# Quotes that at first sound profound but really are obvious, stupid or pointless **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800 "2004-07-25T14:13:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/81 "2020-11-25T00:47:25Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > “Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life”. No, really? Taken at face value it is painfully obvious, but that’s not the point. The revelation is that tomorrow isn’t just another day to fritter away in an offhand way (PF) - you have a limited life that still has immense possibilities, but only if you seize the day. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2020, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/82 "2020-11-25T01:09:44Z")
Here’s another [previous thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-maxims/162703), some of whose entries are possibly relevant. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/83 "2020-11-25T01:12:49Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > “Which is farther, to Duluth or by bus?” > > Bathroom, U of Wisconsin, early 80’s. Dad. Dad is farther. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2020, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/84 "2020-11-25T01:20:59Z")
Noted rock philosopher Ken Hensley (RIP) offered up these timeless words of wisdom in the Uriah Heep song “Circle of Hands”: _Sacrifice, the future has it’s price_ _And today is only_ _Yesterday’s tomorrow_ ---
**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:** [November 25, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/85 "2020-11-25T01:36:36Z")
“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” No, love means often having to say you’re sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2020, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/86 "2020-11-25T01:55:07Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.” > > Bullshit! Whenever I hear this, I want to ask the speaker if they’re aware that hundreds of thousands of people die every day. I don’t know why anyone would two brain cells would ever take comfort in this saying. Yeah, this is a misquote of the verse that says God will not let you be _tempted by sin_ beyond what you can bear. Some people, apparently, twisted the verse to mean that you can suffer 3rd-degree burns over half of your body and be like, “Yep, this is fine.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/87 "2020-12-11T13:13:38Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” > > No, love means often having to say you’re sorry. “That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard.” – Ryan O’Neal ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/88 "2020-12-11T17:45:32Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Only time will tell if we stand the test of time. - Van Hagar You Gotta Start From The Start - Loverboy ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada_Jr)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/89 "2020-12-11T18:07:48Z")
**Mr. Furious:** Okay, am I the only one who finds these sayings just a little bit formulaic? “If you want to push something down, you have to pull it up. If you want to go left, you have to go right.” It’s… **The Sphinx:** Your temper is very quick, my friend. But until you learn to master your rage… **Mr. Furious:** …your rage will become your master? That’s what you were going to say. Right? Right? **The Sphinx:** Not necessarily. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2020, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/90 "2020-12-13T23:28:58Z")
This one is allegedly very old, even older than this thread: _When you have pushed your cart to the base of the mountain, a path will appear._ That seems really dicey, even if you have GPS. I like to bend some of these treasured pieces of dumbth into a new direction. The already stupid _It’s always darkest just before the dawn_ becomes “It’s always darkest just before the piano falls on you.” ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/91 "2020-12-14T01:43:49Z")
“Love means never having to watch that movie.” John Lennon ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/92 "2020-12-14T02:54:17Z")
“In the end you’ll only regret the chances you didn’t take” I like to ask people who say this how the people who got caught on ‘to catch a predator’ feel about this saying. A bad decision can fuck your life up. Also ‘Everything happens for a reason’ Yes, that is true. But that ‘reason’ is the laws of chemistry and physics. Everything doesn’t happen for the spiritual benefit of a single species of sentient primates located on earth. The laws of chemistry and physics don’t give a damn whether something benefits a subspecies of primates or not. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/93 "2020-12-14T02:58:23Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > It ain’t over 'till it’s over - Yogi Berra Or, as applied to politics: “It ain’t over till it’s over. And even when it’s over, it ain’t over.” ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/94 "2020-12-14T03:15:31Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > “In the end you’ll only regret the chances you didn’t take” Perhaps the saying derives from “Grumpy Old Men.” Ariel Truax : “And I also know the only thing in life, that you **regret** , are the risks that you don’t take.” (I don’t know why the quoter abused the commas like that but that’s what Google brought up). There are chances I didn’t take that I’m glad I didn’t. I found out later that they would have been big mistakes. And there are chances that I did take that I absolutely regret. But the quote sounds profound. “If I’d only take that one chance, my life would have turned out so much better!” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/95 "2020-12-14T03:34:28Z")
This is a really funny zombie, what with people giving the same examples more than a decade later. That said, this reminded me of one: > [@Dunderman](#): > > I’m thinking of Time Cubes “A mother and baby are the same age, as a 1 day old baby has a 1 day old mother” (really?!?) Sometimes when I’m in an icebreaker where everyone’s asked to say one interesting thing about themselves, I’ll volunteer that I briefly held the record as the world’s youngest person. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/96 "2020-12-14T16:57:10Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > ‘Everything happens for a reason’ > > Yes, that is true. But that ‘reason’ is “Yes, I know that the mugger broke your leg when he robbed you. But let’s not lose sight of the important thing, here: _that guy really wanted your wallet_. It’s not like he shoved you around for _no_ reason; he _had_ a reason! I mean, he actually _got your wallet,_ just like he planned! That’s why this happened! Isn’t that reassuring?” ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/97 "2020-12-15T05:32:42Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > “In the end you’ll only regret the chances you didn’t take” I’ll throw my cards down with the posters many years ago who claimed that many of these examples are very meaningful, and if you feel that they are “obvious, stupid or pointless” then you have simply missed the lesson they are trying to teach. I just picked this one out of the many. I think it is an overly literal interpretation of that saying to apply it to every single chance to do any act whatsoever at any time. (For another overly literal interpretation see the complaints about: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.) It also isn’t meant to be a life lesson that applies to every person at every stage of life. It also doesn’t say or imply that every chance will work out. That advice is typically given to someone who is stuck in a rut and is hesitant to make any change, even though that person believes a change to be positive, because they are afraid that they might regret it. I think it is true because for every choice to make a change in my life that I have given serious thought to, I do not regret making that choice. Some have worked and some haven’t, yet I am the person I am today because of those choices. At the end of the day, you have to trust your own ability to sift through all of the available information and make your very best choice based on that information, and then to act on your choice. Sure, it might turn out to be wrong, but what else should you do? Act contrary to your own belief as to your best choice? Never take chances because it is risky? That is what that advice means, and nothing in it suggests that a person be reckless or foolish, or apply it to illegal situations like attempting to have sex with a child. It assumes a baseline of rational thought. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/98 "2025-08-11T14:18:11Z")
What doesn’t kill you brings you one step closer to the inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/99 "2025-08-11T14:40:10Z")
The early bird gets the worm. …but, the _second_ mouse gets the cheese. A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet. …or a mugger you haven’t given your wallet to yet. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800/100 "2025-08-12T22:02:53Z")
I was 20 when I first saw _The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum at Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade_. When the Marquis de Sade played by Patrick Magee so convincingly uttered Peter Weiss’s line, “The important thing is to pull yourself up by your own hair to turn yourself inside out and see the whole world with fresh eyes” I thought that was incredibly profound and wrote it down in one of my college notebooks. I happened to rewatch the movie during the 2020 lockdown. The second time I heard the line, I realized it doesn’t mean a damn thing. It just sounds superficially impressive to a college sophomore. Had a good laugh on my younger self. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotes-that-at-first-sound-profound-but-really-are-obvious-stupid-or-pointless/256800.md?page=6)