# How would you sum up your life philosophy on a t-shirt?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 27, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931 "2007-02-27T20:57:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/61 "2007-03-01T02:49:48Z")
**"To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intellingent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - this is to have succeeded."**
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/62 "2007-03-01T02:51:03Z")
_People who eat people
Are the tastiest people in the world
We’re children feeding on other children
Yet letting our calloused hide
Hide all the meat inside_
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### Author:  [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/63 "2007-03-01T03:00:43Z")
“Nullius in Verba” (Latin: “On the words of no one”)
(The [Royal Society’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society) motto–but mine, too.)
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### Author:  [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/64 "2007-03-01T03:01:57Z")
Hmmm…
_Don Quixote is my muse._
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/65 "2007-03-01T03:03:15Z")
It may seem a bit contradictory, but on one side I’d have different versions of [The Ethic of Reciprocity](http://www.religioustolerance.org/reciproc.htm) in a variety of fonts and languages. On the other side, courtesy of Lute Skywatcher in [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8252103&postcount=80), I’d have _Oportet edo rudis gens_ (roughly: the rude should be eaten). (The rude are the one exception to the E. of R…)
OR
I’d make a statement about the ebb and flow nature of life and the prevalence of popular culture in the Information Age by having [something like this image](http://www.maggiore.net/greenacres/images/e281.jpg) on the front and [something like this one](http://www.scifistore.com/ebay/t/h1628.jpg) on the back.
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### Author:  [@Yag\_Rannavach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yag_Rannavach)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/66 "2007-03-01T04:21:28Z")
It’d have the word “Everything” on one side, and “Nothing” on the other.
That or “You could be dead”, with nothing on the other side…gotta keep people guessing.
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### Author:  [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/67 "2007-03-01T04:25:54Z")
_You Can’t Fit Truth on a T-shirt_
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### Author:  [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/68 "2007-03-01T06:36:00Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight]
_You Can’t Fit Truth on a T-shirt_
[/QUOTE]
What if you use really small lettering?
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/69 "2007-03-01T07:05:06Z")
[QUOTE=Yag Rannavach]
That or “You could be dead”, with nothing on the other side…gotta keep people guessing.
[/QUOTE]
Reminds me of [this one](http://catandgirl.com/store/fca.php).
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### Author:  [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/70 "2007-03-01T08:12:32Z")
I’m with stupid
\<-----
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### Author:  [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/71 "2007-03-01T18:18:07Z")
Mine would probably be this:
“What you own is your own kingdom, What you do is your own glory
What you love is your own power, What you live is your own story
In your head is the answer, Let it guide you along
Let your heart be the anchor, And the beat of your song”
There ain’t nothin’ in the world wrong with Rush lyrics on a t-shirt.
Well, it would be that, or “Go away. Now.”
This is why I don’t design T-Shirts.
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### Author:  [@jezztek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jezztek)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/72 "2007-03-01T18:54:55Z")
Well I do in fact design t-shirts (which is how I found this thread via link-back), and one of my first designs I made for exactly this reason, to sum of my life philosophy:
[I Regret Nothing](http://www.amorphia-apparel.com/designs/regretnothing.html)
It’s just about me constantly making “bad” decisions like going to art school rather then taking business classes, pursuing personal betterment and a life of simple fulfillment rather then living the way it seems like everyone else thought I should live. When I started trying to make a living selling t-shirts I figured I’d soon end up penniless in a gutter. But my philosophy was that even is that happened, I believe it’d be worth it. Because at least I attempted to live my life in my way and on my terms, and that’s valuable in and of itself.
So sometimes the cheese is worth trying for, even if you end up getting snapped in the trap.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Clam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Clam)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/73 "2007-03-01T19:09:51Z")
[QUOTE=MaxTheVool]
But people have always eaten people!
[sub]What else is there to eat?[/sub]
[/QUOTE]
After all…
If the ju-ju had meant us not to eat people, he wouldn’t have made us of meat!
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### Author:  [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/74 "2007-03-01T19:26:32Z")
“If you run, you’ll just die tired”
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### Author:  [@fimy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fimy)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/75 "2007-03-01T19:47:03Z")
I just got [this one](http://www.xkcd.org/store/witty_shirt_thumb.png) from the xkcd\* store.
\*(good geeky webcomic too)
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### Author:  [@Khangol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khangol)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/76 "2007-03-01T22:22:57Z")
_Quot libros, quam breve tempus._
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### Author:  [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/77 "2007-03-01T23:00:01Z")
[http://www.noisebot.com/screw\_world\_peace\_i\_want\_a\_pony\_t-shirt](http://www.noisebot.com/screw_world_peace_i_want_a_pony_t-shirt)
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### Author:  [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/78 "2007-03-01T23:10:11Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Clam]
After all…
If the ju-ju had meant us not to eat people, he wouldn’t have made us of meat!
[/QUOTE]
[F&S]Have you been talking to one of your mothers again?[/F&S]
Ceci N’est Ce Pas Un Slogan
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### Author:  [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/79 "2007-03-02T00:05:25Z")
First I gotta say that if **robardin** ever sets up shop for any of those, I call dibs on first in line. Awesome!
Now here’s my cool, enigmatic shit:
A
[quote]
([http://library.ucsc.edu/development/endowments/berner-search.html](http://library.ucsc.edu/development/endowments/berner-search.html)) by Kenneth Patchen which I’m about to have permanently etched on me body where I have a certain wrist scar. It’s really only gonna be for me to see, since it’ll be in all white, but still. It’ll make me always feel one step closer to Sylvia and Anne. Who I can only hope aren’t _really_ my muses. 😛
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### Author:  [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-sum-up-your-life-philosophy-on-a-t-shirt/393931/80 "2007-03-02T00:20:14Z")
[QUOTE=faithfool]
A
> [@](#):
>
> ([http://library.ucsc.edu/development/endowments/berner-search.html](http://library.ucsc.edu/development/endowments/berner-search.html)) by Kenneth Patchen which I’m about to have permanently etched on me body where I have a certain wrist scar. It’s really only gonna be for me to see, since it’ll be in all white, but still. It’ll make me always feel one step closer to Sylvia and Anne. Who I can only hope aren’t _really_ my muses. 😛
Very cool. I have a wristwatch tat (a Rolex at that). There are areas on the inside of the wrist that caused my shoulder to hurt. Very fun tattoo, though.
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