If indecisive, choose one of your top favorites. And by the holy powers bestowed unto me through the machinations of this platform, I grant thee to even post more than one, too!
Hope for the best; prepare for the worst.
Being neurodivergent, this is the most efficient way to mentally deal with change (i fucking hate change even though its the only constant in life)
We must imagine Sisyphus as happy
I won’t break it down, plenty of people have done that already. It’s one of those sorta zen points that’s both almost trivial and very difficult to understand
If idioms count then my favorite is this one:
“I see,” said the blind man to his deaf wife over the phone.
My father would always say that to me growing up if i took too long to explain something 😅
“Give everything you can, but never anything you need.”
I try to live by this. I give away every extra dollar, and help people every chance I get
“The impediment to action advances action. What’s in the way becomes the way.”
This is basically saying that anything that gets in the way of you solving a problem becomes the new problem to solve.
“The tool works at both ends.”
This is about skill building and practice. Making cool stuff improves you as a result.
Something I like about each is that they work in reverse. No impediment in your way? You’re probably not going to have very focused forward movement. No need to use tools (literally or metaphorically)? You won’t become more skilled.
“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough”
“Comparison is the thief of joy”
Two of my favorite are from Antoine de Saint-Exupery:
“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.”
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” (Also attributed as a Native American proverb)
The second one is mesmerizing. Never heard it, or a variation of it before. Thanks!
I’ve always loved the dichotomy between “I think, therefore I am” versus “To be, is to be perceived”. Also, “life is what happens to you while you are making other plans”.
If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.
This quote from LBJ centres me. Its been the conservative tactic for literally decades, from African Americans, to lgbtq+, to immigrants; it’s always been the same grift:
- Choose your marginalised group-du-jour.
- Convince a whole lot of stupid people that that group is the cause of all their problems.
- Profit.
Its honestly astonishing how blatant it really is.
And when all wars are done, a butterfly will still be beautiful -Ruskin Bond
Pen is mightier than sword, France is Bacon.
“There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?” - Nahum 3:19
I’m not religious by the way
At a certain level of self-awareness, it will inevitably happen regularly that one finds oneself repulsive.
I forget who said it.
“If at first you don’t succeed, lower your standards” -Tommy Boy tagline
It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life.
- Jean-Luc Picard. In Star trek: The Next Generation s2e21
Excellent. I’m also partial to this but in the Drumhead:
With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.
