Not exactly motto or phrase, but just a word to remind myself that
This too shall pass.
In its original form:
Anicca (impermanence)
Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
281–290 of 472 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#282Amor Fati
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#283The unexamined life is not worth living - Socrates
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#284I sort of cycle through and meditate on the below quotes a few times a week.
"Humanity has no forgotten how infinitesimal, how impermanent and how ignorant it actually is. Ptolemy has been ridiculed for conceiving the earth to be the center of the universe, yet modern civilization is apparently founded upon the hypothesis that the planet Earth is the most permanent and important of all the heavenly spheres. Ignorant of the cause of life, ignorant of the purpose of life, ignorant of what lies beyond death, we devote the precious span of our earthly years to the futile effort of establishing ourselves as an enduring power in a realm of un enduring things." - anon
“It is not necessary for a man to be actively bad in order to make a failure in life; simple inaction will accomplish it. Nature has everywhere written her protest against idleness; everything which ceases to struggle toward an ideal, the constant effort to get higher and further, which develops manhood and character.”
― James Terry White
"How we spend our days is how we spend our lives"
“Concentrate every minute like a Roman— like a man— on doing what's in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions." - Marcus Aurelius
Discipline = freedom
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#285[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#286When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#287There Is More Than One Way To Do It
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#288"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
It was perfect as a senior quote in my yearbook!
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#289"Always be nice twice"
This has been my motto for about 20 or 30 years now and helped me enormously (I think this is from an Irving book).
The idea behind is that you should give yourself and the other party a chance after a failed first impression. People have bad days, a tough meeting before, personal problems, ...
I met a few wonderful people and one very close friend after a horrible initial meeting. If I just told myself that they are assholes and I am an angel we would have missed a lot. I rather thought "they may be great and I may not have been great".
One word of caution: some people will take this for weakness.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?
#290Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again. - Steve Jobs And in similar vain: Are you moving one step in 20 directions or 20 steps in one direction? I colle…
"Are you moving one step in 20 directions or 20 steps in one direction?"
So what if I'm moving one step in 20 directions but I'm enjoying each one of them? Isn't preferrable to enjoy the journey and never reaching nowhere rather than reaching your destination whatever it takes on each step? :D