# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/21 "2017-08-30T06:27:22Z")
Don’t let other people live rent-free in your head. I’ve found this quite useful. The irony is that it came from an ex-boss who was a drug-addicted sociopath and screwed over a bunch of people, myself included. It took awhile to get him out of my head, but otherwise, it’s proven to be very good advice. At least I got something out of that mess. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/22 "2017-08-30T10:19:47Z")
[You aren’t gonna need it.](http://wiki.c2.com/?YouArentGonnaNeedIt) ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/23 "2017-08-30T12:08:06Z")
Never resist temptation; it might not come your way again. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/24 "2017-08-30T12:26:32Z")
Never put your d\*\*\* in crazy. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/25 "2017-08-30T12:38:31Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Another quote from him on the occasion of my 18th birthday, “Remember, you can now be tried as an adult.” Heh. I wrote that in my daughter’s birthday card when she turned 18. Four years later, I wrote the same thing in my son’s 18th birthday card. He confessed to hoping he’d get that warning (she’d shown him her card). Truthfully, I’d totally forgotten writing it in hers. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/26 "2017-08-30T12:42:27Z")
The orange is sweetest without the white stuff. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/27 "2017-08-30T13:38:32Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > Don’t do crazy From my grandmother ------ never argue with crazy people. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/28 "2017-08-30T13:45:38Z")
My mom’s advice from 50 years ago: “I don’t care what you grow up to be, just as long as you are good at it.” ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/29 "2017-08-30T13:47:32Z")
“When you have to shoot, shoot! Don’t talk.” “Never pass up a free meal.” ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/30 "2017-08-30T14:21:16Z")
A closed mouth don’t get fed. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/31 "2017-08-30T14:26:30Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > The orange is sweetest without the white stuff. When on safari, always wear a lightweight helmet. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/32 "2017-08-30T14:38:06Z")
Be who you are. - from a close friend, ca. 1978 - from the chaplain of the college that I’d just been hired at, 1993 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/33 "2017-08-30T14:42:35Z")
Two pithy pieces of advice from fictional characters: Be true. - the old man in Stephen R. Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant books Sin is when you treat people as things. -Granny Weatherwax in one of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books ---
**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:** [August 30, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/34 "2017-08-30T14:46:10Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > “if you want to pay fewer taxes, make less money” Also, “A penny saved is a penny earned. A penny earned is a penny taxed”. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/35 "2017-08-30T14:53:44Z")
From my father: Migrate, mutate, adapt or die. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/36 "2017-08-30T14:56:22Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > First I had gto look up “pithy”, I was never sure exactly what it meant. It has two meanings: heavy and weighty, or soft and spongy. Not helpful. First, by accident, I clicked on Translate, and got Najczystszy in Polish. Equally unhelpful. From my C++ teacher many moons ago - “A computer will do exactly what you tell it to do, whether you want it to or not.” ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/37 "2017-08-30T15:07:46Z")
You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/38 "2017-08-30T15:16:08Z")
never attribute to malice that which can be fully explained by incompetence (sic. or cowardice). I always find that helpful when trying to understand bureaucratic decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/39 "2017-08-30T15:17:49Z")
Marriage is grand. Divorce is a hundred grand. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/40 "2017-08-30T15:21:57Z")
“Never back up any further than you have to, you can’t see back there.” - from an old boss who was a truck driver for many, many years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067.md?page=3)