Words to live by
 

Anybody have any sort of phrase or quote that inspires them in a way? I have one that I adhere to as much as I possibly can:

"Treat people the way you want to be treated."

I was told that by my former manager... I forget why or in what context it came out, but I never forgot those words. It's such a true statement that's very easy to adhere to. If you're a dick, don't be surprised when people are dicks right back to you. If you're nice but people still treat you like shit, screw them. They're not worth it.

That phrase has definitely helped me out a lot in life.

Honestly, I've always loved this quote:

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!”

yeah i go by that too, of course i had some bad experience with thta, not everyone is nice..and of course i wasnt able to treat anyone i ever met as i would liked to be treated

i also go by "who cares"/ "let him/her be, everyone as its pleasing him/her"

i can deal with like anything that doesnt really affect me and i hope other live by the same motto

I have to agree with that one too. It's one of the major rules I live by. I'm normally a nice guy to everyone, but it takes a lot to push my buttons the wrong way.

I've been shaping my life along the lines of "look out for yourself because no one else will do it for you." I think my dad told me that in reference to the private sector. My experience has generally taught me that this is truth.

After finishing Alice Sebold's book, Lucky, I find myself trying to live by and understand the quote she uses...

"Save yourself, or you go unsaved."

While yes, friends and family are always there to help, they can only do so much. I've been forcing myself to understand that people will be bastards, assholes, what have you, but only you can determine where you go in life. You cant rely on other people to make you happy about yourself. You can rely on them to make you feel SHITTY about yourself, no doubt about that whatsoever. But only you can get on with your own life.

"Enjoy everything."

<3 Yotsuba.

"Play it cool, wrap your tool."

"He who dies with the most toys... still dies"

http://www.snowdesign.com/img/pf_nofear1.gif

I used to have a shirt with this quote and it's really one that has stuck with me. Stupidly stated for sure, but effective. Rich or poor, we are all resigned to the same fate. Perhaps this is a way of saying not too place too much value on money above what is really important... maybe I shouldn't be getting too deep with a fucking quote from NO FEAR. :eagletear:

Well, I just remembered some words I live by.

"Shit happens."

Whether we like it or not, no matter how we try to make it possible or prevent it, Shit happens. Can't really do anything about it, huh?

.............................

"Whatever happens, happens."

What it really means in a laid back way is that you should just do the best of the situation and what's to come. There's no use losing hope and being a worry wart, because it'll just make it all worse.

"If it seems too good to be true, it probably is."

"Try to appear as smart as possible on an internet video gaming forum board"

"Ignore the poster above you"

"Do others are you would have them do you."
~ Dr. Sadie Allison, sex therapist extraordinaire. She writes some interesting books.

In other words, if you aren't willing to eat out that girl that just gave you that awesome blowjob, then you're a douche.

"Stop posting. Seriously. Just... stop posting."

-Denicalis

"Maybe you'll marry. Maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children. Maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at forty. Maybe you'll dance The Funky Chicken on your seventy-fifth wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance - so are everybody else's."

Baz Lurhrman.

I always found that portion of the "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen" monologue to be a very apt bit of guidance.

It's just another reiteration of "do unto others", but...

"If you want to change the way people respond to you, change the way you respond to people."
- Timothy Leary

Something I had an incredibly hard time doing, but a principle I'm still making an effort towards following.

I truly don't know if this is a quote from a famous person. It is a saying I've lived by for quite a long time ever since my late years of high school.

"The greatest respect comes from knowing and understanding that you are no better or no worse than anybody else."

As much as I despise and hate certain things about society and certain people in general. I can't truly hold it against them. Its their life, they're going to live it how they see fit even if I may disagree with some of the choices they make. They'll have to live with the consequences of their own actions.

The author of that quote is Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich, not Baz Luhrmann.

I've got one that was in my email signature for YEARS that I came up with myself... I just recently replaced it.

"I'm not stupid, just selectively ignorant."

You don't say. I'd never heard this but I've no reason to believe you're lying. I've only heard it attributed to Luhrmann. Regardless of its source, however, it's still the kind of even advice I value.

The ''Wear Sunscreen'' single was on an album produced by Baz Luhrmann, but it is not actually read by him (it's Australian voice actor Lee Perry), and the whole speech is taken verbatim from Mary Schmich's Chicago Tribune column (with her permission). It's a good speech though, I agree.

I've a rather inspiring quote.

"Stuff happens. What the hell."

"Things fuck up sometimes..."

Something that I've been trying to live by is, "Just do it!"

There are moments when I can't make myself though.

"Do not submit to the pain"

Not that life = pain. Just something that can be inspiring in times thereof.

My own little motto of sorts is
"Dont think, Just do it."


When I actually follow it things tend to go well lol

lol "never think about the consequences of your actions" yea that's funny.

Personally, I go with "life is a journey, not a destination." It reminds me that life is a learning experience, and you should strive to take everything you can from both positive and negative experiences.

Honestly, I've always loved this quote:

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!”


This is definitely my favourite quote too.

What my father said.

"When you wake up in the morning you have two choices: to be optimistic this day or be pessimistic". Similar to "Carpe Diem".

I think Tupac said it best when he said:
"Poor out a little liqa fo all my niccuhz dat passed"

I'm kidding. Only quoted that because someone laughably told me that was one of there favorite quotes.

ANYWAYS, I really enjoy this quote:
"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." - Michelangelo

Something I had seen in an art history book I was browsing through, and It's one that comes to mind whenever I'm working on any of my art projects and such.

"The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true."

and

"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

Both Carl Sagan quotes.

"Don't be such a stuck-up prick. Remember, I can still kick yo' ass."

Those were my Mum's parting words at the airport this summer. I've remembered them frequently since then, and they've stopped me from being a stuck-up prick on several occasions.

"forgive and forget", really helps me avoid a lot of troublesome things in life.

"To know yourself is the greatest tool you'll ever own." That couldn't be more true. If you really know who you are, you can do practically anything. You can improve your strengths, strengthen your weaknesses, and become every bit the person you want to be and avoid being the person you don't want to be. You don't have to let anything or anyone mold you into their ideal person.

I find that a lot nowadays -- people being what other people want them to be. So few of the people I meet are aware of who they are because they're acting out so much for other people. It seems that way to me, at least.

Another quote I personally live by is something I came up with. It was during a conversation/debate with a friend of mine who's kinda religious, not to the point of God-fearing but close. He asked me what I believe in and I responded:

"I place my faith in the people and things I surround myself with daily."

Of course, my faith gets shattered pretty easily these days, but still. :p Better the tangible than the intangible. It makes things much brighter though when my faith is correct, and people show a politeness, a courtesy they might not have otherwise. I yet hold out hope!

I perfer the biblical "he who conquers himself is greater than he who conquers (seven) city/cities."

Also a good one.

"I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom's realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer's Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content."

- Robert E Howard, "Queen of the Black Coast" (1934)

I have to get that on a t-shirt :D

Anyways, I like the "To err is human; to forgive is divine" just because you can't always stress out with people's mistakes.

Interesting thread. I love reading insightful quotes.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of a quote said by somebody else, but I go by a motto, such as "Strive to be a role model and an inspiration to anyone you make contact with on a daily basis. They are always observing." I made that quote up, but that's the jest of how I interact with other people daily.

"People who keep 'words to live by' books, or scrapbooks full of quotations, are idiots who want to seem clever without having to deal with context. They are the type of people who give a decent toast at a wedding, but you'd never want to hold a full conversation with them. Simply put, they'd rather you thought they understood the material than go through the trouble of actually learning it."

"Nothing important can be boiled down into a portable quote book."

"No one should ever have any object placed inside their asshole that's larger than a fist and less loving than a dildo"

My favorite ever.

"There's always something to take the joy out of life."

"Second place is the first loser"

Meaning all second place is, is the first place loser. I always strive to be the best I can be in anything and I've always hated losing. I've always been a competitive person, so that is a phrase I live by. I never am satisfied with second place in anything.

Lucky for you you've gotten comfortable with dead last, then. No need to worry about something like second when you suck out loud.

Hey man. Don't pick on him just because he's the first loser fan of Eagles, Sixers, Flyers, Phillies, Allen Iverson, Kain Highwind, Yuber, Pesmerga, Dark Knight Cecil, Berserk, Monster, Dragon Force, Rome, Lucius Vorenus, Titus Pullo.

Also first loser son of Hades.

You just love picking fights don't you?

I love calling you on your internet tough guy bullshit.

Well, everyone has a hobby. Deni's is being a belligerent little prick. Your thing is being a tedious box of failure.

We should all call them like I see them I think :)

I need to get this internet thing figured out before I appear on Attack of the Show's next Epic Fail segment.

The secret to the internet is thinking about what you're going to say before you say it, then

if it's fucking retarded

don't say it

Is this the one where I pull out my favorite Final Fantasy 8 quotes because they guide me in this heady sea of turmoil I call life