# Do you have a motto? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 14, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536 "2005-03-14T22:51:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/41 "2005-03-15T04:20:26Z")
When I see this thread, I think that “honesty is the best policy” is my motto, but I think maybe I’m confusing policies with mottos. ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/42 "2005-03-15T04:23:48Z")
When in danger, or in doubt Run in Circles, scream and shout. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/43 "2005-03-15T04:31:26Z")
> [@LordVor](#): > > When in danger, > or in doubt > Run in Circles, > scream and shout. Oh, so now it begins with the Heinlein quotes. “In a family argument, if it turns out that you are right, apologize immediately!” – RAH Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/44 "2005-03-15T04:30:48Z")
“What has, gets” I think I’ve distorted it, but also shortened it. It means, how you are now will bring on more of the same (be good(true) and bring on good, be bad(untrue) and suffer the same). ---
**Author:** ![Gorgonzola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@Gorgonzola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgonzola)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/45 "2005-03-15T04:49:02Z")
I didn’t come up with this one, but it fits: Wait two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![dudley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@dudley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dudley)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/46 "2005-03-15T05:12:39Z")
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. —Benjamin Franklin Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759 ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/47 "2005-03-15T05:24:34Z")
Life is too short to drink cheap beer. ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/48 "2005-03-15T05:48:38Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#): > > “Don’t take any guff from these swine!” - Hunter S. Thompson > > I’ll leave it up to the reader to decide if the man did, in the end, take guff from these swine or not. That’s one of my mottos, and as far as I’m concerned he didn’t take guff from anyone. He lived and died on his own terms, and his ashes will be shot out of a huge cannon just as his wishes requested. Also from HST, though not quite a motto as an inspirational cry: > [@](#): > > Today’s pig is tommorrows bacon! Though the motto I most live by is this: > [@](#): > > A wise man learns from his mistakes. A wiser man learns from the mistakes of others. The more you live by this, the farther you will go. Just don’t be afraid to take risks. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/49 "2005-03-15T06:02:09Z")
Ah, now here’s one that fits what I was talking about upthread. Courtesy Stephen Fry: “I’d rather be a cheerful terrier constantly running into a brick wall than a snarling mastiff giving everything an eye of doubt.” ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/50 "2005-03-15T06:08:27Z")
“My naked weapon is out!” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/51 "2005-03-15T17:38:48Z")
_ **drapes a sheet over Loopydude’s naked weapon. Drops a folded pillowcase on top of that. Piles a couple of hand towels over the whole thing** _ If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/52 "2005-03-15T18:07:44Z")
“Show some fucking adaptability” -Sgt. Bobby Shaftoe ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/53 "2005-03-15T18:16:26Z")
I remember this one having a big impact on me: “If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead.” -Gelett Burgess Also, since I can be such a contrarian: “Whatever it is, I’m against it.” (sung by Groucho Marx, _Horse Feathers_, lyric perhaps by Harry Ruby) ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/54 "2005-03-15T18:19:16Z")
“Life is just one crushing defeat after another until you just wish Flanders was dead.” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/55 "2005-03-15T18:22:36Z")
I take mine from _Little Big Man_: **Some days the magic works. Some days, it doesn’t.** ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/56 "2005-03-15T18:39:53Z")
> [@The Asbestos Mango](#): > > _ **drapes a sheet over Loopydude’s naked weapon. Drops a folded pillowcase on top of that. Piles a couple of hand towels over the whole thing** _ > > If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. “Yea, dost thou fall upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit…” ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/57 "2005-03-15T18:55:10Z")
Back in 1992 or 1993 I developed an interest in heraldry. I devised my own coat of arms, and chose a line from Psalms as my motto: _Or zarua latzadiq, ul’yishrei lev simchah._ (Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.) ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/58 "2005-03-15T20:38:52Z")
_If you don’t want to know the answer, don’t ask the question_ from my father and also _Actually, it does matter, and you probably do care_ derived from Gallagher. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/59 "2005-03-15T21:12:56Z")
_Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig._ And _My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just to enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate._ -Thornton Wilder ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536/60 "2005-03-15T21:25:55Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > **Some days the magic works. Some days, it doesn’t.** Excellent. I often fall back on: “Just one goddamned thing after another” But for inspiration I always go back to “Memento Mori” or some other bit of Puritanical sunshine to remind me that “This, too, shall pass” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-motto/294536.md?page=4)