Quotes/aphorisms that have actually helped you in life

[Degenerasian]

[ QUOTE ]
" It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again & again;who knows the great enthusiams, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, at least falls while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat"

[/ QUOTE ]

QFMFT

[CORed]

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

[/ QUOTE ]

Works great until you try to take the lug nuts off on the left side of a Chrysler product.

[GeraldGiraffe]

I read 'In my craft or sullen art' by Dylan Thomas and I smile. It's a brilliant poem.

This isn't a quote so much as a passage from Waiting for Godot, but it always reminds me of the humour to be found in tragedy.

ESTRAGON:
Why don't we hang ourselves?
VLADIMIR:
With what?
ESTRAGON:
You haven't got a bit of rope?
VLADIMIR:
No.
ESTRAGON:
Then we can't.
Silence.
VLADIMIR:
Let's go.
ESTRAGON:
Wait, there's my belt.
VLADIMIR:
It's too short.
ESTRAGON:
You could hang onto my legs.
VLADIMIR:
And who'd hang onto mine?
ESTRAGON:
True.
VLADIMIR:
Show me all the same. (Estragon loosens the cord that holds up his trousers which, much too big for him, fall about his ankles. They look at the cord.)

[bkholdem]

"Your pot of gold is where YOU find it."

Old homeless man, park bench, Boston Public Gardens

[DonkBluffer]

[ QUOTE ]

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
-Helen Keller

[/ QUOTE ]

I like.

I can choose not to face my fears and do nothing and be nothing. Or I can face my fears, risk failure but live.

[chicheebee]

some really nice ones on here. here are a couple of my favourites:

"They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom" Confucius

"He who knows he has enough is rich" Lao Tzu

[TiK]

Nate,

My quote is actually from John Gardner's Grendel, which is Beowulf told from the perspective of the monster.

[ QUOTE ]
I will count my numberless blessings one by one.

i. My teeth are sound.
i. The roof of my cave is sound.
i. I have not committed the ultimate act of nihilism: I have not killed the queen.
i. Yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

For me the first two pertaining to his teeth and the roof of his cave always stayed with me. The fact that as long as his teeth (health) are good, and he has a roof over his head, he is blessed.

[Kirkrrr]

The final stanza of an amazing poem:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

[pokergrader]

[ QUOTE ]
We who are about to die salute you - Roman soldiers said this to their generals before battle. Makes you realize how courageous soldiers really are, and gets me all kinds of pissed about what's going on right now.

[/ QUOTE ]

When I took latin this was always my favorite phrase, and I think it sounds better in latin than english: Nos morituri te salutamus

Also, I was under the impression it was the phrase a gladiator would say before fighting in front of the emperor, not something a soldier would say to his commander, but who knows, the phrase is cool either way.

[Sofisdad]

'Never leave a good time looking for a great one.' - Ibid