‘Planet’. 
I’m positive I read it in one of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s books, but I cant remember which one and I can’t find it online. Who knows? Maybe I mis-quoted it myself.
Yep, my colleagues and I often remind one another: “don’t work harder than your client.” Our clients are parents at risk of losing their children. Some work hard to get them back by doing their parenting classes etc.; some stumble and falter but keep trying, some check out. We can direct them toward resources and advocate for them in court but we can’t do the heavy lifting for them.
For me, that recalls my absolute favorite, 2,000 years old from Rabbi Hillel:
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?”
Translation for slobs: “if I won’t take care of my own shit, what the fuck do I expect anyone to do for me? But if I’m only out for myself, that just makes me the asshole. Shouldn’t I get off my ass anytime now?”
Follow the money.
Idealists and sentimentalists like to talk about the Golden Rule.
I prefer the shorter version: “It doesn’t pay to make enemies.”
I ran across this one just this morning:
Life is like a box of chocolates.
Empty.
Because you have no self-control.
You could always get run over by a speeding ice cream truck.
A girlfriend saw an ice cream truck speeding on a residential street, and she came up with this.
Scatological cursing, but applies to most cursing:
You have put in your mouth what I wouldn’t have in my hand.
There’s always a bigger fish.
An interesting game, Professor Falcon. Seems the only winning move is not to play.
(Movie lines of older thoughts that actually fit into my life.)
TANSTAAFL
Don’t wrestle with a pig. It’ll just get you muddy and he’ll enjoy it.
A good photograph is knowing where to stand.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
When confronted with distasteful tasks, do the worst first.
A stick up your ass is no substitute for a backbone.
If it’s stupid but it works, it’s not stupid.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.
— author debate
“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for to the creator there is no poverty and no poor indifferent place.” Rainer Maria Rilke
That’s one of my favorites. I saw a variation of it on a poster many years ago when I was in college: “Not to decide is to decide.” The poster was tacked on a bulletin board somewhere on campus and I saw it almost every day for four years.
If you drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let 'em go, because man, they are gone.
I’ve never heard of any such real people, and only one fictional character: Monty Burns.
There are two kinds of people in the world:
those that think there are two kinds of people in the world
and those that don’t.
Over the years I’ve read numerous articles by hospice professionals describing people on their deathbeds. Almost no-one reminisces about their work, even if they were highly succesful and driven professionals. Family, friends, and hobbies are what fills dying people’s minds.
A very common source of deep deathbed remorse, however, is the excessive amount of time spent at work, as opposed to time spent with one’s children etc.
Believe what they do, not what they say.
Don’t say things with a twist. (this one is from Chogyam Trunpa)
The past is never dead. It’s not even past. (Faulkner)
There are three kinds of people in the world: those who are good at math and those who aren’t.
When people tell you who they are, believe them.