# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/41 "2017-08-30T16:13:48Z")
On how to have an argument: Decide if you want to be right or happy afterwards, because you will never be both. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/42 "2017-08-30T16:58:17Z")
My father: “Never cheat. If the stakes are small, it’s not worth the effort, and if the stakes are big, you’ll be caught.” ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/43 "2017-08-30T17:04:41Z")
Just be yourself. Everyone else it taken. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/44 "2017-08-30T17:34:49Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Be who you are. > > - from a close friend, ca. 1978 > - from the chaplain of the college that I’d just been hired at, 1993 Interesting. The one which stuck with me was “Quit trying to be what you already are.” Said to me by a mentor who watched me try to _act_ smart, when, if I just participated in the discussion, I would’ve come off as much smarter. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/45 "2017-08-30T17:42:52Z")
Knees, nuts, neck, or nose. – my sensei Regards, Shodan ---
**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:** [August 30, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/46 "2017-08-30T17:43:43Z")
You have to be yourself, and it has to be the right self. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/47 "2017-08-30T17:44:35Z")
My grandmother: People who iron sheets and pillowcases need something to do with their time. A co-worker when I at 21 was trying to decide whether to move off to a place where I had no job, no friends, and no place to live: “Go. Even if you have to come back, you can at least say you went”. (I’ve been here for 34 years now) ---
**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, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/48 "2017-08-30T17:48:55Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > A co-worker when I at 21 was trying to decide whether to move off to a place where I had no job, no friends, and no place to live: “Go. Even if you have to come back, you can at least say you went”. (I’ve been here for 34 years now) Have you found a job, a place to live, made any friends? ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/49 "2017-08-30T18:08:30Z")
All of the above, many more times than I can count. And an ex-husband to boot. that I could have done without. ---
**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, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/50 "2017-08-30T18:11:23Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > All of the above, many more times than I can count. And an ex-husband to boot. that I could have done without. 😃 Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/51 "2017-08-30T19:14:37Z")
“What your brain forgets, your feet make up” - various relatives ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/52 "2017-08-30T19:47:17Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Knees, nuts, neck, or nose. > > – my sensei > > Regards, > Shodan Reminds me of an ex-roommate whose leaving the apartment routine went “spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch” to make sure he didn’t forget anything. ---
**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, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/53 "2017-08-30T19:54:23Z")
You can’t drink all day if you don’t start early. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/54 "2017-08-30T20:35:44Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Reminds me of an ex-roommate whose leaving the apartment routine went “spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch” to make sure he didn’t forget anything. That is a big thing in my family, too. It’s based on an old joke that my dad used to tell - based on what a rabbi says he’s checking in his pockets when a priest sees him and asking why he’s genuflecting. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/55 "2017-08-30T20:54:24Z")
Live simply. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/56 "2017-08-30T21:13:58Z")
Don’t pay credit card interest. Start saving early. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/57 "2017-08-30T21:34:17Z")
Nm ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/58 "2017-08-30T21:58:14Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Nm That’s the pithiest one yet, and sound advice. ---
**Author:** ![lriemann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@lriemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lriemann)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/59 "2017-08-30T22:03:39Z")
## Good people improve themselves. Great people improve others. I think I just came up with that. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/60 "2017-08-30T22:07:40Z")
> [@lriemann](#): > > I think I just came up with that. I’m going to remove the first letter and pass it off as my own. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067.md?page=4)