# What is your life motto? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 19, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801 "2010-06-19T19:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/1 "2010-06-19T19:59:54Z")
I don’t have one. I need one. Please help! ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/2 "2010-06-19T20:06:27Z")
Maintain a sense of humour. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/3 "2010-06-19T20:13:59Z")
The ones my children say they are carving into my tombstone are “Do what you are told, when you are told, and your life will be so much easier” and the ever-popular, “I am NOT a piece of playground equipment.” However, I favor the one I used as my philosophy of teaching (why don’t they warn you that you are supposed to come up with one?) which is, “If you are not sure you know what the answer is, fake it til you do”. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/4 "2010-06-19T20:38:34Z")
I have several, the main one being “Be Prepared”. Be an industrious, hard-working Ant, not a slacker Grasshopper, begging for a handout. Second - “Do It Now”. Don’t put it off till ‘later’ - shopping/laundry/banking/cooking, whatever - because when ‘later’ rolls around, Murphy’s Law guarantees something will come up. The car will break down, you will feel sick, the bank will be closed, and you will smack yourself in the head for not doing it earlier! Yes, maintaining your sense of humour is a good one! Nothing like sitting awake in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, mulling over problems, and then you think, “well, here we go, yet another Dark Night of the Soul!” lol. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/5 "2010-06-19T20:42:34Z")
Have a blast while you last. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/6 "2010-06-19T20:44:40Z")
Never regret what seemed like a good idea at the time. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/7 "2010-06-19T20:45:08Z")
“Mottos are for suckers.” ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/8 "2010-06-19T20:49:10Z")
I have several: 1. “Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.” “Trying” implies not giving your all, and also implies that you expect failure. If you exchange “do” for “try,” your entire attitude changes and you succeed far more often than you fail. Most of life’s failures are because you didn’t “try” as hard as you could. 2. “I don’t believe in luck…But, the harder I work, the luckier I get.” I’m one of those people who believe that luck can be manufactured. 3. “Raising the bar since 1972.” It’s not enough to do something, or even to do something well. Every time you do something, you should look at the previous attempt and try to improve on it. This is the difference between innovation and replication. 4. New: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” I adopted his one recently. As you could imagine, someone who believes in 1-3 above is an arrogant shitface who thinks other people are more likely to screw up their work than to help them. What I found out though is that performance is only part of perception, particularly when you are dealing with unperceptive people. Stupid people, in general, believe in words more than facts, and tend to get fooled by bullshit artists. However, there’s not much you can do when those people are your bosses. Therefore, you need to make alliances and relationships with people who support you and believe in your goals, and you need to support them even if they aren’t 100% correct. In the past year, I’ve had a very hard time in my life, but I’ve been surprised at the amount of support I’ve received from people who I don’t even have direct contact with. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/9 "2010-06-19T20:50:44Z")
“It could always get worse.” My personal favorite, from a Mad-Libs game we played in school: “Life is thrusting, life is slimy, and the chicken is not the goal.” ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/10 "2010-06-19T20:51:42Z")
Fuck 'em if they can’t take a joke. It’s sometimes better to ask for forgiveness than permission. I’m masturbating like a motherfuck! Woo! (Hey, I never said I was successful in life.) ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/11 "2010-06-19T21:12:17Z")
Don’t hurt anyone. Give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. Leave the world a little better place than you found it. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/12 "2010-06-19T21:13:09Z")
It’s only money and life’s short. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/13 "2010-06-19T21:24:45Z")
“I’m going to be dead someday.” ---
**Author:** ![Drew\_Kit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Drew\_Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Kit)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/14 "2010-06-19T21:36:29Z")
Always give twice to get all the give-oncers ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/15 "2010-06-19T21:42:28Z")
I never belong to any club that would have me as a member. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/16 "2010-06-19T22:51:13Z")
Stay out of trouble or don’t get caught. ---
**Author:** ![Lunchy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Lunchy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunchy)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/17 "2010-06-19T22:53:50Z")
If they’re old enough to go to the store, they’re old enough to get bred. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/18 "2010-06-19T22:55:12Z")
> [@Lunchy](#): > > If they’re old enough to go to the store, they’re old enough to get bred. Uh… Anyway mine is “Always bring a towel.” ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/19 "2010-06-19T23:23:07Z")
Always… no, no… never… forget to check your references. ---
**Author:** ![PeacePlease](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@PeacePlease](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeacePlease)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801/20 "2010-06-19T23:29:08Z")
Peace. Please. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-life-motto/543801.md?page=2)