Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life

[NewTeaBag]

"Don't talk about it! Do it!"
-Henry Rollins

"Jesus Don't Want Me For a Sunbeam"

"When you visit the woman, bring the whip!"

"Reactor power follows Steam Demand"

[SlowHabit]

"Luck favors the well-prepared."

"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."

"The worst thing that can happen is you fail, then you get an F and retake the class and learn more." -- Brian Harvey, CS Professor.

"A smart man knows everything; a wise man knows everyone."

"Everything is going to be ok."

[NicksDad1970]

A bookie who was like a father to me once told me "don't take the time to hurt someone else, in any way, unless it also helps you".

I've thought about that many times and have applied it.

[coltrainSTL]

These are the two that have helped me the most:

(paraphrasing on both)

-It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

-If you have a problem and there IS a solution, then there is no need to worry. If there is no solution, then worrying won't do any good.

[Roba1111]

“A journey of a thousand miles must start with a single step”

[NoahSD]

[ QUOTE ]
"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.

[/ QUOTE ]

On that note, "[censored] it, man. Let's go bowling."

I was really impressed by a quote that my high school physics teacher told me his friend said: "God doesn't know how to integrate, he only knows how to add."

Turns out it's a cheap knock off of a much better quote from Einstein: "God does not care about our mathematical difficulties - he integrates empirically."

To me, it represents that lack of order in the world, although I'm sure Einstein didn't mean it that way.

[BigPoppa]

I have a tendency to sit on my ass and let inertia guide my course, so I've always been fond of the Fortune favors the bold type of quote, but they've rarely changed my behavior.

This one, however, has always been a way to keep things in perspective:

Money is a wonderful servant but a terrible master

Also a fan of Hunter Thompson's Buy the ticket, take the ride as shorthand for the fact that we can't expect to experience joy without some pain along the way.

[Philuva]

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” - Marianne Williamson

I actually thought this quote was from Nelson Mandela, but he just used it in his Inauguration Speech in 1994.

I don't even believe in God but I really like this quote. I use to always think about it before giving presentations in college or at work, which I use to really strugle with when I was younger. I wanted to remind myself that my audience would rather witness me giving an awesome speech rahter than me being afraid and giving a crappy one.

I think about it in other aspects of my life as well, particularly the line, "Your playing small does not serve the world."

[WhoIam]

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it."--W. C. Fields. Good life strategy.

"We walk not on our legs, but on our will"--Sufi proverb. I repeat this to myself when facing physical exhaustion.

"What the thinker thinks, the prover proves."--Robert Anton Wilson. Basically, people will find evidence to support whatever convictions they have.

One line that really stuck with me from Full Metal Jacket is "If you hesitate at the moment of truth, you will not kill."