Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

421–430 of 472 posts

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?

#421

Post by seriocomic »

natmaka wrote: post #318
seriocomic wrote: post #264

Not one, but a couple I utter everyday (to my kids): 1. "You get what you get and you don't get upset" 2. "Don't worry about that which you cannot control" The last is the deepest one which I struggle the most with: "When you’re 20, you care what everyone thinks, when you’re 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks, when you’re 60, you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place!" - attributed to Chu…

Did you read the 'Enchiridion' (Epictetus)?

Thanks for pointing to that - I don't think I remember that specific reference, but there may have been some commentary to or about it when I was reading 'Meditations' (Marcus Aurelius) or one of the books on Stoicism where I picked it up from.

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?

#422

Post by mmcnl »

japhyr wrote: post #28

When I was in my 20s I lived on a bicycle for a year, going around the lower 48 and Canada, and then up to Alaska. I lived for two weeks in Joshua Tree with a guy named Tom, who slept in a cave the whole time. One morning we were sorting our gear and a piece of paper fell out of his wallet. As I handed it back to him, I read the three lines on it: Work hard. Be strong. Don't complain. I asked him about it, and he sai…

Is this really great advice? What if you don't feel strong? What if working hard makes you unhappy?

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?

#423

Post by 1nikoalvin1 »

my mates will burn me on this one but "if it doesn't spark joy, get rid of it" - marie condo. i blame my wife for getting me hooked on organizing our whole house. but it applies to real life situations too. for example, last year i was contemplating quitting my job. i asked myself if it sparked joy and with that i quit the next day. lol

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?

#426

Post by 3minus1 »

This is a fun thread. Here are some I thought of:

"envy is ignorance...imitation is suicide" --Emerson. For me it's about embracing your own weirdness

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self" --Hemingway. Similar to above.

"regression to the mean" - The idea that any outcome that is especially good or bad is more likely an outlier than a predictor of future outcomes.

"what you see is all there is" - people always have a kind of tunnel-vision and will always need reminders to be aware of anything

"extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" - a non-theist's mantra

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" - such a bold declaration of human value from the 1700s

"These are the times that try men's souls" - an eloquent way of framing an age

"An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" - pacifism is not a great strategy, but this statement is inspiring.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" - idealogical fervor and often leads to the best and worst in humanity

"measure twice, cut once" -- an actual motto

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" --Tyson. Defeating opponents is satisfying.

"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."

"change is the only constant" - for when things change

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?

#427

Post by jdmcnugent »

Mottos (or just quotes) I remember from medical training:

“There is no problem that can’t be made worse with surgery” - a cautionary phrase to counter “a chance to cut is a chance to cure”

“Never be the first or the last to do something” - in regards to the countless new widgets, fads, techniques etc that are all the rage at the time

“50% of of our current understanding is wrong, but we don’t know which 50%”

“A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from the mistakes of others”

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?

#428

Post by unnouinceput »

webmaven wrote: post #396
unnouinceput wrote: post #253

"A sucker is born every minute" - Nixon during his famous China visit.

> "A sucker is born every minute" - Nixon during his famous China visit. Huh. I'd always heard that attributed to P. T. Barnum.

Yes, I've read that too. And probably Nixon was quoting him as well. But this summarize Nixon's mind, especially since he did this during the official talk with Chinese officials. It unfroze American-Chinese diplomatic relations, which led to current situation where China is America's manufacturer for almost everything.

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite motto?

#429

Post by ISO-morphism »

checkyoursudo wrote: post #72
onion2k wrote: post #65

"Why do it right when you can do it twice?" I use it sarcastically when people want to hack things together so I don't think it counts as a motto.

I sometimes use: Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow?

What is today but yesterday's tomorrow?

- Mr. Krabs from Spongebob Squarepants

Post reply on HN