# What is the best advice you were ever given? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915 "2012-03-16T00:27:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mskatied](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mskatied](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mskatied)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/1 "2012-03-16T00:27:49Z")
I am curious 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/2 "2012-03-16T00:36:41Z")
Going to move this over to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/3 "2012-03-16T00:45:00Z")
My Father told me “don’t be a people pleaser.” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/4 "2012-03-16T00:48:26Z")
Buy low, sell high. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/5 "2012-03-16T01:14:15Z")
“Throw down about a thousand pencil lines, ink somewhere in the middle, then erase the pencils.” By God, it works! “Garlic powder.” Yum! “Get a walking stick.” Nice, collapsible, light-weight aluminum walking stick. What a great difference it makes! “Learn to write in paragraphs.” Would you believe…this is something my high school English teachers never told me? I honestly didn’t know; I wrote in big, solid, ugly “wall of text” format (like, ahem, some people on the SDMB still do) until a very dear friend explained the purpose of paragraphs. “Learn to write in chapters.” Pretty much the same thing. “Say it only once; they heard you.” I used to argue a lot with my mother, and the debates went round and round in circles forever. A psychiatrist told me this one. Improved my life a lot! ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/6 "2012-03-16T01:16:53Z")
From Oprah, even: When people reveal themselves to you, believe them. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/7 "2012-03-16T01:23:11Z")
Get out of the shoe business. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/8 "2012-03-16T01:28:47Z")
Sometimes you win by letting the other person think they’ve won. This can take on several meanings 1)Pick your battles. Walk away from that stupid argument about [something pointless that’s just going to stress everyone out]. They think they won the argument, but really, you won since you’re not arguing anymore. Whatever, let them spend the rest of their life thinking that Diet Coke/Cubs/Xtina is better…who cares. 2)Having the confidence to look at someone and say “I don’t have to prove anything”/“you’re right, I probably can’t do that”. Sure, they _think_ they’ve won, but you’re the one who didn’t hurt yourself proving you actually can lift that box or get caught doing something you shouldn’t be doing. 3)After giving someone instructions and knowing they probably didn’t pay attention to you instead of saying “You weren’t listening…fine, what did I say” (which will result in a “yes I was”) try saying “I’m not sure I explained it clearly, tell me what you’re going to do”. In their mind _you’re_ the moron who can’t communicate…but really you won by making sure the job is going to get done properly (or at the very least you can hold them responsible because they can’t claim they didn’t understand what to do). It get’s wordy when I write it out, but it all boils down to “Sometimes you win by letting the other person think they’ve won.” ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/9 "2012-03-16T01:29:48Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > From Oprah, even: When people reveal themselves to you, believe them. Nitpick…That was Maya Angelou. I really don’t care for her, I heard that quote randomly on the radio one day and it always stuck with me. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/10 "2012-03-16T01:31:38Z")
Live beneath your means. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/11 "2012-03-16T01:37:57Z")
From a second-level manager when I first hired on with Pacific Bell: “Get into ESS.” (Electronic Switching Systems). ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/12 "2012-03-16T02:16:17Z")
From my best friend on my wedding day: “NEVER call her a bitch.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/13 "2012-03-16T02:38:38Z")
Walk out into your back yard, and drink in deeply all that you see there. ---
**Author:** ![Semjaazah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Semjaazah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Semjaazah)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/14 "2012-03-16T02:42:42Z")
Trust no-one you can’t control or predict. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/15 "2012-03-16T02:55:52Z")
Years ago a friend trying to make in Hollywood told me to “Always have your f\*ck you money set aside.” - meaning have enough to walk away from a bad job and be able to live until the next job. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/16 "2012-03-16T03:25:47Z")
The two choices you make as a young adult that have the most impact on your overall happiness in life: Who you marry, and what you do for a living. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/17 "2012-03-16T03:33:05Z")
“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/18 "2012-03-16T03:54:41Z")
Wait until she is 18 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/19 "2012-03-16T04:20:51Z")
Don’t believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915/20 "2012-03-16T04:23:56Z")
Don’t eat yellow snow. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-advice-you-were-ever-given/615915.md?page=2)