# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/41 "2011-03-30T20:24:34Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by stupidity. A sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/42 "2011-03-30T20:29:43Z")
“These are my friends, I do not need to be afraid” in combination with: “I trust you with my life, but not my dignity.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/43 "2011-03-30T20:30:25Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > 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”). Wisconsin: Eat Cheese or Die ---
**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, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/44 "2011-03-30T20:35:17Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Wisconsin: Eat Cheese or Die or, Wisconsin: Smell our dairy air. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/45 "2011-03-30T21:01:21Z")
_I am Grey. I stand between the candle and the star. We are Grey. We stand between the darkness and the light_–Delenn ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/46 "2011-03-30T21:02:24Z")
My motto when running ultras is “Relentless Forward Progress”. ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/47 "2011-03-30T21:33:22Z")
If you can’t be a big wheel in the great machine, at least try to be a good screw. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/48 "2011-03-30T21:39:07Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > This too shall pass. This is what I came in here to say. Whenever I start getting flustered I think of this line and calm down. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/49 "2011-03-30T21:48:31Z")
Act - don’t react. Alas, I am not good at it. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/50 "2011-03-30T21:51:43Z")
It’s easier to apologize than get permission. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Jelly\_Roll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Jelly\_Roll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelly_Roll)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/51 "2011-03-30T21:55:31Z")
Never take a “no” from someone who didn’t have the authority to give you a “yes” in the first place. When someone shows you who they are are, believe them the first time. ---
**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, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/52 "2011-03-30T22:05:18Z")
> [@Jelly\_Roll](#): > > Never take a “no” from someone who didn’t have the authority to give you a “yes” in the first place. I guess I don’t know what this means. Is it saying that if someone isn’t in a position of authority over you, their permission doesn’t matter? ---
**Author:** ![Dusty\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba8739/32.png) [@Dusty\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty_Rose)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/53 "2011-03-30T22:20:22Z")
You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust your sails. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/54 "2011-03-31T04:18:18Z")
Always remember, you are unique. Just like everyone else. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/55 "2011-03-31T09:07:14Z")
Keep it simple. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Se hace lo que se puede con los materiales disponibles (we do what we can with the resources at hand: it means both “don’t ever give less than you can” and “if you’ve done all you can, banging your head against the wall won’t make it better, it will just make your head hurt”). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/56 "2011-03-31T13:08:13Z")
Seen shortly after 9/11: “Dear God, protect us from those who believe in you.” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/57 "2011-03-31T13:33:04Z")
Let me see, a couple seem fairly universal, “It is better to know than to not know.” “Follow your conductor and fear no evil.” (Who can get that reference?) And from Malcolm X via a Doper, "“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against.” ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/58 "2011-03-31T14:28:15Z")
I would rather have a half a bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/59 "2011-03-31T16:37:20Z")
“Never believe a straggler.” “Make haste slowly.” (Both old US Army pearls of wisdom) ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/60 "2011-03-31T21:35:02Z")
Luck is what happens when preparedness meets opportunity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480.md?page=4)