# Who's got a mantra? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 25, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721 "2007-11-25T19:12:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/21 "2007-11-26T02:11:26Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna] Owah-tagu-siam [/QUOTE] 😃 I have passed this mantra along to my son. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/22 "2007-11-26T03:01:21Z")
My mantra is “What the fuck?!?” I didn’t make some conscious decision to make it my mantra, though. I just say it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/23 "2007-11-26T04:06:17Z")
My sig line. ( Every time someone ask me how I’m doing, I give them this line. It brightens many a day.) ---
**Author:** ![MerryMagdalen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@MerryMagdalen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MerryMagdalen)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/24 "2007-11-26T04:10:27Z")
“It is what it is,” which I picked up from my boss, oddly enough. Kind of implies that your own actions and reactions are the only things definitely under your control. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/25 "2007-11-26T04:30:10Z")
Oon yellimon. Oon yellimon. Oon yellimon. Oon yellimon. (repeat) ---
**Author:** ![Lynne\_kilii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lynne\_kilii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynne_kilii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/26 "2007-11-26T05:21:50Z")
Why not? and Tomorrow, tomorrow it will be better. (not to be confused with tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow, you’re only…) ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/27 "2007-11-26T05:22:23Z")
Nam myoho renge kyo. or That which does not kill us. . . or various song lyrics from years past. Nerves like nylon. . . nerves like steel (repeat ala Bauhaus) Or, I am , I am. I am Superman. And I can do anything. Or words to King of Birds. REM dork. Meanwhile, my working motto, to get my shit in gear, is from Mencken. “Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/28 "2007-11-26T05:50:24Z")
Paraphrasing a Who song: This is no crisis, this is you having fun. This is no crisis, just another tricky day for you. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/29 "2007-11-26T06:31:15Z")
I have one at work: _Me pagan por la hora._. . Spanish for “They pay me by the hour.” Personal issues? “This too shall pass.” ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/30 "2007-11-26T07:03:10Z")
I’ve been saying ‘mens sane en corporum sanum’ a lot lately, but it’s far from a mantra. I guess I dont have one. ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/31 "2007-11-26T07:26:58Z")
“No worries.” Makes every situation better, just keep repeating it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/32 "2007-11-26T08:40:11Z")
I have a genuine early 70s Maharishi Mahesh Yogi mantra, “personally chosen” for me at one of his TM seminars. They are meant to be meaningless and just a thought/sound to deflect intrusive thought. Mine is “ima” like “i’m uh”. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/33 "2007-11-26T10:40:06Z")
om mani padme hom (Jewel in the lotus) is the basic buddhist mantra. All over Tibet. There are some other tibetan mantra’s I’ve learned but the mani one is most popular. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/34 "2007-11-26T13:13:20Z")
I’m considering adopting [“Ninja will overcome.”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445162&highlight=ninja+overcome) Exclamation point as necessary. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Beginning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@New\_Beginning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Beginning)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/35 "2007-11-26T13:35:56Z")
“Progress in life.” For me it’s a good one when things look bad. Looking back there has always been steady measurable progress in my life. My thought is that as long as there continues to be progress, little bad things in the moment can’t affect me too harshly. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/36 "2007-11-26T13:37:02Z")
“I hate myself” Probably not healthy, but it’s increasingly apt. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/37 "2007-11-26T13:57:42Z")
“Don’t be stupid. Don’t be stupid. Don’t be stupid. Don’t be stupid.” I don’t know if it’s a mantra, but I say it to myself all the time. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/38 "2007-11-26T16:42:36Z")
“Whatever works.” That pretty much sums up my life. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/39 "2007-11-26T16:50:53Z")
“The secret to life is enjoying the passage of time. There ain’t nothing to it, any fool can do it.” —James Taylor That has been mine for a very, very long time. Lately I’ve been trying out, “Hahm Sah”, sanskrit for “I am that.” To be employed whenever you encounter the power and beauty of the universe. Remind yourself that you too, are that. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721/40 "2007-11-26T21:44:21Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] I like “Be the cicada.” There was another Dope thread where someone came up with it–the “if you were a murderer in a slash movie” thread. [/QUOTE] Last year I came home and found a cicada emerging from its shell. I had never seen this process before, just the cast-off shells. I took a picture and went inside for a while. An hour or so later I came back outside and saw the cicada just before it took off. It was emerald green and had the most exquisite wings I had ever seen. I took a picture of that and sent it to a friend who was going through a divorce with the message “find your wings.” Flash forward a year later. I had gone through my own rough patch and adopted “find your wings” as my own mantra. It really means “be the cicada” though. As I said to some of my friends later, I’d rather be a cicada than a butterfly. Cicadas are more assertive. I didn’t save the pictures, though. I should really email my friend and see if she has them still. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-got-a-mantra/427721.md?page=3)