# Lines You Live By **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 26, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113 "2005-04-26T02:02:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/81 "2005-04-27T18:43:32Z")
“Everything works, if you let it.” - Corpus C. Redfish (Art Carney) in [Roadie](http://imdb.com/title/tt0081433/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9b258ZmI9dXxwbj0wfHE9cm9hZGllfGh0bWw9MXxubT1vbg__;fc=1;ft=21;fm=1). ---
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/82 "2005-04-27T19:10:00Z")
“I like to think people are stupid, not mean” –No idea This has always kept me from thinking the worst about people. ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/83 "2005-04-27T19:14:24Z")
Follow your bliss — _Joseph Campbell_ The grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence; that’s just the way the light hits it. — [INDENT]\*Me (Can’t remember where I may have first heard it.)[/\*INDENT] ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/84 "2005-04-27T19:21:06Z")
“Wherever you go, there you are.” - Unknown (at least by me) and my sig below ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/85 "2005-04-27T19:24:37Z")
> [@Ol'Gaffer](#): > > “Wherever you go, there you are.” - Unknown (at least by me) I always attribute that one to [Buckaroo Banzai](http://imdb.com/title/tt0086856/), but somebody else could have said it first. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bike\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Bike\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bike_Rider)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/86 "2005-04-27T19:24:48Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > I never knew he said so much in one go. Or is this a compilation of his bon mots over 6 years or so? I’ve always seen it listed as a single quote, but unfortunately I don’t know the context or any other information about it, so I can’t guarantee anything. It is true that almost all of his other more popular quotes seem to be limited to 10 words or less. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/87 "2005-04-27T19:38:53Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > I always attribute that one to [Buckaroo Banzai](http://imdb.com/title/tt0086856/), but somebody else could have said it first. 🙂 Cool. Spouting off a quote that starts with “Well, you know what Buckaroo Banzai used to say…” will definitely get me some serious street cred. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/88 "2005-04-27T19:47:06Z")
Two: Spend as much time as you can with the neat people because it barely begins to make up for all the time you have to spend with the jerks. If you know what you’re doing, it’s not an adventure. ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/89 "2005-04-27T19:55:18Z")
“A wise man learns from his mistakes. A wiser man learns from the mistakes of others.” – Can’t remember. ---
**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:** [April 27, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/90 "2005-04-27T19:55:46Z")
> [@Ol'Gaffer](#): > > Cool. Spouting off a quote that starts with “Well, you know what Buckaroo Banzai used to say…” will definitely get me some serious street cred. I generally invoke the “…you just do what Jack Burton always does at a time like that…” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/91 "2005-04-27T20:17:58Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > I generally invoke the “…you just do what Jack Burton always does at a time like that…” > > Stranger I have a similar saying. “When faced with a problem, one can more easily solve it by reducing it to the question: what would the lone ranger do?” ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/92 "2005-04-27T20:19:48Z")
“Don’t Panic” – _The Hichhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/93 "2005-04-27T20:24:37Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > I generally invoke the “…you just do what Jack Burton always does at a time like that…” > > Stranger You know, that is exactly the quote I was thinking of when I wrote that last post. So I guess this means that your personal philosophy of life is either “The check is in the mail” or “It’s all in the reflexes!” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/94 "2005-04-27T21:34:15Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > When I get a little money I buy books and if any is left I buy food and > clothes. - Erasmus Wow - this really, genuinely describes my financial habits perfectly. That’s a bad thing, isn’t it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/95 "2005-04-27T23:48:19Z")
Better to keep quiet and let everybody think you’re a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. – Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/96 "2005-04-28T00:17:37Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > “Brevity is the soul of wit.” - Da Bard. “Brevity is not the soul of wit. Truth is the soul of wit; brevity is it’s body” ``` Quentin Crisp ``` One of the few times said Bard has been improved upon. But just to round things out: “Brevity is the soul of lingerie.” ``` Dorthy Parker ``` ---
**Author:** ![St\_Ides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@St\_Ides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_Ides)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/97 "2005-04-28T00:59:09Z")
> [@Dob](#): > > “I like to think people are stupid, not mean” > –No idea > > This has always kept me from thinking the worst about people. I always heard this one as “Never attribute to malice, that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” > [@JoeSki](#): > > “A wise man learns from his mistakes. A wiser man learns from the mistakes of others.” – Can’t remember. And this one has a variation that’s really common in aviaton: “Learn from the mistakes of others; you won’t live long enough to make them yourself.” My contribution, it’s pretty long and some may find it offensive. But I’ve found to to be one of the most truthful statements I’ve heard… And like everything else in life, there’s always exceptions. _“Son,” he said without preamble, “never trust a man who doesn’t drink because he’s probably a self-righteous sort, a man who thinks he knows right from wrong all the time. Some of them are good men, but in the name of goodness, they cause most of the suffering in the world. They’re the judges, the meddlers. And, son, never trust a man who drinks but refuses to get drunk. They’re usually afraid of something deep down inside, either that they’re a coward or a fool or mean and violent. You can’t trust a man who’s afraid of himself. But sometimes, son, you can trust a man who occasionally kneels before a toilet. The chances are that he is learning something about humility and his natural human foolishness, about how how to survive himself. It’s damned hard for a man to take himself too seriously when he’s heaving his guts into a dirty toilet bowl.” Then he paused for a long minute and added, “And, son, never trust a drunk except when he’s on his knees.” -James Crumley_ ---
**Author:** ![MrPeabody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@MrPeabody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrPeabody)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/98 "2005-04-28T01:10:08Z")
“Never tell me the odds!” Han Solo ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/99 "2005-04-28T01:16:56Z")
20 billion years from now the world will be a frozen ball of rock, so what will it matter anyway? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113/100 "2005-04-28T01:24:23Z")
**Ol’Gaffer** \* “Wherever you go, there you are.” \* Buckaroo Banzai ??? Wow I thought it might have been Bertrand Russell or Jean Paul Sartre. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-you-live-by/301113.md?page=6)