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Maxims

fdrake April 30, 2018 at 15:02 8775 views 62 comments
We have a quote thread, we have 'Wiser Words Have Never Been Spoken', but we don't have a thread to share personal maxims, sayings or aphorisms. Please post them, if you have any, here.

10 minutes isn't the difference between energetic and tired, but it is the difference between late and on-time.

Comments (62)

0 thru 9 April 30, 2018 at 16:05 #174876
“Get it, before you forget it”.

Like taking the coffee cup off the car roof before it spills down the windshield while backing out. :gasp:
Cavacava April 30, 2018 at 16:12 #174877
Measure twice, cut once.

Lefty loosey righty tighty.
fdrake April 30, 2018 at 17:20 #174889
Remembered one my mother told me when I was a teenager:

If you can't be good be careful, if you can't be careful tie a knot in it.
Monitor April 30, 2018 at 17:35 #174891
Find the easiest way to do the hardest part.
Thorongil April 30, 2018 at 18:39 #174913
Ignorance is a still pond. Learning is a stone dropped into it.
frank April 30, 2018 at 19:02 #174920
Life is the greatest of all teachers.
_db April 30, 2018 at 19:02 #174921
If you don't do it, someone else will and they might fuck it up.
Janus April 30, 2018 at 21:14 #174938
The maxim of the procrastinator:

Never do today what you can put off until next Tuesday, and if you can't do it then, forget about it.
T Clark April 30, 2018 at 21:41 #174945
You can have anything you want. You just have to stop wanting it.
Thorongil May 01, 2018 at 00:45 #174969
Find and you will seek.
Deleted User May 01, 2018 at 00:56 #174970
Why?
Thorongil May 01, 2018 at 02:51 #175018
A benevolent monarch is better than a corrupt republic, while a republic of benevolent citizens is better than a despot.
Thorongil May 01, 2018 at 02:59 #175024
Reply to Lone Wolf Nobody knows what they want because they do not know why they want anything to begin with. In finding what is sought, one seeks what is found. Desire is not exhausted in being once fulfilled.
Deleted User May 01, 2018 at 03:04 #175030
Reply to Thorongil You do know I wasn't replying to you, right?
Thorongil May 01, 2018 at 03:05 #175031
Aristotle is to Plato as Schopenhauer is to Kant.
Thorongil May 01, 2018 at 03:05 #175033
Reply to Lone Wolf Knowledge without experience is empty. Experience without knowledge is blind.
Deleted User May 01, 2018 at 03:10 #175037
Reply to Thorongil Force cannot change right.
Deleted User May 01, 2018 at 04:23 #175070
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Deleted User May 01, 2018 at 04:25 #175072
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Deleted User May 01, 2018 at 04:25 #175074
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Noble Dust May 01, 2018 at 08:41 #175103
Once a moronic sheep, always a moronic sheep.
ArguingWAristotleTiff May 01, 2018 at 12:35 #175133
Hard work is called hard for a reason. - BFF Gidget

Never judge another for you never know what they might be dealing with behind closed doors. - Mom

There is a difference between "knowing" and "doing". - My response to telling my kids to do something and they say "I know Mom!"

If someone has a problem with you and you like who you are, that is their problem not yours. - me

Don't get mad, kill them with kindness. - Mom

When it's harder to suffer than change, we change. - not sure

Do what you love, do it honestly and with everything you have and the 'rest' will follow. - Dr. S

Only you know the answer to that question. - Grampa about relationship advice
BC May 01, 2018 at 12:58 #175139
Banned in Boston, condemned in Cleveland, and banished from the Philosophy Forum for annoying the moderators or using the word m o r o n too often.
Cavacava May 01, 2018 at 13:07 #175143
Reply to Bitter Crank Didn't Rex get fired for calling Trump a moron? I think Rex was more-on than off about Trump.
unenlightened May 01, 2018 at 14:14 #175155
It wasn't me, and anyway it was an accident.
ArguingWAristotleTiff May 01, 2018 at 14:50 #175165
Calling out the wrong child's name in anger and then having to swear yourself into finding the right name! You know which one of you I am talking about! Get in here!
ArguingWAristotleTiff May 01, 2018 at 14:51 #175167
Anytime someone says "God Damnit" I respond with "Why are you bringing HIM into this?"
Baden May 01, 2018 at 17:50 #175223
Reply to Noble Dust

Oh, stop moaning. We got rid of the moron trigger just for you. Relax, celebrate, dance.
Baden May 01, 2018 at 17:53 #175224
Quoting tim wood
When you get really, really tired, work twice as hard.


No. Realize you've worked too hard and never do that again. Just who are you trying to impress anyway? ;)
Srap Tasmaner May 01, 2018 at 19:05 #175239
Some quotes I use as maxims:
Erma Bombeck: Kids need your love most when they deserve it least.

Everyone has their reasons.

That one I got from Orson Welles, explaining Touch of Evil , and he said he got it from Renoir.
Deleted User May 01, 2018 at 19:24 #175246
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Deleted User May 02, 2018 at 01:56 #175320
Things will go on as they always have; that is, badly.
- Benjamin from Animal Farm by George Orwell.
T Clark May 02, 2018 at 02:05 #175326
If you think everyone is an asshole, there’s a good chance you’re the asshole.
Caldwell May 02, 2018 at 03:48 #175339
Quoting Srap Tasmaner
Some quotes I use as maxims:

Kids need your love most when they deserve it least. — Erma Bombeck

So true. I agree.


Here's one:
"You breed crows, your eyes are gonna get pecked."


Noble Dust May 02, 2018 at 05:37 #175357
Reply to Baden

I'm both honored, and also a moron. Actually, I tend to be a moron more often than I receive honor. Thanks for both?
iolo May 02, 2018 at 16:51 #175467
'You don't tell children there's no Father Christmas' - my Mother on religion.
Streetlight May 02, 2018 at 17:12 #175471
My favourite:

Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo

(If I cannot bend the heavens, I will stir the infernal powers)

- Virgil, Aeneid VII, 312.
0 thru 9 May 02, 2018 at 17:17 #175472
More mottos that pop into my mind occasionally, and seem to be helpful...

  • Words reflect the speaker (or writer) far, far more than the supposed subject under discussion. Our favorite subject is ourselves.

  • Bless everyone and everything, all of the time. Try to, at least. (Blessing here not meaning approving or liking, necessarily.)

  • When in doubt, wait it out.
  • Speeding through a parking lot saves no time, and helps absolutely no one.
  • When you are tired of being yourself, be someone else. When you are tired of being a human, be a tree or perhaps a pool of water.
  • When doing a job: safety first. Then accuracy and correctness. Then speed.
  • What is the hardest thing to carry, yet weighs nothing? A grudge.
  • Don’t say “I can do it” because the subconscious when answer “No, you can’t!” or “No, you shouldn’t”. Say rather “It can be done, if it is necessary and the timing is right”. From the Tao Te Ching:
  • Treat a victory as seriously as a funeral.
  • If you do not compete, you will have in all the world no competitor.
  • Who has enough to fill up everyone? Only those that are filled with emptiness.
  • The highest good is like water. Water can wear away a mountain, and yet wash your dirty feet without complaint!
T Clark May 02, 2018 at 17:18 #175473
Quoting StreetlightX
(If I cannot bend the heavens, I will stir the infernal powers)


I think this explains a lot of your behavior as a moderator. :friendly smirk:
T Clark May 02, 2018 at 17:19 #175474
Never, ever, ever let a school bus cut in ahead of you in traffic. Never.
Streetlight May 02, 2018 at 17:27 #175477
Reply to T Clark :grin:

I also like this one, although together with the last, it's darker than you might think:

"Let us laugh together, on principle" - William Connolly
T Clark May 02, 2018 at 17:31 #175482
Quoting StreetlightX
"Let us laugh together, on principle" - William Connolly


Mr. Connolly has stated my entire philosophy in six words.
BC May 02, 2018 at 22:40 #175550
Life is like a sewer; what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. Thomas Lehrer.
Sir2u May 03, 2018 at 13:19 #175673
Ignorance is like bad teeth, keeping your mouth shut stops people from noticing you suffer from them.

If you don't want to fix problems, don't cause them.
0 thru 9 May 05, 2018 at 11:22 #176232
more mad maxims... :flower:
  • Despite any appearances to the contrary, this particular moment is radically different from all others, and yet somehow is connected to all of them.
  • On slippery ice, walk like a penguin. Keep your arms out, walk slowly with a wide stance, and shuffle your feet.
  • If one must assume anything, assume that anything can happen at anytime, for goodness knows what reason.
  • If you can’t apologize to someone directly or in person, then apologize in your heart.
  • Your eyes can deceive you. Don’t trust them. - Obi-Won Kenobi
  • Don’t believe every thought that enters your mind. Treat your thoughts with the skepticism and caution you would have if someone knocked on your door in the middle of the night.
  • Showing Off Strengths = S.O.S. Working On Weakness = WOW
  • Whatever others do or don’t do, uphold your end of the bargain.
  • Words and deeds live on longer than the person. If you assume your words will have an effect, and that your actions are being recorded; you are probably correct.
  • How am I not myself? How am I not myself? How am I not myself? - from I :heart: Huckabees.
  • Where can you go, to leave yourself behind? - “Red Light”, U2
ArguingWAristotleTiff May 05, 2018 at 14:04 #176245
If my dog doesn't like you, chances are there is a reason and I trust them with my life so...... :chin:
Deleted User May 05, 2018 at 14:24 #176248
Sometimes life hurts.
0 thru 9 July 06, 2018 at 00:18 #194208
Did anyone ask for yet more maxims? (Well here they are anyway)

1. Honesty is always, always, always the best policy. At all times, places, and in all situations. (See #2)

2. Occasionally choosing an action that is NOT necessarily the best policy might help you live longer, and could turn out to be fun. (See #3)

3. If your Significant Other finds out that you are both a liar and a hypocrite, you may not WANT to live any longer. Honestly, that’s not fun. (See #1 and strongly consider staying there) :yum:
Wayfarer July 06, 2018 at 07:32 #194270
You can’t explain mathematics. Mathematics is what explains.
andrewk July 06, 2018 at 11:00 #194324
Try! Do or do not is a false dichotomy.
unenlightened July 06, 2018 at 11:26 #194327
You don't have to be mad to study psychology, it does it for you.
Jeremiah July 06, 2018 at 12:31 #194332
I have a saying I came up during my decade in customer service.

People are people are people are people . . .


I estimate that during that period I spoke one on one with roughly between 150k - 170k different people from all over the world, of all types and ages. I learned that they are all same, all of them. I also think that humans were never meant to mass interact on that level, it left me with with a general dislike of people. I quit before that dislike grew into something more, but I still have a hard time not getting irritated with just about everyone.
Moliere July 06, 2018 at 18:22 #194373
One I often find myself repeating:

"It is what it is"
Txastopher July 08, 2018 at 07:40 #194928
[i]. Hard to translate, but means that only fools take consolation from the fact that many others have the same problems that they do. Gets to the heart of so much faulty reasoning.
0 thru 9 September 19, 2018 at 14:07 #213590
Never listen to what others tell you to do. But don’t take my advice...

Everything is nothing. Nothing is everything.
Something is part of everything. Everything is part of each thing.
(or something like that! :wink: )

Most of the time, the evidence and facts one has are much closer to 1% than 100%.

All the world’s a stage... which one day it’ll grow out of.

Life is a little game of “doing what you can with what you have, for as long as possible... while taking what you need, and giving what you can” Hopefully, while ever learning and discarding the ineffective and wasteful.

Even a blind squirrel can find his nuts.
:blush:
MindForged September 19, 2018 at 14:27 #213600
I've no clue if she created it, but my grandmother used to say:

If you do something stupid, don't do it twice.

I suppose I was never good at putting that into practice though...
BC September 21, 2018 at 01:57 #213894
Bitter Crank:There is no such thing as meaningless sex.
MindForged September 21, 2018 at 02:12 #213899
Reply to Bitter Crank Sex with sex dolls
BC September 21, 2018 at 03:00 #213911
Reply to MindForged You mean, the sex dolls having sex with each other? I suppose that might not be very meaningful, since the dolls would have difficulty developing a decent decadent narrative.

Or possibly you mean people having sex with sex dolls? Whoever heard of such a thing--screwing a piece of inflated plastic! Sex with a sex doll would not be meaningless, however. It might not be a sublime and elegant meaning, but it would have meaning, none-the-less.
BC September 21, 2018 at 03:05 #213912
Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics.
Charles Peguy.

Hanover September 21, 2018 at 18:42 #214056
Quoting Bitter Crank
Or possibly you mean people having sex with sex dolls? Whoever heard of such a thing--screwing a piece of inflated plastic!


No one suggested that the sex doll be inanimate. I take "sex doll" as a descriptive term describing a certain personality, not one I particularly aspire to, but one that fulfills an occasional purpose.

My decadent narrative is so much more interesting than other's. It's my most unRepublican aspect.
0 thru 9 September 27, 2018 at 10:44 #215630
The next time I meet someone who is either completely perfect or absolutely worthless will be the first time.

Do what you can... and can the doo-doo.

Mono-culture is the death of culture. Simplicity can be beautiful, but nature’s strength is its complexity.

Working for the good is always in order. Fighting for what one perceives to be right is best when it is not the first option. Some things are worth fighting for. But some things are too valuable and fragile to fight over. There are no winners when the “fight for what is right” becomes the “fight to be right”.

The exchange of data is not necessarily communication. There is occasionally an accidental overlap, however.

Assuming that someone has changed is risky. Assuming they can NEVER change is riskier.

To neither get ahead nor behind of yourself is to be in rhythm. To be in rhythm is to be ready.

Cutting the clutter is usually helpful, both physically and mentally. Not confusing motion with progress, preference with quality, opinion with fact, cliche with truth, novelty with originality, and appearances with reality, clears the table to get down to business. The wrong answers are usually louder, larger, and more numerous than the right one. Yet sometimes sweeping statements clean the room. Other times, they kick up a lot of dust. At times, they manage to do both!

Wisdom occasionally feels like “Aha!” Sometimes it is “Oh...”. Most often it seems to be “Ouch”.

A person may sometimes speak a truth, or express a drop of wisdom. Matter and energy, the Earth and the life around us never stops churning its torrent of truth, its waterfall of wisdom. Dare we swim in those waters?

Try not to let progress slow you down...