# The pithiest advice you ever got... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067 "2017-08-30T00:11:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/181 "2018-04-04T19:01:51Z")
Never whistle while you’re pithing. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2018, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/182 "2018-04-04T19:03:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Never whistle while you’re pithing. Don’t pith in to the wind? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/183 "2018-04-05T13:24:01Z")
People can SAY anything. It don’t make it true. And that goes double for “I saw it on the Internet.” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/184 "2018-04-05T14:32:09Z")
Change is neither good, nor bad-it is just different. “At least I did _something_” is not something to brag about unless it is followed by “…and by doing so I accomplished _this_!” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/185 "2018-04-05T14:37:14Z")
Violent revolution is seldom lead by reasonable people, and there is little reason to believe that those willing to kill for their beliefs will either be reasonable after the revolution, or let those that _are_ reasonable depose them. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/186 "2018-04-05T14:40:43Z")
Imaginary bravery and actual bravery have little to no relationship with each other. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/187 "2018-04-05T16:22:16Z")
I’m a prosecutor. I’ve been giving this out to some cops lately: “You’ll never say to yourself, ‘gosh, I wish I’d never gotten that warrant.’” Which is true; even if you’re in a situation where a warrant isn’t necessary, you won’t regret getting one. ---
**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 5, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/188 "2018-04-05T16:23:17Z")
Believing Is Seeing ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/189 "2018-04-11T23:57:05Z")
Nobody worries more about being robbed than a thief. ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/190 "2018-04-13T18:52:11Z")
You are entitled to your own opinion, not your own facts. Always wear clean underwear. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/191 "2018-04-13T19:14:40Z")
Common sense isn’t. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![ruh-roh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ruh-roh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruh-roh)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/192 "2018-04-14T17:19:25Z")
From my dad… Give the hardest job to the laziest man and he will find the easiest way to do it. Mitch Ratcliffe… “A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other invention with the possible exceptions of handguns and Tequila.” Bertrand Russell… “Most people would die sooner than think – in fact, they do so.” Gerald M. Weinberg… “If you cannot think of three ways of abusing a tool, you do not understand how to use it.” Winston Churchill… “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” and an un-credited favorite… Not my circus, not my monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Zox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Mr\_Zox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Zox)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/193 "2018-04-16T04:20:04Z")
Assume a virtue, if you have it not. Try to see things from your enemy’s point of view; it’s the best way to figure out how he plans to f\*\*k you over. What isn’t important doesn’t matter. Everything can be divided into important versus unimportant, and urgent versus non-urgent. That gives four categories. Figure out which one of the four your various “jobs to do” fit into, and you’ll know which ones to actually do, in which order. Do you know what dirty dishes mean? It means there’s food in the house. Never show all your cards nor all your smarts. Love is always the answer. Just not always the _right_ answer. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/194 "2018-04-16T12:05:07Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > When the reason for not doing something is 'It’s illegal," no other reason is necessary. Respectfully disagree. What if Rosa Parks had thought that way? And many other examples, of course. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/195 "2018-04-16T13:21:53Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I’ve heard it before and, sadly, it annoys me. As an engineer, I’d say that the glass has a safety factor of one. (It can handle an additional 100% of the volume of liquid in it.) I guess things have changed since I studied engineering. The way I learned it, a safety factor of one would mean the glass was only as big as it needed to be. If it could handle an additional 100% of the design volume, it would be a safety factor of two. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/196 "2018-04-16T19:22:12Z")
Stupid is as stupid does. Respect is earned. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Everything in moderation. Those who trade liberty for security deserve neither. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/197 "2018-04-16T19:56:45Z")
All things being equal, they ain’t. If at first you don’t succeed, do it another way. You can’t test boundaries by tip-toeing up to them. If you seek “better” you can never go wrong, but if you seek “perfect” you will never go anywhere. Random acts of kindness are their own reward. It is not the principles you are willing to kill for that define you-It is the principles that you are willing to _die_ for. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/198 "2018-04-16T22:11:10Z")
“Don’t ask a question unless you want to hear the answer.” — A summer-job boss whose name I’ve long since forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/199 "2018-04-17T13:43:57Z")
Don’t ask anyone why did they something wrong. Work at fixing it, then decide if it’s worth the time to ask them that question. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/200 "2018-04-18T13:38:43Z")
I read this in a book this morning: Everybody is somebody else’s weirdo. Also, I love the saying “Change the name and the tale is told about you.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067.md?page=11)