# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![irae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f0a364/32.png) [@irae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irae)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/161 "2018-03-29T21:03:14Z")
You actually _can_ fix stupid, provided you’re using ‘fix’ in the sense of ‘neuter or spay’! ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/162 "2018-03-29T21:18:03Z")
“If they’ll do it to someone else, they’ll eventually do it to you.” Also see: “Leopards don’t change their spots.” Phew, some hard-learned lessons related to these sayings hath been learned by me . . . ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/163 "2018-03-29T21:38:19Z")
> [@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.) According to Tom Lehrer (I think it was) it was an engineer who said it. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/164 "2018-03-29T22:48:15Z")
One I learned right here: Never try to argue someone out of an opinion they didn’t argue themselves into. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/165 "2018-03-29T23:24:16Z")
I had a high school graduating class of 19, and one of them killed himself two years out of school. When I told my dad, he replied: “That’s the price of knowing people.” It wasn’t so pithy as it was just brutally true. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/166 "2018-03-30T00:50:02Z")
You can’t have everything. Where would you put it? ---
**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:** [March 30, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/167 "2018-03-30T14:18:17Z")
There are two types of people in the world. 1) Those who can can extrapolated from incomplete data. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/168 "2018-03-30T14:36:19Z")
> [@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. > > OK: The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty – it is too big. When talking about a plant, pithy does mean full of pith, but when referring to advice, it means an idea forcefully expressed with very few words. Of coarse, part of the effectiveness of any statement is going to depend on the situation. Here, some pithy advice for you would be, “Find a new dictionary.” The pithiest advice I ever got was, “F off!” Again, its effectiveness relied haavily on the situation, but at that time and place, it was excellent advice. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2018, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/169 "2018-03-30T15:30:18Z")
Never take advice from the guy sitting across from you at the poker table. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/170 "2018-03-30T15:32:54Z")
A salesman always knows what is best…for himself. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/171 "2018-03-30T17:48:34Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Never take advice from the guy sitting across from you at the poker table. Also - if you can’t immediately spot the sucker at the poker table, it’s you. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/172 "2018-03-30T18:34:40Z")
This too shall pass. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/173 "2018-03-30T18:40:15Z")
“Truth” and “Fact” are not usually synonymous, and “Right” and “Wrong” are not usually antonymous. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2018, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/174 "2018-03-31T13:46:56Z")
My sister once told me to “run your own boat.” I don’t know why she worded it that way, but it’s a good thought: DO IT YOURSELF. Do not expect any one else to do it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/175 "2018-03-31T17:31:03Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > This too shall pass. My mum used to say this. Very true, on every level. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/176 "2018-03-31T18:30:59Z")
“CYA…consult your attorney.” ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/177 "2018-04-01T23:08:13Z")
Real boats rock. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/178 "2018-04-02T07:33:07Z")
After I turned 50 I had a small accident where I had to go to the ER for pulled muscles in my back. The doctor gave me some good advice: 1/ Never pass up a chance to use the bathroom when you have the chance. 2/ Never trust a fart (for obvious reasons). 3/ Never waste an erection. He didn’t seem to concerned when I told him I currently didn’t have an SO. #'s 1 and 2 have come in handy several times. ---
**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 2, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/179 "2018-04-02T17:14:12Z")
Two more. \*He who laughs, lasts. \* and, for old folks: _Don’t let your ass be higher than your head._ ---
**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 2, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067/180 "2018-04-02T18:18:57Z")
Dreams about going to the bathroom never end well. When you get older, the best part of waking up is self-evident. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pithiest-advice-you-ever-got/795067.md?page=10)