I live by this motto. I lead a very low stress life.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"Allies do not require a common goal, only a common enemy."

- First read in "The Fountainhead", but it's been around for years in different forms.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

It is easier to ride a horse in the direction it is going.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"Sometimes you eat the bar, sometimes the bar eats you."

"Dude: I was feeling really [censored] earlier in the day, I'd lost a little money, I was down in the dumps.
Tony: Forget about it.
Dude: Yeah man! [censored] it! Can't worry about that [censored], life goes on man."

Both from The Big Lebowski. I can be a high strung dude at times and these quotes remind me of the importance of relaxation. They also make me laugh to beat the bush.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

Although recent events in my life have me thinking that I may be realizing my dreams too slowly, I have always found utility in the story of the young bull and the old bull:

A young bull and an old bull are standing atop a hill, watching a group of cows grazing below. The young bill says "I'm going to run down this hill and f*ck one of those cows." The old bull slowly lifts his head, looks at the young bull, and says "I'm going to walk down there, and f*ck them all."

This story is a common one (I've since heard it from my uncle, and a business consultant I met at a conference), but it was a basketball coach my sophomore year in high school that first relayed it to me. He would occasionally remind me of it if he thought I or the team were getting a little bit out of control and needed to slow the tempo down (I was the point guard, so that was my job). He was something of a yeller and screamer, an in-your-face type, but in these instances, he's just calmly say to me "Rocky (my nickname at the time), be the old bull."

Like I said, I sometimes wonder if I'm too laid-back about pursuing what I want do in life, but being the old bull has served me well in countless instances.

-McGee

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

Some horrible misquotes :

"Don't bother memorizing something that can be easily looked up" - Einstein

"The theory didn't seem to be true and kept running into these problems with infinity, but we just knew it was so beautiful, all the parts fit together so perfectly, that it had to mean something." - John Shwarz, talking about string theory

The second one reminds me that when something feels right, it probably is even if all the logic and everyone else is telling you it's wrong.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"Sometimes there's a peace that can only be found on the other side of war." - Sean Connery as King Arther

I like this, not because of its direct meaning, but because I'm not fond of confrontation. I've learned though, that sometimes I HAVE to confront my problems (no matter how much I dread them) if I want things to be simple again. If I don't, I'm just prolonging the inevitable and making things more difficult on myself.



Also (and I'm paraphrasing here)

"If you were born where they were born, with their genetics and upbringing, then you would think and do exactly as they have."

A good view to take before we pass judgment on others.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"When your only tool is a hammer, all problems tend to look like nails."

"History teaches us that nothing is usually the right thing to do, and almost always the right thing to say"

"It's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't done"

1 and 3 are not as at odds with each other as one may think, since they really apply to different items.

Also, I don't think I really think any of these really had a huge impact on me. This might have, (from "Tequilla Sunrise") "Friends are the only thing in life you choose." Or it might just have articulated something I already thought.

Also, DCasper70 has really wise parents who give awesome advice.

Edit - I just remebered one that has had an impact. Shakespear (who has so many great quotes..)
"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool"

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

It's not a quote that I can attribute to anybody, but when I was dealing with crippling insecurity a few years ago, it really helped to think

"It's not all about you".

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
-Henry David Thoreau

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
-William Shakespeare

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

Oh, and I forgot:

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle." -- Plato

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up. - Lombardi

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"Kick the habit of being nice to everyone you meet. Do they deserve it? Say "no" more often"
-Mark Twight

Re: Baywatch
 

[ QUOTE ]
"Deserve's got nothing to do with it"

[/ QUOTE ]

Excellent one.

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

"The world is ruled by letting things take their course.
It can not be ruled by interfering."

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and I forgot:

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle." -- Plato

[/ QUOTE ]

I like this one a lot Nate. Here is one I heard recently on Amores Perros, "To make god laugh, tell him your plans."

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and I forgot:

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle." -- Plato

[/ QUOTE ]

I like this one a lot Nate. Here is one I heard recently on Amores Perros, "To make god laugh, tell him your plans."

[/ QUOTE ]

Danny --

I like that one too; first heard it from Billy Collins.

--Nate

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"Make your job your hobby and you will never have to work again..."



I haven't worked in 20 years.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

This may sound really lame, but I thought it up myself (not that it is a novel concept, just novel phrasing):

"If you're not failing, then you're not trying."

Whenever I am trying something new but get afraid of failing at it, I think of this.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

I say beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.--Thoreau

Odd how useful it is.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"Me? Lie? Never! The truth is far too much fun!" - Captain Hook

[Talking about poker]"If you've done all of your analysis, considered all the information you have, and you still can't decide whether to call or to fold, go ahead and call, because it's more fun that way." -Unknown, but frankly, not a bad strategy for life

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"When in doubt... [censored]" -Frank Slade

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

If you believe you can or believe you can't, your right.

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

Good ones, Nate.

"Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or [censored] beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man, and give some back." - Al Swearengen, Deadwood

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"If you're gonna panic, panic early".

- Anon (afaik)

Re: Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life
 

"Play Great Poker." -- Supposedly Phil Hellmuth chants this mantra to himself while playing. I (sadly) printed this out in large font that I made myself using a poker chip image and wallpapered the edge of my monitor with it. I have since removed it [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]