Earlier quoted context omitted.
Non-native english speaker here, can you elaborate? I can only find a sexual meaning to it...
I am a native speaker and I can't really see a non-sexual meaning. Which is fine, it's a thought-provoking motto.
Ah, ok :D
Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
131–140 of 472 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#132"A witty saying proves nothing." -- Voltaire The world is far more complex than any human could possibly fathom, and reducing complex subjects to witticisms usually works against those subjects, whether intentional or not.
First I've heard of an anti-motto
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#133I always loved Frank Herbert's quote about fear in Dune : “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” In fact, this quote resonates with me so much that I've…
If that quote resonates with you, then you've never felt true fear.
I don't remember the context in Dune. But I read it to be about irrational fear of something that is not life threatening.
Obviously "overcoming your fear" by putting your life in danger in a situation where you are almost certain to be killed or injured is probably not an idea most people can seriously claim to live by.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#134"aut inveniam viam aut faciam" "I will find a way or make one" Reputedly said by Hannibal when proposing taking his army (and elephants) across the alps.
He presumably didn't say it in Latin though ;-)
which is why we know 𐤌𐤄𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤋's famous line as Vincere scis victoria uti nescis.
====
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharbal discusses the merits of this statement at the time. I find it in keeping with his branch of service, as a cavalry commander.
(Weinberg's line about 30[1] was an echo of Lasalle's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Weinberg#"Don't_trust_any..." https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Charles_Louis_de_Lasal... )
Q. How did Napoleon's HQ decide which branch to assign butterbars fresh from the academy?
A. Oral exam. Ask each candidate the same question: what is 2+2?
If he answers "4": artillery
If he yells out "3!" upon hearing just "2 plus...": cavalry
If he counts on his fingers under the table: infantry
If he asks "what would you like it to be?": logistics
[1] some friends came back from watching The Who and reported that when Daltrey sang "I hope I die before I get old" the guy next to them yelled "too late!"
====
Incidentally, the aut ... aut ... construction reminds me of https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/lamport-howtowrite.ps page 3, only in one temporal dimension, sans parentheses, rather than two physical.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#135"A witty saying proves nothing." -- Voltaire The world is far more complex than any human could possibly fathom, and reducing complex subjects to witticisms usually works against those subjects, whether intentional or not.
Indeed. I contend that posting quotes to look smart or profound is stolen intellectual valor.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#136[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#137unironically "Git Gud". It boils down to stop complaining and better yourself, stop being mad - don't get angry - and just work to surpass the problem/wall. The only thing you can reliably change is yourself.
I like this one ;)
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#138Work harder. Never give up. Nothing to it but to do it (Ronnie Coleman) The journey is the reward (I think this is Steve Jobs) What can I do to move myself towards my goals right now? These are things I usually say to myself throughout the day.
Sorry, I strongly dislike both "Work harder" and "Never give up". How hard is hard enough? When you're burnt out? Or even harder still? And why _never_ give up? What if you're "not giving up" pursuing a wrong thing? If you "give up" and start pursuing the right thing, why is this bad? What is "giving up" anyway. Not sure if trivializing these questions is necessarily productive.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#139vitam impendere vero — Rousseau quoting Juvenal, “stake your life on truth”
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#140"In the long run we are all dead," John Maynard Keynes