Niels Bohr once said: " An expert is a person who has done all the errors which are possible in a limited subject".
That is so true…
“You get out of life what you put into it.”
If you think everything in your life is going to be terrible, odds are things will turn out terrible.
If you’re quiet and standoffish, people aren’t going to go out of their way to talk to you. If you want to meet people, you have to actually introduce yourself and start a conversation.
And yes, I know, sometimes you put your best foot forward and end up stepping in crap. But I think, generally, it’s a good axiom to keep in mind.
People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them. -Dave Barry
There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven. -Dave Barry
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours.
Don’t waste your time on jealousy.
Two wrongs don’t make a right, but three lefts do.
This is especially useful when someone is tells you "Two wrongs don’t make a right you know” To which you can instantly respond “True, true, but three lefts do” This is especially fun if you chant the rhyme.
It’s amazing how we criticize in others what we condone in ourselves.
“A closed mouth gathers no feet.”
“Wherever you go, there you are.” (See user name)
I don’t know if I heard it, read it or figured it out on my own, but the one thing I try (desperately) to get my kids to understand is:
I cannot control anyone’s actions or reactions but my own
Knowing – and accepting – this has made a world of difference for me. I figured out that I could not change or control how my mother treated me growing up, I could only change/control how it affected me, and I walked away from that woman a much better person than I would have otherwise. Whenever my kids begin to whine about how “unfair” something or another is that someone else has done, I simply remind them of this, and they (usually) see things in a different light, and sometimes ask for advice on how to deal with it.
Another that I have found to be true is that if I could buy people for what they’re worth and sell them for what they think they’re worth, I’d make a fortune. Except on those who are actually worth a damn, because they’re the ones who tend to realise their actual worth…
“This too shall pass.”
And it will. Good, bad, or indifferent, nothing in this world is permanent.
“You’re about as happy as you decide to be.”
And this, I’ve found is true as well. Even with all the crap outside and inside, we have the power to decide how we feel and what we’re going to do.
“What does not kill me makes me stronger.”
True, but sometimes it takes a while to find out which it is. So far, it’s made me stronger.
“The way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.”
I tend to be impulsive and an all-or-nothing person. If I can’t get it done in one fell swoop, I often fail to do it at all. I have to remind myself time and again to do one little bit now. And another little bit tomorrow. And a third little bit the day after that. I’m still working on it.
“He strains to hear a whisper who refuses to hear a shout.”
I read it in The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan (Book 5 of The Wheel of Time series). I remember thinking it was pretty deep, but also true: People tend to tune you out when you yell and scream and carry on than if you speak calmly and rationally – or, more to the intent of the saying, a quiet, perhaps conspiratorial tone is far more likely to gain people’s ears than a boisterous harangue. Truth and points of view therefore are much more well received and taken to mind when they’re spoken with a cool head than with one full of steam.
It’s why I can now just shake my head and laugh when I see street preachers or door-to-door evangelists do their thing. (The latter tend not to yell, but their forward nature and attempts to convert me in a corner just put me off of whatever religion they’re selling. Not that they’d have any better chance of converting my atheism if they were less in-your-face, but I’d be more cordial in my refusal of their ministrations if they were.)
This has helped me a lot in the last year… "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. "
Not really a “saying” I guess. More of a quote… but with someone like me that feels they need to control every little detail of life… it has helped me to relax a lot.
“I’ve suffered many terrible fates in my life, most of which have never actually happened”. Recalling this one helps me focus on what really is going on, not on what might happen.
“That which does not kill me only makes me more irritable”. This allows me to feel the pain of my woundings, and be pissy about it, for a bit.
“All life is 5 to 4 against”. The deck is stacked; deal with it.
This is my sig line on a couple of other boards.+9
There’s this saying in Spanish that I find to be true, it states:
Crea fama y echate a dormir.
A translation to English (roughly) would be:
“Create fame and go to sleep.”
When people create some kind of fame (or reputation) for themselves, It really is hard to shake it off (that which made you “famous”) for good or for bad.
Although I’m not 100% sure it’s true, I do think there is at least partial truth in the saying:
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
“And when the night is cloudy,
there is still a light that shines on me;[FONT=“Century Gothic”]
Shine until tomorrow…[COLOR=“black”]Let it be.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
– Lennon/McCartney
No good deed goes unpunished.
(But I stupidly keep doing them…)
“Measure twice, cut once.” (I think it has to do with carpentry).
It is better to keep one’s mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and resolve all doubt. - Abe Lincoln(?)
There’s a world of difference between someone who spends 99% of what he earns and someone who spends 101% of what he learns.
Specialized old saying for people dealing with depression: Just do one thing. Anything. (Repeat as necessary). - My friend Lillian.
I don’t have a specific saying, but putting myself in other peoples’ shoes has helped me get past situations where everything had ground to a halt because people just stopped communicating.
No specific saying here, either, but whenever I write an e-mail on some touchy subject or another, I always e-mail it to myself and see if I still want to e-mail it to the real recipient a day later.
Thanks for all the replies so far! Most of these are sayings I’ve either never heard or have completely forgotten.
Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.
If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.
One I’ve found to be true time and again:
Cheap, fast, easy - pick two.
It’s pretty hard to find something that is all three. For example, when it comes to feeding yourself… if you have limited money you can make easy recipes on the cheap but it won’t be fast (you need time to shop frugally and cook from scratch). If you have money it won’t be cheap, but it can be fast and easy (you can get the food delivered by a service that will cook for you to your specifications).
I’m sure there are exceptions to this rule, but it’s a pretty good one overall.
I had forgotten about this one, but yeah, I haven’t come up with an exception for it yet. I suppose we should leave it to the others to do so 