# Your favorite/most useful aphorisms **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322 "2016-06-02T16:18:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/21 "2016-06-02T19:57:22Z")
That which does not kill me just postpones the inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/22 "2016-06-02T19:59:42Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Why\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b782af/32.png) [@Why\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_Child)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/23 "2016-06-02T21:27:23Z")
It is better to have loved and lost, than to be stuck with that psycho for the rest of your life. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/24 "2016-06-02T21:31:53Z")
Fuck it, that’ll do. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/25 "2016-06-02T21:39:27Z")
Gifts are _never_ free. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/26 "2016-06-02T21:44:23Z")
I love this one, because it is both true AND self-defeating… “Know the difference between a philosophy and a bumper sticker.” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/27 "2016-06-02T21:54:41Z")
> [@Why\_Child](#): > > It is better to have loved and lost, than to be stuck with that psycho for the rest of your life. I am so remembering this. Mine is serious: Be kind because everyone you meet is fighting a great battle. I like the Me that keeps this in mind. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/28 "2016-06-02T21:55:36Z")
“I can explain it to you again, but I can’t _ **understand** _ it for you”. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/29 "2016-06-02T21:59:06Z")
If a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his ass. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/30 "2016-06-02T22:27:37Z")
> [@BrassyPhrase](#): > > I heard it from my uncle ‘Never wrestle a pig. You’ll get dirty, and the pig likes it.’ My use of it is always wrestle. The other seems like a combination with teaching the horse to sing as an excuse for a delay of an execution. At least you get the extra time and “maybe the horse will learn to sing.” Another good one - “It’s a marathon not a sprint.” ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/31 "2016-06-02T23:25:10Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > Not my circus, not my monkeys. I keep this on a PostIt at my desk at work. Wrote it down several weeks ago, added a cute line sketch of a monkey outline and … that little scrap of neon sticky paper has rescued my sanity so very many times since then. My next-desk neighbor will occasionally [del]complain about[/del] comment on some current dysfunction or inter-dept. shenanigans and I’ve taken to just silently holding up that Post-It at him. A couple more favorites: “This, too, shall pass.” “The cream rises to the top, but so does pond scum.” “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” “Just enough, just in time.” ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/32 "2016-06-02T23:58:55Z")
Always remember, you’re unique. Just like everyone else. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/33 "2016-06-03T00:01:06Z")
“Medium” Alright, it’s not technically an aphorism but it has the same effect on causing the people involved to think about what was said or is happening as it is unexpected. It is a useful response and statement in sooo many circumstances: Is this ready to go? What do you think? How’s it going? Do you want to go? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/34 "2016-06-03T00:25:50Z")
Two of the best: The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool. (Feynman) Don’t be so open-minded that your brains fall out. (disputed origin) Two of the worst: Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. _Sure it is, if the hypothesis predicts that we should **expect to see** evidence_ You can’t prove a negative. _Sure you can. There are no elephants in my back yard. You just can’t prove a universal and highly nonspecific negative._ ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/35 "2016-06-03T01:25:53Z")
"Close enough for government work. " ---
**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:** [June 3, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/36 "2016-06-03T01:47:44Z")
You can only control yourself. Go ahead and be self-conscious, but the only person paying that much attention to you is you. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/37 "2016-06-03T02:40:37Z")
when you find you have cast your pearls before swine, do not apologize to the swine as you pick them up. the meek shall inherit the Earth, but they will have to hire a Marshal to evict the aggressive. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/38 "2016-06-03T02:49:25Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > the meek shall inherit the Earth, but they will have to hire a Marshal to evict the aggressive. - I think it was “Blessed are the cheesemakers”. - What’s so special about the cheesemakers? - Well, obviously it’s not meant to be taken literally, it refers to _any_ manufacturers or dairy products. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/39 "2016-06-03T03:03:43Z")
“Life is what happens while you are making other plans.” ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322/40 "2016-06-03T03:10:35Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > - I think it was “Blessed are the cheesemakers”. > - What’s so special about the cheesemakers? > - Well, obviously it’s not meant to be taken literally, it refers to _any_ manufacturers or dairy products. lmao, but not quite the same. Once, when I was a substitute teacher and the intercom was unintelligible I was able to use the "blessed are the cheesemakers " line. Half the kids got it and died laughing, the other half was baffled. 🆒 poor kids. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-most-useful-aphorisms/756322.md?page=3)