# Favorite Motto/Slogan/Mantra? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480 "2011-03-30T07:23:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grey\_area](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grey\_area](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_area)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/1 "2011-03-30T07:23:26Z")
Not necessarily one that you abide by. As I was skimming through the rather silly ‘No nos for adult men’ thread I suddenly remembered my division motto/mantra in the rok army which was 수사불패 청성투혼. The second half is rather lame and roughly translates to “I fight for the blue star (our division symbol)”, but the first half, 수사불패 (雖死不敗), is pretty badass. My best translation would be “though I may die, I will not (cannot) be defeated”. Read “su sa bul pae” in Korean. Mottos in Latin, Chinese or Greek doubly welcome, as long as you provide translation. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/2 "2011-03-30T07:41:05Z")
Be Just and Fear Not. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/3 "2011-03-30T07:41:43Z")
Γνῶθι σεαυτόν. _(Know yourself.)_ It amazes me just how hard that is to do. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/4 "2011-03-30T08:18:27Z")
Slightly altered quote from _Moby Dick_: A short life, and a jolly death! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/5 "2011-03-30T08:20:01Z")
> [@Grey\_area](#): > > 수사불패 청성투혼 I love the stupidities of automatic translation. The current generation of software seems especially bad at rendering East Asian languages into English. For example, Google Translate renders this motto as: “Auditory investigation invincible fighting spirit” Anyway, my favorite motto is the one in my signature. First and second lines: “Ridicule is the only weapon that can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them.” If you don’t stop to analyze the snot spray, you are missing that which is best in life. - Miller ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/6 "2011-03-30T08:45:23Z")
I actually taught a friend with fear issues The Bene Gesserit litany against fear : > [@](#): > > I must not fear. > Fear is the mind-killer. > Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. > I will face my fear. > I will permit it to pass over me and through me. > And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. > Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. > Only I will remain. Didn’t work against the panic attacks …… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/7 "2011-03-30T09:23:11Z")
Not exactly a motto to act by, but rather a truth to remember when dealing with the world… “Half of the people are dumber than average.” ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/8 "2011-03-30T09:38:05Z")
Eddie Would Go. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/9 "2011-03-30T11:44:35Z")
Keep your powder dry. You can’t wish more for others than they do for themselves. The wish is father to the thought. Good ideas are a dime a dozen; execution is priceless. First decide where you are going. Then decide who can go with you. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/10 "2011-03-30T13:28:59Z")
Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/11 "2011-03-30T13:31:54Z")
This too shall pass. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/12 "2011-03-30T13:43:47Z")
That which does not kill us makes us strong. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/13 "2011-03-30T13:54:26Z")
On my office wall for the last 20 years or so: “Adversity introduces a man to himself.” It helped ground me during a particularly rough time in my life. I tried to Google the author of this maxim, and came up with the usual Mark Twain/Paul Harvey pseudo-citations, but other than that, no luck. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/14 "2011-03-30T15:12:54Z")
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Stop and think for no less than two minutes before proceeding. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/15 "2011-03-30T15:14:32Z")
Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/16 "2011-03-30T15:18:09Z")
It is what it is. Not what it was or will be or should be or could be, but it is what it is. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/17 "2011-03-30T15:18:56Z")
Best state motto: New Hampshire’s (“Live Free or Die”). Worst, against much stiffer competition: Michigan’s (“Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice”, or "“If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you”). ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/18 "2011-03-30T15:19:09Z")
My second favorite: Nothing in this life worth having is ever obtained easily. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyMac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/19 "2011-03-30T15:21:33Z")
Live Without Dead Time. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/20 "2011-03-30T15:29:25Z")
For some friends I have had t-shirts printed that say: **Yo no soy marinero soy capitan.** I’ve never had another motto printed, so I guess that is it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480.md?page=2)