Your worst embarrassment is only someone else’s momentary amusement.
Yes, not an aphorism of course. It was just my train of thought after the corruption of “the meek shall inherit the earth”. Although, I guess if you’re a cheesemaker you might hope it catches on…
“If you don’t ask, they can’t say yes.”
It reminds me to be more assertive about what I want/need in various situations.
We can do it fast, we can do it good, we can do it cheap. Pick two.
Don’t leave fish to find fish.
Everything in moderation, including moderation
Uhmmm Ass, Cash, or Grass… nobody rides for free
Wikipedia tells me that Time Enough for Love was published in 1973; but I remember seeing this expression (or a variant) in the mid-late-1960s: “Never try to teach a pig to sing. It doesn’t work, and it just annoys the pig.”
I wonder how many people actually use that adage correctly. I seem to recall that I never understood exactly what it was supposed to mean (I thought it was just some silly semi-nonsense saying) until many many years later, when I suddenly discovered that there were certain things that I myself just couldn’t learn, and after many attempts by many people over many years to 'splain me, I just found it annoying when people kept trying.
It suddenly struck me one day, that I myself was the pig in that expression.
An oldie, but a goodie:
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.
My favourit translates as follows: If you’re an idiot, you’ll have to suffer. In Afrikaans, it’s “As jy dom is, moet jy kak” which more literally translates as “If you’re dumb, you must shit (yourself)”
I find frequent use for it when people I know injure themselves doing stupid things, often involving alcohol, wheels and/or fire. Aslo, a suitable aphorism for the hungover. I also occasionally mutter it under my breath when one of the sprogs does something truly dumb and hurts themselves.
[QUOTE=Grace Hopper]
It is easier to apologize than to get permission.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=My Mother]
Someone has to be the grown-up.
[/QUOTE]
Regards,
Shodan
It is better to be single and wishing that you were married, than to be married and wishing that you were single.
“Regrets for things that you have done can be tempered with time, but regrets for things that you did not do are inconsolable.” (quote by someone I can’t remember)
Fun thread, fellow Dopers. Thanks!
That which doesn’t kill me only makes me whinier.
Saw this once on a bumper sticker, as “Ass, Gas, or Grass…nobody” etc.
“No, it’s not perfect, but better is better.”
(Upon buying or risking foolishly,)
“Ah, well, I’ve spent that much on dumber shit.”
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
Just for general use: “Who ordered that?” Supposed to have been said by Fermi/Gell-Man/some other nuclear physicist when another sub-atomic particle they hadn’t been expecting showed up. I use it as a general "now what kind of s*** is happening.
For politics (especially these days) I try to remember that "The Enemy of my Enemy is my enemies enemy. No more. No Less. (pity politicians often can’t figure that out).
Experience is what you have right after you need it.
My go to for these threads:
Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.
People want the reward, they just don’t want to do the hard stuff to get it.
(Maybe the third time I’ve posted this?)
Everyone wants change, but no one wants to change.
mmm
For a student’s first flying lesson:
“The airplane knows more about flying than you do… my job is teaching you to listen to it.”
For my kids:
“Failure is mostly an orphan… your first step toward success is becoming its father.”