# What's your motto in life? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2007, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439 "2007-05-02T10:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/21 "2007-05-02T12:54:57Z")
Do what’s right, do no harm, and keep the faith that by doing so, in some small measure, you will make the world a better place. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/22 "2007-05-02T12:57:55Z")
Ad astra per aspera ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/23 "2007-05-02T13:12:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. Or - the version sized to fit on a T-shirt: > [@](#): > > Cite? :dubious: (With the dubious smilie. Gotta have the dubious smilie.) ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/24 "2007-05-02T13:18:05Z")
The Zen philosopher Basho wrote _A flute without holes, is not a flute. A donut without a hole, is a Danish._ Truely words to live by. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/25 "2007-05-02T13:22:46Z")
I take mine from Red Green: Quondo Omni Flunkus Mortati ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/26 "2007-05-02T13:24:45Z")
some do it naturally some obscenely everywhere. (On edit: also “Stagger onward, rejoicing.” -W.H. Auden) ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/27 "2007-05-02T14:10:11Z")
And so it goes. (With a tip of the hat to both Kurt Vonnegut and Linda Ellerbee) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/28 "2007-05-02T14:25:03Z")
Personal motto: _Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo_. (with thanks to Virgil) “If I cannot move Heaven I’ll raise Hell” Classroom motto: _Disce Aut Morere_. “Learn or die.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/29 "2007-05-02T14:25:46Z")
Mine used to be ‘How hard can it be?’ But I’m thinking of changing it to “what the fuck is this now?” ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/30 "2007-05-02T14:36:13Z")
[QUOTE=Aspidistra] In conversation with a friend recently (a person who is far more “Type A” than my laid-back self) I decided that my personal life motto is “What’s the worst that could happen?” What’s your motto? [/QUOTE] That’s pretty much mine too, sometimes followed by “Any day above ground is a good one.” People worry too much over things they can’t control. ---
**Author:** ![AHoosierMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@AHoosierMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHoosierMama)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/31 "2007-05-02T14:42:30Z")
Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/32 "2007-05-02T14:57:21Z")
“If you run, you’ll just die tired” meaning: bullets are supersonic so if you’ve heard a shot it’s already missed _or_ life is a train and you’re in a tunnel _and/or_ plan ahead because by the time it happens it’s too late to prepare. Or Vide Audi Tace ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/33 "2007-05-02T14:58:35Z")
No worries. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/34 "2007-05-02T15:14:28Z")
This isn’t the end of the adventure. It’s the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/35 "2007-05-02T15:27:31Z")
“I will not rest until the Earth has been conquered, I have been acclaimed God-King, Elizabeth Mitchell and Kate Winslett have given birth to my heirs simultaneously (to ensure a civil war after my death), and everyone involved with the latter four seasons of Star Trek: Voyager has been executed. Except for Roxanne Biggs-Dawson, who is spared only to bear the spoiler heir.” ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/36 "2007-05-02T15:28:04Z")
Smile to the world, and the world usually smiles back at you 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/37 "2007-05-02T15:37:44Z")
You only live once. I work in the transplant department and see a lot of sick people who thought they were going to live a whole lot longer. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/38 "2007-05-02T16:03:11Z")
“Life is lumpy. But a lump in your oatmeal, a lump in your throat and a lump in your breast are not the same kinds of lumps. Learn to recognize the difference and act accordingly.” When you take the time to stop and analyze it, most problems are really just lumps in your oatmeal. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/39 "2007-05-02T16:14:09Z")
I have no idea if the Latin is correct, but my motto is: \*Malam cerevisiam faeceus in cathedram stercoris \* Which is supposed to mean “Let he who makes bad beer be thrown on the town dung heap” (I am the quality assurance lab guy at a brewery, and an avid homebrewer) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439/40 "2007-05-02T16:16:37Z")
"When life gives you lemons, _just shut up and eat your goddam lemons!!"_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-motto-in-life/402439.md?page=3)