
Ask HN: What is your favorite motto? - MrXOR
You need mottos. There&#x27;s nothing like a good motto to keep you directed toward your goals [1]. What’s your best motto? Thank you!<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.psychologytoday.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;blog&#x2F;changepower&#x2F;201508&#x2F;9-reasons-you-need-personal-motto" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.psychologytoday.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;blog&#x2F;changepower&#x2F;201508&#x2F;9...</a>
======
nikivi
Life 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 collect a few of my favorite mottos/quotes here:
[https://nikitavoloboev.xyz/likes/#quotes](https://nikitavoloboev.xyz/likes/#quotes)

Most of these mottos and quotes are just pretty versions of my more
generalized and practical rules I wrote for myself:

[https://wiki.nikitavoloboev.xyz/focusing/rules](https://wiki.nikitavoloboev.xyz/focusing/rules)

~~~
xpil
"Are you moving one step in 20 directions or 20 steps in one direction?" \- in
20-dimensional space I may still be moving forward, even though I'm changing
direction with each step ;)

~~~
hrmon
For God's sake that's the ultimate motto! :)) But really, I prefer one step in
20 directions because at the end I want to be a human being who has tried to
be better in many dimensions of life, not the popular superhero at X who is a
freak!

------
japhyr
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 said that was advice his grandfather had given
him. He wrote those lines down and carried them with him to remind him of what
his grandather had told him. Those words have echoed in my mind for decades
now. They're not absolutes; there are times to let go of work, to let yourself
not have to be strong, and times to stand up and complain and protest loudly.
But the spirit of that advice has certainly been a guiding force in my life.

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

~~~
sethammons
I often don’t feel strong enough, but I still have work to get done, kids to
raise, a wife to support. Sometimes (most times for most people) we have to do
things that don’t make us happy. Chores, bills, work, difficult conversations,
break ups, supporting others who need it.

------
royletron
At a Christmas lunch in 1996 - I was 12 - My nan told me and my sister.

"Some bugger will always have a faster car, a flashier house, a glitzier watch
- but you were the only kids that ever had me for a nana".

I've used variations on the same theme throughout most of my life!

~~~
Breza
As a new parent who wants the best for my baby, this really resonates with me!

------
l0b0
"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.

~~~
gitgud
First I've heard of an _anti-motto_

~~~
contingencies
Here's another:

 _It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims._ \- Aristotle

~~~
m463
That is extremely astute.

~~~
glial
Aristotle is nothing if not astute. If you’d like more, I highly recommend
Nicomachean Ethics.

~~~
m463
I wonder if he was silly and weird. :)

But the writings that survived the gauntlet of written history have done
extremely well.

(thank you I will investigate!)

------
ImaCake
I don't think I have a motto, and I don't particularly want a _single_ one.
Instead I rely on a broad set of ideas and rules which guide my decisions.
Here is one quote that guides my thinking about science and philosophy:

“Nell did not imagine that Constable Moore wanted to get into a detailed
discussion of recent events, so she changed the subject. "I think I have
finally worked out what you were trying to tell me, years ago, about being
intelligent," she said.

The Constable brightened all at once. "Pleased to hear it."

“The Vickys have an elaborate code of morals and conduct. It grew out of the
moral squalor of an earlier generation, just as the original Victorians were
preceded by the Georgians and the Regency. The old guard believe in that code
because they came to it the hard way. They raise their children to believe in
that code– but their children believe it for entirely different reasons."

They believe it," the Constable said, "because they have been indoctrinated to
believe it."

Yes. Some of them never challenge it– they grow up to be smallminded people,
who can tell you what they believe but not why they believe it. Others become
disillusioned by the hypocrisy of the society and rebel– as did Elizabeth
Finkle-McGraw."

Which path do you intend to take, Nell?" said the Constable, sounding very
interested. "Conformity or rebellion?"

“Neither one. Both ways are simple-minded– they are only for people who cannot
cope with contradiction and ambiguity.” - Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age

~~~
trabant00
> "Conformity or rebellion?"

> “Neither one. Both ways are simple-minded– they are only for people who
> cannot cope with contradiction and ambiguity.”

This is very interesting as I've been thinking a lot lately on the subject.

What Nell chose is really the third way which is in no way better (or worse)
than the other two. I don't know how to call it, but it's basically
independent open minded.

Let me explain why, from >40 years of being that way. Not because I'm complex
minded or anything like that, that's just my personality. Rebel on one issue,
trust the tradition on the other, change my mind on past choices, choose the
middle ground and upset both sides, and any other variation you can think of.

To keep it as short as possible I will have to simplify: you really only have
3 choices: lead, follow or get out of the way. For lead and follow you need
other people and people only get together if they have a common way of
thinking. So those options are only available for people who are (or appear to
be) conformists or rebels. So what's left for individualists? Just to get out
of the way and achieve pretty much oly what 1 person can achieve - not much.
You can also fake going with one side or the other for a time being, but you
can't form life long relationships (which are also required for important
stuff) so it won't last long. And this society aspect is just one example.
Another quick simple one is you tend to keep reinventing wheels.

So yeah, being independent open minded is just as simple minded as the other
options. In reality none of them are simple, they are just personality types
each with pros and cons. Each can overcome some situations and fail in others
just as likely. No mental model inside of one persons head can keep up with
reality (even reduced to only society interactions). Any attempt to classify
one model as being superior is just trying to feel good about one self and
superior to others, and that IS simple-minded.

------
seqizz
First 3 would be:

\- You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when
you realize how seldom they do. (David Foster Wallace / Infinite Jest)

\- 90% of everything is crap (Sturgeon’s Law)

\- If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to
be solved, but to be coped with over time. (Shimon Peres)

~~~
sbmthakur
Rigorous application of Sturgeon's law to all my information sources gave me a
lot of peace of mind. Before that, I was always anxious about missing
something important and my reading and learning list just kept piling up.
After trimming things down, I am able to organize better and with proper
prioritization, I can get more things done.

------
giu
I 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 been using it as my
desktop background for the past 8 years.

It also has been my experience with fears in the past years, especially with
those fears that come with decisions that you have to make for yourself: Once
you face those fears and permit them to pass over you (e.g. by being mindful
about the emotions), you give yourself the possibility to learn and grow, and
a lot of times you will find yourself in situations which you could not have
imagined in the first place.

~~~
jmercouris
If that quote resonates with you, then you've never felt true fear.

~~~
giu
Could you explain what you mean?

English is not my native language, so there's a possibility for me to learn
how to rephrase it; maybe _resonates with me_ is not the right _word_ :) I'd
appreciate it!

~~~
mrjay42
If I may I think I know/feel what he meant: If you've experienced massive fear
to the point of panicking, then you'll know that this kind of quotes were
written by people who've never faced fear.

It's possible to face it, it's possible to address the issues...But fear/panic
will always be there, you can learn to live with it, but it's not a "monster
you can kill".

So when it's said "Only I will remain": well...the thing is fear/panic is part
of you, again you can control it sometimes/most of the time, but it will
probably never "go away" or "be destroyed".

That's the whole point: fear comes to you whether you want it or not.

But I am saying that because I am "in the middle of it"...maybe people end up
being able to remove completely their fears at some point...

~~~
jcbrand
> But fear/panic will always be there, you can learn to live with it, but it's
> not a "monster you can kill".

This is not true.

Fear, like all emotions comes and goes. This is one of the first things you
learn when you have a consistent meditation practice.

By clinging to an emotion, feeding it with conscious energy and identifying
with it, you prolong the suffering it causes. The quicker you disidentify with
it, the quicker it passes, just like every other emotion.

It may come back again, but that's not the same as "always be there" and the
better you get with not associating and identifying with it, the less intense
it becomes over time.

------
falcor84
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a
hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a
wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act
alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a
computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization
is for insects."

And also:

"Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation
is for monks."

Lazarus Long, from Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love"

~~~
me_me_me
> Specialization is for insects

This is literally why we are talking over internet and not using smoke
signals.

~~~
ImaCake
That's the joke! The quote is meant to be absurd. I've seen this quote
generate some interesting discussion before. People seem divided into two
camps over whether to take it seriously or as absurdist humour.

~~~
me_me_me
hehe, You never know these days.

There was a term for it, when something is so absurd you can never be certain
if its a parody or serious i.e. flat earth society.

~~~
sonofgod
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law)

"Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly
impossible to parody a Creationist in such a way that someone won't mistake
for the genuine article." \-- Nathan Poe

------
bigie35
I 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

~~~
runbsd
This guy Jocko Willink talks about discipline = freedom, I think he wrote a
book or two (retired NAVY seal).

------
superhuzza
"This too shall pass."

Sure, it's kind of cheesy. But it has so many meanings. The bad and sad times
will eventually pass, so take it in stride. The good times will pass too, so
enjoy them while they're here. You won't always be the person you are now, and
neither will others.

It seems to give some additional perspective when applied to any situation.

~~~
philsnow
Along the same lines, _memento mori_ , emphasizing not only that this will
pass, but reminding you to consider that in the context of your own
teleological end (whatever you consider that to be)

~~~
blaser-waffle
Sic transit gloria mundi -- "thus passes the glory of the world"

------
runbsd
"slow is smooth, smooth is fast" \- not sure where the origin is, perhaps
military, but some of my friends/coworkers have laughed when I said this
before. To me, personally, it has always turned out to be true. When you're
working on something, don't rush it, take the time to do it right. This
typically saves time in the long run because you tend to avoid rework.

~~~
SaltyBackendGuy
Definitely heard this a ton in the US Army. Specifically around reloading your
weapon.

~~~
insomniacity
I think it applies to individual and team movement too?

~~~
SaltyBackendGuy
Yup definitely. Reloading was just top of mind. There's another part to it
also.

"Too slow is dead"

------
iheartblocks
"If you don't have time to do it right, make sure you have time to do it
again"

\--My great-great grandfather

~~~
snarfy
It's very much in the spirit of my coworker's complaint about the agile
'process' we followed.

"We never have enough time to do it right, but we always have enough time to
do it twice"

~~~
webmaven
_> It's very much in the spirit of my coworker's complaint about the agile
'process' we followed._

 _> "We never have enough time to do it right, but we always have enough time
to do it twice"_

Which is a totally valid tradeoff if "doing it right" will take three times as
long.

Or, if after "doing it right", you're _still_ going to have to do it over
because you anticipated the wrong problems.

------
playingchanges
‘If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but
for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and
ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. ’

\- Kierkegaard

More quote than motto but something that has guided me through the years

~~~
qznc
Sounds horrible to see potential squandered again and again.

------
klausjensen
_What would you do if you were not afraid?_

From Dr. Spencer Johnson's book, “Who Moved My Cheese?”

Often what is holding us back from doing something is fear. The fear might be
important, but asking yourself what you would do if fear was not involved has
helped me a lot over the years.

~~~
nicbou
Given my interest in motorcycles, I'd probably be six feet under

------
war1025
"People work jobs they hate to buy shit they don't need." \-- Tyler Durden
(Fight Club)

That had a lot of influence over me when I heard it in High School. Something
about it really clicked for me, and set me on a path to enjoying life for what
it is instead of always chasing after money and possessions.

------
gitgud
" _I am not a visionary. I 'm an engineer. I'm happy with the people who are
wandering around looking at the stars but I am looking at the ground and I
want to fix the pothole before I fall in._"

\- Linus Torvalds (TED Talk 2016)

~~~
IAmNotAFix
Linus Torvalds:

> I am not a visionary. I'm an engineer. I'm happy with the people who are
> wandering around looking at the stars but I am looking at the ground and I
> want to fix the pothole before I fall in.

Apollo 11 engineers:

> ok boomer.

~~~
war1025
Funny thing about this is that the time of the Apollo program, Boomers were
the young punks.

------
mcv
_" Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and
chasing after the wind."_

(Ecclesiastes 4:6)

This is the NIV version. The Dutch version I'm more familiar with would
translate more like:

 _" Better one handful of rest, than both fists full of labour and chasing
after the wind."_

------
nkoren
"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt
to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on
unreasonable people."

\-- George Bernard Shaw

~~~
kleer001
I would add that all atrocities depend on unreasonable people. Reasonable
people keep the world running smoothly.

~~~
nkoren
It cuts both ways. You're not wrong, and yet atrocities frequently depend on
people following orders, which is something that only an unreasonable person
won't do.

Basically, for good or ill, history pivots around the unreasonable people. The
reasonable ones might be bystanders or accomplices, but in either case, going
with the flow is simply the reasonable thing to do.

~~~
kleer001
Yes, exactly. I just dislike the value judgment about what unreasonable people
do.

In addition a society/culture made up of solely unreasonable people would
quickly fall apart. While a society/culture of entirely reasonable people, if
they had an excellent rule of law, would thrive.

------
pantelisk
"You can only change yourself" (internet pop wisdom)

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the
work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless
sea.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

~~~
kamaal
These days, people would settle for RSU or Stock Options.

~~~
kamyarg
\+ free snacks and massages in the office

------
BrandoElFollito
"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.

------
latentdeepspace
I live life by the following words:

"If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room"

~~~
sergiosgc
I disagree so much with this popular motto that I have difficulty putting it
into words. It reeks of egoism. Please, please replace it with:

"If you are the smartest person in the room, teach until you no longer are."

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Nah. Teaching doesn't make people smarter. Challenging yourself does.

There's a fundamental divide between those that think the best of us are only
here to help the less fortunate. And those that think, the best of us should
be out there expanding the frontiers.

Especially since the 'less fortunate' sometimes can be that way by laziness.

~~~
sergiosgc
There is a fundamental divide, but it's not the one you draw. The fundamental
divide is between those that view life as a solo race and those that think of
it is a group endeavor.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
And more that those of course. So its not all ego; its a different outlook.
We're not all born teachers.

------
alkonaut
Weeks of coding can save hours of planning

~~~
mehrdadn
Related:

 _A couple of months in the laboratory can frequently save a couple of hours
in the library._ -Frank Westheimer

~~~
matfil
This can be taken to extremes. Some years ago, a popular historical novelist
told me something along the lines of "I often talk to people who say 'I'm
writing a historical novel', at which point I'm wondering whether this could
be a potential competitor, '...but I'm still doing the research', at which
point I realize that there's not a lot to worry about." Looking into
background and what others have done _is_ valuable, but it's pretty easy to
let it prevent you from ever taking action yourself.

It's a tricky balance, though...

------
mrweasel
I should find better mottos/quotes to adopt, but my favorites are, in no
particular order:

* I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person I'm preaching to. - J. R. "Bob" Dobbs

* The road to hell is paved with good intentions

* You can hope in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills the fastest. - My dad.

------
DavidPeiffer
"It'll never be easier than right now"

People just want to be done with a task or not deal with it now.

* If you're already in a section of code and familiar with it, clean up a bit of technical debt. Even just write a couple comments. If you're not feeling patient enough to deal with it, add a #TODO comment with a couple brainstorms on how to deal with it so that next time it's easier to deal with.

I cleaned up an admittedly small (~1,000 LOC) but _messy_ Excel macro codebase
this way. Much of it was generated by the Macro Recorder, which makes anyone
who has developed in VBA wince at the thought. While I never did refactor
large sections as were needed because of other priorities, fixing things when
they broke was far easier with intuitive variable names, nice function/sub
names, and comments outlining generally what's happening or why this odd
looking loop exists.

* If you disassemble something and there's rust, deal with the rust. The rust will make more headaches later and you're _right there_. It'll truly never be easier to sand it down and treat it.

* If you think you might need something for a project, just grab it. I was replacing brakes on my car recently and needed to remove a screw that was tight enough a normal screw driver was stripping it. I bought a $2 converter to let me throw a phillips head onto a wrench, a $15 set of Phillips drivers with socket backings, and a $99 impact driver. I broke the $2 solution, but the $15 solution worked great. I took the $99 solution back and saved myself ~25 minutes if the $99 solution was neeeded but not purchased.

* If your car engine with 120k miles on it is already disassembled to fix an issue and you can afford it, it might be worth doing the 125k maintenance items a bit early.

------
harrydehal
_Festina lente._

Or Latin for "make haste slowly."

Augustus deplored rashness in a military commander and one of his favorite
phrases was such that "that activities should be performed with a proper
balance of urgency and diligence."

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festina_lente](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festina_lente)

------
maverickJ
Interesting question. I believe that mottos can change the fortune of both
institutions and people.

A motto when internalised can be very powerful. It becomes something you
do;Something you are.

Some of my favourite are: Sapere aude and Acta non verba.

An excerpt from a blog [https://leveragethoughts.substack.com/p/mottos-ideals-
and-su...](https://leveragethoughts.substack.com/p/mottos-ideals-and-success)

" In 1662, The Royal Society, which was formed in 1660, was given a royal
charter by Charles II. Its motto is Nillius in Verba which means take nobody’s
word for it in English. This motto was intentionally chosen; At this time in
the west, the objective of most educational institutions objectives was to
pass on knowledge from ancient Greece. But here we had the Royal Society, at
that time, choose a motto which means that evidence is the cornerstone of its
existence. Evidence requires repeatable experiments in science. This was not
the norm in the mid 17th century."

------
cheeew
From Patrick Collison's advice page
([https://patrickcollison.com/advice](https://patrickcollison.com/advice)):

"More broadly, nobody is going to teach you to think for yourself. A large
fraction of what people around you believe is mistaken. Internalize this and
practice coming up with your own worldview. The correlation between it and
those around you shouldn't be too strong unless you think you were especially
lucky in your initial conditions."

------
isabelc
_" Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do
it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."_

(Howard Thurman)

------
seriocomic
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 Churchill, but looks unlikely as he also said
"It’s a good thing for an uneducated man to read a book of quotations." \-
[https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/mar/08/viral-
imag...](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/mar/08/viral-image/no-
winston-churchill-didnt-say-quote-about-age/)

~~~
LanceH
I live somewhere where "pen" == "pin" in pronunciation, so it's, "You get what
you get and you don't throw a fit."

~~~
xdavidliu
first thing I thought of when I read this: 'Git-R-Done' by Larry the cable guy

[https://youtu.be/4TU-li1BqZ4?t=15](https://youtu.be/4TU-li1BqZ4?t=15)

------
tdfx
"Life passes most people by while they're making grand plans for it."

------
Loq
_Everybody lies about two things: money and sex!_

I can't recall who said this to me as a teenager, but at the time it felt
wrong! I had not yet much experience with either. Navigating the adult world
changed that, but I didn't grow beyond a vague _feeling_ of the need for
caution in delicate human matters. It was only when I learned about
crypography, security and distributed systems, that I understood the value,
and indeed necessity, of having attacker models. I realised that the social
world, too, has benign and adversarial parts (and many shades inbetween): for
example you can trust your mathematics teachers nearly 100% when they talk
about mathematics, but you should probably be prepared for being taken
advantage off in financial transactions, whence the aphorism.

------
whammywon
"If you're going through Hell, keep going."

I _think_ it was Winston Churchill who said it.

But I like that it can apply to all kinds of situations. A stressful time a
work? Hard times in personal relationships? Feeling depressed? The quote
applies to any difficult situation I've ever found myself in.

~~~
webmaven
_> "If you're going through Hell, keep going."_

 _> I _think_ it was Winston Churchill who said it._

Contrast with: "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."

------
diqwndwqiond
This is my favorite one:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a
habit.” – Aristotle

------
loughnane
Ideas that keep coming back to me:

A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are for.

It is what we read [and watch and listen to] when we don’t have to that
determines what we’ll be when we can’t help it.

The quality of our thoughts determines the quality of our life.

It is not enough to say you work hard, so does the devil work hard

------
scoutt
_"...perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to
add, but when there is no longer anything to take away..."_ \- Antoine de
Saint Exupéry

Also

 _" Perfect is the enemy of good"_ \- Voltaire

Not a life motto, but I also like:

 _“Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch, and a kick, just a
kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick, no
longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch and a
kick is just a kick.”_ \- Bruce Lee

------
dvcrn
“Motivation follows action”

Waiting for motivation to take an action often means you’ll wait forever.

------
ramoz
Dont structure for the sake of structure. Structure to enable. Release the
guardrails in execution.

In military ops in the mission field... these were some of the most surreal
human experiences where the structure that trained us was no longer in place
when we were executing. It's not a about dress-right-dress in execution... we
were already enabled for what we needed to do & trust was instilled.

------
jamessun
You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.

------
DoreenMichele
_Make love, not war._ as a rule of thumb for social stuff.

When I was raising my kids, I went by the rule of thumb "All is fair in love
and war -- and this is love." to justify making up our own rules for games
(like "youngest goes first") and generally making life more pleasant, and to
hell with what other people thought we should be doing as a family.

------
D-Coder
"Perfection is usually expensive and frequently impossible. Settle for
excellence."

------
lb1lf
"Real laziness is doing it properly the first time."

-Instructor at a field bus training course I did sometime around 2000.

~~~
angusiasty
Love this one :D

------
danielx
A goal without a plan is just a wish.

~~~
MrXOR
A goal is a dream with a deadline.

------
stakkur
I don't have a single favorite motto, but here's what I'm striving to live
like, described in two minutes: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-
GC4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4)

------
ltr_
IT Related : "Morty relax, it's just a bunch of ones and zeros out there,
you're gonna be fiiiiiine"\- Rick Sanchez in Dota 2

------
kitd
"We choose to go to the moon and do these other things, not because they are
easy, but because they are hard" \- JFK

"If you want to succeed, increase your failure rate" \- Thomas J Watson

"Dead fish go with the flow" \- Andy Hunt

"Be hard to beat, but easy to like" \- Me :)

------
justsomeuser
Ships in the harbour are safe, but that’s not what ships were made for

------
sheinsheish
[https://linguaholic.com/topic/1987-famous-greek-
quotations/](https://linguaholic.com/topic/1987-famous-greek-quotations/)

«Πάν μέτρον άριστον»

Everything in moderation. Can’t say I manage to get by following it.

~~~
GurnBlandston
A more modern extension: Everything in moderation, especially moderation.

~~~
webmaven
_> A more modern extension: Everything in moderation, especially moderation._

Yeah, too much moderation causes an excess deficiency, that's really bad.

------
alisson
\- The richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least.

\- When you try to replicate someone's life, you don't live yours.

------
JoeAltmaier
A young man of my acquaintance has on the headset of his bicycle

    
    
       "There's only one way to get home".  
    

Something his father told him during a long bike ride once, when he was in
despair of ever finishing.

~~~
m463
one time my roommate called me from ... very far away... He said "come get me,
I've biked too far".

and I drove for like an hour or more to bfe and got him.

------
lefstathiou
Inscribed on the inside of my wedding band: Ηθος Ανθρωπος Δαιμων (ethos
anthropos daimon) which means "Character is destiny", to remind myself that my
character (and the values I choose to live by) will drive my destiny.

------
leephillips
I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific. \-- Andy
Rooney

------
Zealotux
"What you do at 8PM matters [...] what you do at that time will determine what
you'll be in 10 years."[1], back then I was playing video games at 8PM, or
watching Netflix, probably until 2-3 in the morning, I sold my gaming computer
and replaced that time with learning new things, working on my side projects,
reading, or sleeping. Every time I feel like getting some cheap dopamine shot
I simply remember that quote, and immediately get motivated to do something
better for myself.

[1][https://youtu.be/uVqoU2FzBiA?t=255](https://youtu.be/uVqoU2FzBiA?t=255)

------
pwdisswordfish4
“By searching, you can always find someone who made a well-sounding statement
that confirms your point of view--and, on every topic, it is possible to find
another dead thinker who said the exact opposite.” — Nassim Taleb

~~~
kqr
Related to this, I've always loved how the article on Epistemic Learned
Helplessness[1] on SSC turns "well, you can prove _anything_ with arguments!"
from a joke to something to seriously consider.

[1]: [https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/06/03/repost-epistemic-
learn...](https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/06/03/repost-epistemic-learned-
helplessness/)

------
acheron
“Until you stalk and overrun, you can’t devour anyone.”

[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1990/11/20](https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1990/11/20)

------
itsAWindowsSys
This isn't particularly profound, but when I find myself getting distracted, I
say "One thing at a time." to myself to reset my focus on the task at hand.
Pretty simple, but it seems to help.

------
justusthane
I’ve co-opted Nike’s motto, and say it to myself in my head when I’m trying to
get something done and am stumbling over anxiety, distraction,
procrastination, perfectionism, etc.

 _Just do it._

May be trite, but it can be helpful for me.

~~~
CamperBob2
I like Lance Armstrong's words along those lines: "People ask me what I'm on.
What am I on? What am I _on_? I'm on my goddamn BIKE, that's what I'm on. I'm
on my bike 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. That's all it takes. That, and the
drugs."

Maybe I'm misremembering his exact phrasing, but if it works, it works...

------
cm2187
My favourite moto is very hard to translate from French. It’s a quote from
Chateaubriand. “ _Il faut etre econome de son mepris tant les necessiteux sont
nombreux_ ”. Clumsy translation that misses the elegance of the formulation:
“one must use disdain sparingly given how numerous are the needy”.

Also eternal truths passed on to me by my various managers:

“The more you climb in the hierarchy, the more you realise it is the same
idiots at every level”

“The optimal number of people in an organisation is 3. As soon as you add one
more you lose efficiency. So passed 100,000...”

“Assumptions are the mother of all fuckups”

------
retox
"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood" \- Daniel
Burnham

Or the more complete quote;

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably
themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work,
remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but
long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing
insistency. Remember that our sons and our grandsons are going to do things
that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty."

------
rodolphoarruda
It "...never gets easier, you just go faster." \-- Greg Lemond

About the refusal to be at ease in your comfort zone. If it's easy for you
now, you better push harder before the competition catches-up.

~~~
m463
I recall those land speed guys who ride a bicycle behind a pickup breaking the
wind on the salt flats. Basically eliminated air drag... and ran right into
rolling friction.

------
bhu1st
Play iterated games. - Naval

All the returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come
from compound interest.

~~~
maest
Why does the navy care about iterated games? I guess you can think of war and
international affairs as an iterated game, but it seems weird.

~~~
swyx
naval is the mononym for Naval Ravikant, a well known investor

------
heresie-dabord
"Competence means keeping your head in a crisis, sticking with a task even
when it seems hopeless, and improvising good solutions to tough problems when
every second counts. It encompasses ingenuity, determination and being
prepared for anything." Chris Hadfield -- Canadian astronaut

"A person becomes a person through other people." \-- philosophy of Ubuntu
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_philosophy))

------
MrMontyBurns
Something along the lines of

Face the world with an open heart and good things will happen / life will pay
you back.

Asking someone to play cards on the train or simply gifting someone a smile
can give you a positive feeling for the day. People usually mirror how you
approach them, I believe being kind will make your life so much easier because
others will respond with kindness (at least in the moment).

This one encouraged me to speak to strangers as I'm rather introverted and
I've been carrying the idea in my heart for quite some time now.

------
the-dude
_A dirty mind is a joy forever._

My dad. I miss you.

~~~
highhedgehog
Non-native english speaker here, can you elaborate? I can only find a sexual
meaning to it...

~~~
howenterprisey
I am a native speaker and I can't really see a non-sexual meaning. Which is
fine, it's a thought-provoking motto.

~~~
highhedgehog
Ah, ok :D

------
7357
Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary
safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin F. Of course it depends
on what one sees as essential

------
Loq
_Almost everything I know about the world, I learned through consuming mass
media. One of the things I learned from the mass media is that the mass media
cannot be trusted._

------
knownastron
“If you’re not willing to go too far, you’ll never go far enough.”

------
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

------
sneak
Si vis pacem, para bellum.

I like it because it has wide applicability outside of literal violence; all
of life is a struggle, and the more prepared for that one is, the easier life
can be made.

~~~
giantg2
That more generalized version could be that of the Boy Scouts - "Be Prepared".

~~~
082349872349872
... also popular in the socialist version of scouting across the iron curtain.
In russian it became "Всегда готов!"

Young Pioneers à la Norman Rockwell: [https://yablor.ru/blogs/valeriy-barikin-
pionerskiy-pin-ap/61...](https://yablor.ru/blogs/valeriy-barikin-pionerskiy-
pin-ap/6152865)

(if you prefer video format to surrounded-by-ads, they're all visible in the
title roll for:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpMndf0RPgQ&t=40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpMndf0RPgQ&t=40)

Line printed Vyssotsky samizdat hiding under Pravda @ 52:04. I see "Abba" and
"Boney M" clearly on the camp counselor's tapes in the subsequent shot, but
can't read the groups on the other tape.)

Bonus track:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP_lVuPRIaY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP_lVuPRIaY)
(Analogue Dance Music may not be the most precise genre, but it is, by
definition, 100% DRM free.)

------
natmaka
Wherever something is wrong, something is too big. -- L. Kohr

My goal in life is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.

Most people are not rational, they are TRIBAL: "my gang yay, your gang boo!"
It really is that simple. The rest is cosmetics. -- War Nerd

All things come into being by conflict of opposites. ― Heraclitus

More often than not what's new isn't good, and what good isn't new.

Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. -- Edward
Abbey

------
cac1
Few worthwhile efforts are successful on the first attempt.

------
rotifer
"The Future Begins Tomorrow", motto of Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems [1], from
the film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.

[1]
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/spookytreasures/7162735516/in/...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/spookytreasures/7162735516/in/photostream/)

------
polyvisual
Some people like mottos that are steeped in historical depth or psychological
meaning. I'm much more simple... mine is from the 2015 film, Cinderella: "Have
courage and be kind".

Means all sorts of things... have the courage to; stand by your decisions, own
up when you made the wrong decision, follow a path, take a different path, be
yourself, be something else, put others first, etc. etc.

And there's nothing wrong with being kind.

------
svieira
"There is the great lesson of 'Beauty and the Beast,' that a thing must be
loved before it is lovable." Gilbert K. Chesterton

------
onion2k
"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.

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

~~~
falcor84
I remember I really liked this one as a kid, and of course its corollary
"don't put off until tomorrow what can be put off until the day after". And I
still use this as part of my prioritisation - if something is not at all time
sensitive, either act on it now, or let it go. Snoozing this stuff doesn't
really help; if it's valuable it'll come back to your mind on its own.

------
koonsolo
What a colleague always told be before I asked him a question: "Remember,
there are no stupid questions, only stupid people" :D.

------
vlachen
"Adapt and overcome."

Motto/mantra from my time in the Marine Corps. I think, officially, it was
"Improvise, Adapt and Overcome." but rarely was the first word included in my
exposure.

Related to that mantra's concept was: "Semper Gumby - Always Flexible."

Both are useful in acknowledging that 1) Change is constant and 2) To thrive,
you must be able to work with that change.

~~~
LanceH
Another from the Marines, although not quite a full fledged motto, it still
sees a fair bit of play in my house: "If you can't be smart, you're going to
be strong."

------
RegBarclay
There are two kinds of people who never amount to much: those who cannot do
what they are told, and those who can do nothing else.

------
muffinman26
The short poem "I will not die an unlived life" by Dawna Markova has had a
profound impact on me. I don't think about it often, only when I am making big
decisions, but it has convinced me to take some of the biggest and most
rewarding steps outside of my comfort zone, including living in Germany for 6
months.

------
leoh
“If you can piss while you walk, why not shit while you run?” —Aesop

------
jmkd
Be yourself. It's easier and you won't get found out.

------
pjmorris
'Mercy triumphs over judgement.' (James 2:13, NIV)

Also:

'Esse quam videri'. "To be, rather than to seem"

'If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.'

'In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.'

'If' by Rudyard Kipling was a compass of mine for a long time, practically
every line is a motto.

------
poxwole
Praxis Tendatum Docebit!- C.F. Gauss Translation: "Practice will teach those
who try"

"We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be
to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time." T.S. Eliot

"What one fool can understand, another can." R.P. Feynman

------
Jugurtha
Ad augusta per angusta.

Ars longa, vita brevis.

We had a dictionary, Petit Larousse 1989, and I used to read it a lot,
learning new words and their origins. It was the equivalent of a Wikipedia
rabbit hole. There was a pink section in the middle that contained many latin
phrases. I loved reading those as a child and they stayed with me.

~~~
DoreenMichele
[https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/per_angusta_ad_augusta](https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/per_angusta_ad_augusta)

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars_longa,_vita_brevis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars_longa,_vita_brevis)

------
aninuth01
A few personal favorites:

Nil Magnum Nisi Bonum - from Life of Pi by Yann Martel Translates roughly to
No Greatness Without Goodness

Ars longa, vita brevis - Art is long, life is short

“He who is afraid to ask is ashamed of learning.” — Danish proverb

"Fortune favors the prepared mind." -Pasteur

“Champions behave like Champions before they are Champions” - Bill Walsh

------
chrisco255
A ship at dock is safe but that is not what ships are for.

------
abhiyerra
Some off the top of my head:

“Oh my soul don’t aspire for immortal life but exhaust the limits of the
possible” -Pindar

“Man is nothing without the gods.” -Odyssey

“Why ask my age Diomedes, very like leaves upon this earth are generations of
men. The old the wind cast to the ground, the young the greening forest bears
as the spring comes in. So mortals pass one generation flowers as another
dies.” -Illiad

“That which you see as righteousness and unrighteousness, beyond this cause
and effect, beyond what has been and what is to be—-tell me That.” -Upanishads

“Get up and fight.” -Bhagavad Gita

“To every man on this earth death comes soon or late, what better way to die
than to face fearful odds for the ashes of our fathers and the temple of our
gods.” -Horatius

“My lord my rock, prepares my fingers for battle and my hands for war.” -
Psalm 144:1

------
caviv
"Never give up, Never surrender !" although taken from a comedy movie Galaxy
Quest, I find it very much carrying me on !

------
rramadass
I love Aphorisms/Quotes/Mottos/Sayings/Passages and have a collection of books
in that vein. The reason i like this format is the high S/N ratio; the
pithiness really challenges your mind and forces it to consider different
interpretations under different contexts which leads to wisdom.

As an example, the sayings of "Wolf Larsen" from "The Sea Wolf" by Jack London
have had a profound influence on my thinking.

Here is a passage;

 _Do you know, I sometimes catch myself wishing that I, too, were blind to the
facts of life and only knew its fancies and illusions. They’re wrong, all
wrong, of course, and contrary to reason; but in the face of them my reason
tells me, wrong and most wrong, that to dream and live illusions gives greater
delight. And after all, delight is the wage for living. Without delight,
living is a worthless act. To labour at living and be unpaid is worse than to
be dead. He who delights the most lives the most, and your dreams and
unrealities are less disturbing to you and more gratifying than are my facts
to me.” He shook his head slowly, pondering. “I often doubt, I often doubt,
the worthwhileness of reason. Dreams must be more substantial and satisfying.
Emotional delight is more filling and lasting than intellectual delight; and,
besides, you pay for your moments of intellectual delight by having the blues.
Emotional delight is followed by no more than jaded senses which speedily
recuperate. I envy you, I envy you.” He stopped abruptly, and then on his lips
formed one of his strange quizzical smiles, as he added: “It’s from my brain I
envy you, take notice, and not from my heart. My reason dictates it. The envy
is an intellectual product. I am like a sober man looking upon drunken men,
and, greatly weary, wishing he, too, were drunk.” “Or like a wise man looking
upon fools and wishing he, too, were a fool,” I laughed. “Quite so,” he said.
“You are a blessed, bankrupt pair of fools. You have no facts in your
pocketbook.” “Yet we spend as freely as you,” was Maud Brewster’s
contribution. “More freely, because it costs you nothing.” “And because we
draw upon eternity,” she retorted. “Whether you do or think you do, it’s the
same thing. You spend what you haven’t got, and in return you get greater
value from spending what you haven’t got than I get from spending what I have
got, and what I have sweated to get._

------
nomadic_09
I've always liked "Mens sana in corpore sano" and it's even better that they
have almost the literal same saying Arabic (which I speak) that goes "العقل
السليم في الجسم السليم"

Since Uni, I haven't changed this motto.

------
mdtancsa
I think a lot about this quote as of late No one is more dangerous than he who
imagines himself pure in heart: for his purity, by definition, is
unassailable. James Baldwin We seem to be in a period of history with many
pure hearts

------
wittjeff
"Whenever the word 'they' enters your consciousness, ask yourself, 'what is
the distribution?'" \-- my psychology professor

Overgeneralization about groups of people is one of the most pernicious
natural biases.

------
jordiburgos
"If you can pay it with money, it's cheap".

It means that if you can use money istead of family, health, sanity, etc... it
is going to be easier for you.

It comes from the Valencia expression "Si es paga amb diners, barato!"

------
TheAlchemist
_Trust the process_

Anything worthwhile takes time and persistence - you need to think long term
and trust your decisions, even if in the short term you don't see the results.

As any NBA fan knows, this is the de facto motto of Philadelphia 76ers - a
team that was in a very bad spot some years ago and hired a general manager
with a long term vision. They went through the "process" of rebuilding - based
on rational, long term decisions - which is not what sport franchises usually
want to do. In 3 painful years, they went from a mediocre team with no future
to a team build to compete for the championship for the next decade. Here is
the resignation letter from Sam Hinkie (the said general manager) -
[https://www.espn.com/pdf/2016/0406/nba_hinkie_redact.pdf](https://www.espn.com/pdf/2016/0406/nba_hinkie_redact.pdf)
\- he left at the moment when the foundations for the future were in place.
It's pure gold - it feels like reading Warren Buffett letters.

PS. Here is a funny video of one of the best Phili (and NBA) players who calls
himslef the Process ->
[https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/915208453760614402](https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/915208453760614402).

PS2. Here is short excerpt from Sam Hinkie letter - you really should read it:

To begin, let’s stand on the shoulders of Charlie Munger, a giant to me. He is
a man that’s been thinking about thinking longer than I’ve been alive. Let’s
start with him and his approach. His two-part technique is:

1\. First, what are the factors that really govern the interests involved,
rationally considered?

2\. Second, what are the subconscious influences where the brain at a
subconscious level is automatically doing these things—which by and large are
useful, but which often malfunctions?

To do this requires you to divorce process from outcome. You can be right for
the wrong reasons. In our business, you’re often lionized for it. You can be
wrong for the right reasons. This may well prove to be Joel Embiid. There is
signal everywhere that Joel is unique, from the practice gyms in Lawrence,
Kansas to Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania to Doha, Qatar where he does something awe
inspiring far too regularly. We remain hopeful (and optimistic) about his
long-term playing career, but we don’t yet know exactly how it will turn out.
The decision to draft Joel third, though, still looks to me to be the correct
one in hindsight given the underlying reasoning. But to call something that
could be wrong (“failed draft pick”) right (“good decision”) makes all of our
heads hurt, mine included.

------
i2shar
_When was the last time you really pushed yourself?_

Another one: (I forget who this is about, but someone famous, apparently on
their death bed said this):

 _What a wonderful life I have had. If only I had realized it earlier!_

------
sebastianconcpt
1\. _Love is the only truth, everything else is illusion_

2\. _Ubi vera amicitia est, ibi idem velle, et idem nolle._ Which roughly
would be: A genuine friendship is found in same likes and same dislikes.

------
fredcy
Don't believe everything you think.

~~~
gschrader
I like this one, similar to another one I like. Don't connect the dots that
aren't there.

------
indentit
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

[1]:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule)

------
Xelbair
unironically "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.

~~~
gitgud
I like this one ;)

------
bobblywobbles
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are the called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28

In this verse I have grown in confidence that by desiring to become a good
person, God is going to help me in all aspects of my life, ALL of them. Not
just finances, or my career, or health, EVERYTHING. It is very powerful
[essential] to have this belief; it carries me through life and will until the
end.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
Not "by desiring to become a good person", though - instead, "those who love
God", which isn't exactly the same thing.

------
bobbydreamer
I am smart and i am ready to do leg work. Alot of it.

What i am and what i am gonna do has nothing to do with what i was

Do what you made for

Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your
own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions
mercilessly. \- Learning by Anne rice after reading Franz Kafka work.

------
NicBuihner
This one's always been a favorite.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there
is nothing left to take away. \- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

------
muse900
“Time is money friend” - greedy goblin in world of Warcraft

No but seriously that’s a precious advice. Don’t waste your time, our time in
this earth is limited, better make the most of it!

------
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”

------
Kednicma
"Everybody lies." ~ Gregory House

"Talk is cheap; show me the code." ~ Linus Torvalds

"To understand a program you must become both the machine and the program." ~
Alan Perlis

------
lukapeharda
Sometimes You Eat the Bear, and Sometimes the Bear Eats You.

\- several authors credited

------
remarkEon
Don’t forget nothing. Have your musket clean as a whistle, hatchet scoured,
sixty rounds powder and ball, and be ready to march at a minute’s warning.

------
BjoernKW
"The years don't come without the days."

------
Errancer
1\. what does not kill me makes me stronger 2\. Life is not a problem to be
solved, but a reality to be experienced. 3\. What a relief to have nothing to
say, the right to say nothing, because only then is there a chance of framing
the rare, and ever rarer, thing that might be worth saying. What we’re plagued
by these days isn’t any blocking of communication, but pointless statements.

------
kilroy123
“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap
a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.” ―Stephen Covey

~~~
natmaka
Character is destiny. The content of your character is your choice. Day by
day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become. ―
Heraclitus

------
hooby
It's just life. Don't take it so seriously.

------
scythe
"Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the
green valleys of silliness." (Wittgenstein)

It's easy to get stuck in problem-solving because you think things have to be
a certain way. By letting go of the felt-need to think "realistically", you
can reach a more complete view of the situation. You can always reclaim your
worries later.

------
niccl
A decision is either easy, or it doesn't matter

~~~
falcor84
I'm surprised by this one. What about things like marriage or a career change?

~~~
rocqua
If you are doubting whether to get married, then apparently, both options are
roughly equal. Hence the difference between either decision is small, not in
outcome but in expected 'desirability'. Hence the decision 'doesn't matter
much' insofar as there are no real wrong choices, just a slightly more right
one.

~~~
falcor84
> ... apparently, both options are roughly equal.

But that's the thing, they aren't really roughly equal in any meaningful way.
I think Anscombe's quartet [0] is a good illustration of the issue, only in
this case there are very many dimensions involved, with huge uncertainty in
each, leading to vastly different risk profiles for the different
alternatives.

> ... no real wrong choices ...

This is a matter of philosophy of course, but more objectively, there are many
many people actively regretting their choices.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anscombe%27s_quartet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anscombe%27s_quartet)

~~~
rocqua
> This is a matter of philosophy of course, but more objectively, there are
> many many people actively regretting their choices.

I think this is a part of the power of the quote. It essentially says, don't
judge your decisions with hindsight. And remember that having made the other
choice could equally well have turned out bad as far as you knew back then.

------
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

------
armandososa
I don't remember where I got this, but this has been my working philosophy for
the past couple years:

> Make it work, then make it better.

------
manjana
I'm not sure of the exact definition of a motto, but I'll give it a try:

1\. The Devil is in the details.

2\. You never hit rock bottom, it can always get worse. Someone is always
worse off than you, truly, so stop pitying yourself. Self-pity is a mean
downward spiral - most people don't realize it's potential to cause havoc.

3\. Nothing's ever so bad, it's good for nothing.

------
dorkwood
Follow your curiosity. Don't listen to people who say you're spreading
yourself too thin. In time, you'll find you've out-paced your detractors,
because while they were forcing themselves to focus and be disciplined, you
were working on things that interested you, and discipline loses to interest
every time.

------
B4CKlash
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because in the end those who matter
don't mind and those who mind don't matter.”

~Dr. Seuss

------
teekert
If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you will learn the things you never
knew you never knew. - From the Pocahontas song.

I reminds me that I don't even know what I don't know. There is a complete
unknown out there of which I can't even guess at its existence. It's a
humbling thought, makes you reserve judgement.

------
drenvuk
If at first it doesn't work, force it.

~~~
indentit
I used to like, "if at first you don't succeed, don't tell anyone you tried!"

------
brightball
“Life is like a dogsled team. If you ain’t the lead dog, the scenery never
changes.” - Lewis Grizzard

~~~
082349872349872
Those with insufficient pack instinct to stay in harness get new scenery (of
their own, not the musher's choice) even without being lead dog:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24141469](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24141469)

"MYOB"

------
avh02
"be the change you want to see in the world" \- misattributed to Ghandi (can't
remember if completely or heavily paraphrased).

It reminds me that there's usually nothing wrong with being an example as well
as taking initiative. Be kind, do good.

Plus I share Ghandi's birthday.

------
pixelbreaker
"expectation is the road to disappointment" can't remember where it's from.

~~~
smoqadam
Keep your expectations low boy, and you'll never be disappointed. Kratos - God
Of War

------
jcubic
Not sure where it came from or who said that:

"Now Go Create"

------
leephillips
Praise makes me humble but when I am abused, I know I have touched the stars.
\-- Oscar Wilde

------
endori97
"What I cannot create, I do not understand" -Richard Feynman

“Chi cerca dove non deve, trovarà qualcosa che non gli piace.” [“He who looks
where he shouldn’t, will find something he will not like”.] [Sicilian proverb]

"Sew in wind, reap the whirlwind" Hosea 6

------
juangacovas
Pájaro viejo no entra en jaula (Spanish for "Senior bird doesn't enter cages")

------
who-and-whom
Een schip op het strand is een baken in zee.

[A ship on the beach is a lighthouse to the sea.]

\- the Dutch proverb Frederick Brooks uses to kick off Chapter One of "The
Mythical Man-month". Why, yes, as a matter of fact I AM in IT security. Why do
you ask? :)

------
leephillips
Try and live your life so that you never end up inspiring a warning label. \--
knodi123’s Dad
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8541004](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8541004)

------
highhedgehog
"Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur"

"Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound"

~~~
aidenn0
Semper ubi, sub ubi.

------
newswasboring
1\. Make a plan, stick to the plan -- my colleague at my first internship

2\. Mr. Winston, everyone knows what is in room 101--1984, orwell

These are the two I can remember right now. Was remined of the second one
because it was referenced in cory doctorow's new book.

------
contingencies
If you like these, try my _fortune_ descendant at
[https://github.com/globalcitizen/taoup](https://github.com/globalcitizen/taoup)

------
drew55555
An honest man has nothing to fear.

Not sure who said it but it's definitely one I try to live by.

------
dionidium
A corny phrase that's had an outsized effect on me is, " _Esteemable people do
esteemable things_."

Do you imagine yourself to be the kind of person who does x, y, and z? Or are
you actually the kind of person who does?

------
MrXOR
"Amicus Plato, amicus Aristoteles, magis amica veritas" (my greatest friend is
truth)

[0]
[https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton)

------
mlang23
“It is passion that makes man live; wisdom makes one only last.” -― Nicolas
Chamfort

------
alex_hitchins
“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” Marcus Tullius
Cicero

------
jbrooksuk
If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

~~~
sunstone
It's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

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

~~~
webmaven
_> "A sucker is born every minute" \- Nixon during his famous China visit._

Huh. I'd always heard that attributed to P. T. Barnum.

~~~
unnouinceput
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.

------
loxias
"Per aspera ad astra"

~~~
wwarner
same

------
shaunn
I have always liked the simple expression "fail to plan, plan to fail". And by
extension a modified quote of Eisenhower's: "plans are worthless, but planning
is essential."

------
throw_away
They can kill you, but the legalities of eating you are quite a bit dicier.

------
OzzyB
"I'll be happy to sell you my business for a $100k, and half for $1million"
\-- My Old Man

The gist is that if he sold half the buyer would get _him_ as a partner and
that would be more valuable. xD

------
austincheney
Don't mess with Texas

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Mess_with_Texas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Mess_with_Texas)

------
spdustin
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible" — Walter Elias Disney

"Sometimes, you can either be right, or you can be happy." — My mother (though
probably some other people, too)

------
meddlepal
Nothing matters; keep moving forward.

Or as the movie Collateral framed it:

> Now we gotta make the best of it, improvise, adapt to the environment,
> Darwin, shit happens, I Ching, whatever man, we gotta roll with it.

------
letientai299
"Read the f* manual!"

Seriously, a lot of questions anwer themselves after I read the related
manual. Ever since I got that as a reply on my StackOverflow question, it
becomes my motto.

------
rswail
"Design depends largely on constraints." \- Charles Eames

------
t0mislav
"The dogs bark, but the caravan goes on."

Also when I think I have problems in life, this helps a lot: "Things could be
(much) worse." (I think it is from Stoicism)

------
leephillips
Dealing with failure is easy: Work hard to improve. Success is also easy to
handle: You've solved the wrong problem. Work hard to improve. \-- Alan Perlis

------
julienfr112
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice ...

------
verdverm
Too much attachment, the Dali Llama's answer to everything

------
tarre
Don Quixote: "To attain to eminence in letters costs a man time, watching,
hunger, nakedness, headaches, indigestions, and other things of the sort."

------
leephillips
All creativity is an extended form of a joke. Most creativity is a transition
from one context into another where things are more surprising. \-- Alan Kay

------
joddystreet
\- How you do anything, is how you do everything.

\- Fall 7 times, stand up 8

------
johnflan
I've always been partial to "Do your duty, come what may" not that applied it.
I believe the quote is attributed to the Knights Templar

------
rexelhoff
Bite off more than you can chew, and chew like buggery.

------
ps0161
If you find yourself in deep shit keep moving forward.

------
ankit_it09
These are the three mottos which I like the most.

\- If you want to succeed increase the failure rate.

\- When you stop learning, you stop growing.

\- Don't Stop, Don't give up Keep Trying.

------
blueatlas
A relatively new favorite that seems to fit the times:

"Fear leads to panic, panic leads to pain, pain leads to anger, anger leads to
hate."

\-- Idles, Danny Nedelko

------
nicholasjohnson
Be quick but don’t hurry. -John Wooden

If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?
-John Wooden

------
cosmic_quanta
"If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you
always got".

I can't remember who said that

------
edem
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

------
ilovetux
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.

------
gadders
"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.

~~~
arethuza
He presumably didn't say it in Latin though ;-)

~~~
gadders
He may well have never said it at all :-)

~~~
arethuza
Yeah - similar to the "they make a solitude and call it peace" speech:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgacus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgacus)

As an aside: Agricola's army is supposed to have camped on the hill where my
house is!

~~~
gadders
Get the metal detector out?

------
skmurphy

       Live Free or Die
    

State Motto of New Hampshire

    
    
       Eleftheria i thanatos
    
       Freedom or Death
    

Motto of State of Greece

------
reluctantsheep
"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."

------
swills
Lately I've been a big fan of:

"Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody's gonna die.
Come watch TV"

------
diggernet
I like to live by:

"Why own it if you are afraid to take it apart?"

Tempered a bit by:

"Don't take it apart if you can't put it back together."

------
Biba89
"Life is meaningless." \- Kapil Gupta

------
markvdb
"Sabulum in apparatu" makes me smile.

"Sand in the machine!" suddenly sounds less contrary and anarchist in Latin
:-)

------
indentit
"if I can't fix it, it ain't broke" \- I first came across this in a DOS game
called God of Thunder.

------
uptown
"The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things
upset you." \- Lost in Translation

------
subhro
Be the change you want to see in the world.

— Mahatma Gandhi

------
leephillips
I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study
mathematics and philosophy. \-- John Adams

------
leephillips
[Pacifism] is only possible to people who have money and guns between
themselves and reality. \-- George Orwell

------
svieira
The best way to prepare for death is to spend every day of life as though it
were your last. — St. Philip Neri

~~~
svieira
And also:

We do not fix our affections on borrowed goods, because we know that they must
soon be returned to the owner. All the goods of this earth are lent to us. —
St. Alphonsus Liguori

------
LittlePeter
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.”

― Philip K. Dick, I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon

------
fargle
"stultus quaestionum peteret, stultus respondeo impetro"

Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers.

------
Xc43
The motto of the billionaire french family/dynasty Mulliez: Everyone in
everything (Tous dans tout).

------
uncanny
If it is too hard you’re doing it wrong.

------
koonsolo
"Life if for those who dare" \- my grandma ;)

(Originally in Dutch: "Het leven is aan de durvers")

~~~
PoachedSausage
Nice. There is also:

"Who Dares Wins"

The motto of UK elite special forces regiments of the Special Air Service.

------
leephillips
Dear Lord, give me chastity and self-restraint ... but not yet, O Lord, not
yet! \-- Saint Augustine

------
jhelphenstine
Veritatem Dilex ("I delight in the truth")

Truth _is_. I strive to find more accurate forms to know it by.

------
cuspycode
"Measure twice, cut once."

~~~
benji-york
This reminds me of one of my favorites: "The best measurement is the one you
don't have to make."

E.g., if you want two boards of the same length, cut one and then use it to
mark the other, avoiding a — potentially inaccurate — measurement.

------
oldspleen
You can't fly with the eagles if you sleep with the pigeons.

This quote resonated with me very well

------
leephillips
It is best to act with confidence no matter how little right you have to it.
\-- Lillian Hellman

------
psyc
Not sure I have a favorite motto, but my favorite amalgamation of mottos is
Tohuvabohu by KMFDM.

------
tchock23
‘He who angers you, conquers you.’

------
hoseja
"This, too, shall pass."

~~~
luigibosco
i have a variation on this i like based on george harrison, "all things must
pass" including my car passing yours.

------
leephillips
A small error at the beginning of something is a great one at the end. \--
Thomas Aquinas

------
sorenvrist
"It will be alright in the end - if it's not alright, it's not the end"

------
anonyfox
You are what you consistently do.

------
leephillips
I’m part of the disease. \-- John Drake, in the Dangerman epsode “The Man on
the Beach”

------
Dannymetconan
"Sure it'll be grand"

Because to be fair it normally will be so no point stressing about it.

------
leephillips
Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book. \-- Dwight D.
Eisenhower

------
capdiz
Proverbs 27:17 - "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."

------
muditmudit
Instead of "live within your means", "live within your needs".

------
keane
_vitam impendere vero_ — Rousseau quoting Juvenal, “stake your life on truth”

------
RickJWagner
"Be prepared."

It's a double whammy. From the Boy Scouts, and also Japeth the Goat.

------
wadkar
Not exactly motto or phrase, but just a word to remind myself that

This too shall pass.

In its original form:

Anicca (impermanence)

------
__jf__
Envy is ignorance, imitation is fear. Fear is the mind-killer.

\- Ralph Waldo Herbert

------
SimeVidas
Being healthy is underrated.

------
chris_st
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.

------
fictorial
Done is better than perfect. This from a self-diagnosed perfectionist.

------
teabee89
"You can't always get what you want" \-- The Rolling Stones

------
cmenge
"What I cannot create, I do not understand" ― Richard Feynman

Very humbling.

------
olau
Help people (including yourself) become the best version of themselves.

------
stared
Some say: learn as long as you live.

I say the converse: you live as long as you learn.

------
exolymph
There are always tradeoffs.

------
voisin
You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

------
arunbahl
“Focus on your high-order bit.”

-Kim Cameron

------
erjjones
"When normal sense makes good sense, seek no other sense."

------
philliproso
Life is about the decisions you make when you give up your freedom.

------
angusiasty
"Smile it confuses people." \- chaotic neutral motto ;)

------
alberto_ol
"In the long run we are all dead," John Maynard Keynes

------
baby
A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what it was built for.

------
kyriakos
"With great power comes great responsibility"

Spiderman's Uncle :)

------
matfil
If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing yourself.

------
tugberkk
If you can endure, endure. Stop complaining. \- Marcus Aurelius

------
Mojah
"Geeks don't have interests, they have passions."

I live by this.

~~~
LittlePeter
What do you mean you live by this? Do you mean you make a conscious choice to
have passion instead of an interest? I don't think one can choose a passion.
It's something you either have or don't.

------
erjjones
"Inch is a sinch, yard is hard"

------
arethuza
"keep the heid"

i.e. Stay calm

My mother always said this to me before exams at school.

------
x0xMaximus
If not now, then when?

------
sbmthakur
There's no easy way out. There's no shortcut home.

\- Rocky Balboa

------
leephillips
A genius is the one most like himself. \-- Thelonious Monk

------
errantspark
"You must beware of shadows."

page 109 of _The Little Schemer_

------
sunstone
No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

------
maroonblazer
"All happiness depends on courage and work."

-Honoré de Balzac

------
masukomi
"Keep Moving Forward" \- Meet The Robinsons

------
ramie
Chance favors the prepared mind. \- Louis Pasteur

------
nepthar
The unexamined life is not worth living - Socrates

------
extremelearning
Kind heart. Kind thoughts. Kind words. Kind actions.

------
butterfi
If i had more time, I would have made it shorter

------
bkovacev
"No problems, just work" \- Seth Feroce

------
enobrev
Janky shit will always come back to haunt you.

------
gquiniou
“They did not know it was impossible so they did it”

― Mark Twain

------
derwiki
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

------
truculent
THE ONLYES POWER IS NO POWER ~ Riddley Walker

------
FeloniousHam
Nothing ever works. Everything is fixable.

------
cube00
Don't quit before the miracle happens.

------
conception
Everything in moderation; even moderation.

------
themistoklik
NEVER DON'T GIVE UP!

focus on what matters y'know..

------
steev
Work 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.

~~~
b3kart
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.

------
CamperBob2
_The impossible costs a little more_

------
GurnBlandston
Anything worth doing is worth overdoing!

------
csbartus
Beauty is worth living and dying for it.

------
nextweek2
Family motto is:

Good times, bad times, all times change.

------
ppur
Three is two, two is one, one is none.

------
RhysU
C'mon, we're all dying here.

------
dang
Things have always been getting worse.

------
sidcool
SpaceX and Tesla driving principles.

------
nonsapreiche
There Is More Than One Way To Do It

------
coder4life
Half of life is just showing up

------
discaler
He conquers who conquers himself!

------
jtokoph
Early is on-time. On-time is late.

------
rtheunissen
Fitter, happier, more productive.

------
steve_b
Brute force is rarely the answer.

------
Jedd
'How hard can it be?'

------
notyourday
"code wins arguments"

------
andrzeej
Do it right, first fucking time.

~~~
arethuza
Personally, I'd go with:

"Make it work, make it right, make it fast"

~~~
fsflover
Or: "Do it, do it well, do it better".

~~~
arethuza
I've always thought of it as "it's easier to make a working thing fast that it
is to make a fast thing work" \- which I'm sure I picked up somewhere....

------
Def_Os
Everything in moderation.

------
brittpart_
Start before you're ready

------
pieperz
Worked Like Socks on a Rooster

------
etothepii
Never hide from objective data

------
PopeDotNinja
You gotta be in it to win it.

------
leejoramo
“Think”

------
francescopnpn
Memento mori. Unus sed leo.

------
sys_64738
"Not my problem"

------
rriepe
Amor fati. Love your fate.

------
qubex
_God is in the rain_

------
quickthrower2
He who dares wins Rodney!

------
ai_ja_nai
We must know. And we will know.

\- Hilbert

~~~
algoholix
There's also a great recording of the address this quote is from (in German):
[http://math.sfsu.edu/smith/Documents/HilbertRadio/HilbertRad...](http://math.sfsu.edu/smith/Documents/HilbertRadio/HilbertRadio.mp3)

------
m0nty
Shepard's Prayer.

------
nowhacker
The will is decisive.

------
cauliflower99
Clean your room. ;)

------
luigibosco
turn on, tune in, drop all from all.

------
basedtho
live and let live

------
badalsurana
Easy is boring.

------
bdibs
Pitter patter.

------
randrus
Pay attention.

------
slipwalker
che sera, sera

and

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.

------
tmaly
everyone is fighting their own battle

------
nurkhz
bad decision make great stories.

------
ehosca
Amor Fati

------
lonelyasacloud
Imagine.

------
leephillips
People say I don't take criticism well, but I say, what the hell do they know?
\-- Groucho Marx

------
dorianmariefr
never a dull day

------
unlivingthing
What is measured, improves!

~~~
alltakendamned
I've heard the variation "What receives attention, grows". Not all attention
yields positive results though, focusing on e.g. anxious feelings might
increase the relative importance of those feelings.

------
twistedcheeslet
"The only way to be wisely selfish is to care for others." -Sam Harris

------
tonyvince7
2 + 2 = 4

