# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/61 "2011-03-31T21:46:45Z")
“Keep on truckin’.” –Earl ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/62 "2011-03-31T22:08:22Z")
Only dead fish go with the flow. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/63 "2011-03-31T22:53:55Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Only dead fish go with the flow. heh. Don’t let anybody say you don’t have a sense of humor, **CM**. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/64 "2011-04-01T01:01:36Z")
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. and Pessimists aren’t always right, but they are rarely disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![pope\_hentai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@pope\_hentai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pope_hentai)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/65 "2011-04-01T01:23:11Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > I actually taught a friend with fear issues The Bene Gesserit litany against fear : > > Didn’t work against the panic attacks …… ☹ this is a real mantra? i remember this from the Earthworm Jim cartoon, and thought it was the most absurd thing i had heard as a kid… also it never worked for the cartoon character either. ---
**Author:** ![surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surrounded_by_literalists)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/66 "2011-04-01T01:30:09Z")
If you look for evil in man, you will surely find it. -Abraham Lincoln The world is not going to end, you must learn to cope. Things always work out in the end. If its not working out, its not the end ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/67 "2011-04-01T03:48:38Z")
TANSTAAFL: There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/68 "2011-04-01T04:01:41Z")
I’ll have to get over this sooner or later, why not now? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/69 "2011-04-01T04:53:17Z")
Another vote for “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” ---
**Author:** ![RetroVertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/70 "2011-04-01T14:50:18Z")
If God gives you lemons…find a new god. ---
**Author:** ![cedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/71 "2011-04-01T15:18:26Z")
“To bear up under loss, to fight the bitterness of defeat and the weakness of grief, to be victor over anger, to smile when tears are close, to resist evil men and base instincts, to hate hate and to love love, to go on when it would seem good to die, to seek ever after the glory and the dream, to look up with unquenchable faith in something evermore about to be, that is what any man can do, and so be great.” Louis L’Amour ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/72 "2011-04-01T15:28:51Z")
I got mine from these boards, but I don’t remember who said it, so if someone recognizes this, please come in and take credit for it! The slogan taped up on my mirror is: “You can sit here and pout, or you can go out and play.” ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/73 "2011-04-01T16:25:26Z")
Pain is weakness leaving the body. (I don’t abide by it or anything, but as mottos go, it’s pretty badass.) ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/74 "2011-04-01T18:24:03Z")
> [@Dusty\_Rose](#): > > You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust your sails. And the sister motto to that is: You can’t control the wind but at least you can make your own. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/75 "2011-04-01T18:50:51Z")
God never opens a window without slamming a door. That’s my experience, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/76 "2011-04-02T06:17:03Z")
If it ain’t broken, fix it until it is. . ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/77 "2011-04-02T07:15:22Z")
This is a great thread. I love mottoes, slogans, and brief statements of wit and wisdom, and for many years I’ve kept an ever-growing list of the ones I particularly like. Here are some of my favorites. I feel rather self-conscious posting such a long list, and hope I’m not making a complete fool of myself. - Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. (The Dalai Lama) - People may not remember what you said, and they may not remember what you did, but they will _always_ remember how you made them feel. - The person who has a right to boast seldom feels the need to. (The empty barrel makes the biggest noise.) - Happiness doesn’t come from having what you want, but from wanting what you have. - The secret to success is doing what you have to do better than you have to do it. - Of all the manifestations of power, restraint is the most impressive. - Experience is something you don’t get until just after you needed it. - For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism. - Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success. - For every complex problem, there is a solution which is simple, neat, and wrong. (H.L. Mencken) - The truth will set you free, but it might make you miserable at first. - Money can’t buy happiness, but it can make unhappiness a lot more pleasant. - Knowledge talks. Wisdom listens. - Happiness comes from work well done. So find out what you don’t do well, and then don’t do it. - A universe simple enough to be understood is too simple to produce a mind capable of understanding it. (Cambridge cosmologist John Barrow) - Time you _enjoy_ wasting is not wasted time. (Bertrand Russell) - Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. (Arthur C. Clarke) - Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused. - “Reality” is that which doesn’t go away when you stop believing in it. (Phillip K. Dick) - “Democracy” is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. (H.L. Mencken) - No cause is worth dying for. (John Lennon) - It doesn’t make a damned bit of difference who wins the war to someone who’s dead. (John Yossarian) - Don’t believe everything you think. - He who laughs, lasts. . ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/78 "2011-04-02T08:14:35Z")
We see not is, but what we are - Anais Nin. Basically, everything we experience is influenced by our own perception. Sorry I’m too lazy to find the diacritical mark atm. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/79 "2011-04-02T08:14:57Z")
The crow flies in square circles. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480/80 "2011-04-02T10:02:30Z")
“Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things.” - George Carlin “Just when you get that rat race licked, well, here come faster rats.” - David Lee Roth “I reject your reality and substitute my own.” - Adam Savage [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-motto-slogan-mantra/576480.md?page=5)