I always loved browsing such posts on reddit, so thought I should make one on lemmy too
Edit: Usually these kind of posts only used to have excerpts from books or ancient proverbs, but now I am seeing a lot more quotes from shows/movies/games are also resonating with people. It’s pretty cool to see.
Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Damn… that’s better that the muddy pig wrestling one and the pigeon chess one both.
Can’t argue with that
Am I wrong or is that George Carlin?
That was a great read, thank you for that!
My father, a union organiser: “You can love the company all you like, but the company will never love you back.”
Stood me in good stead down the years.
That’s only partially true, especially if you think about the definition of ‘company.’
It is completely possible to be in a company that cares about you. Odds are it won’t be a publicly-traded one, though.
You’ve got to go through a round of redundancies/layoffs to learn this. No amount of telling some freebie-munching programmer will teach them. Source: I was a freebie-munching programmer.
And the acceptance beyond that is “… and that’s ok, it’s not the company’s job to love you, but don’t for a second be fooled into loyalty”.
Piss-poor planning on your part doesn’t constitute an emergency on mine.
I dislike this one quite a bit. I’m a good planner, but we’re all human, and can forget sometimes. This quote is just an excuse to feel better about not helping someone out, and not in a healthy I’m-setting-boundaries manner.
I think there’s a difference between being a shitty person and being unwilling to help and being repeatedly used because you’ve helped out a couple of times before and now people end up leveraging your kindness. I personally subscribe to the line of thinking in the comment you replied to after giving the person I’m working with the benefit of the doubt that it’s a justified emergency a couple of times. I have a list of people at work now that I’ll still assist but I don’t jump at the opportunity as quickly because everything is an emergency to them and I think that’s just as shitty as not helping someone.
Just to clarify, I phrase it a bit differently: Not “piss-poor planning” but rather “a lack of planning” since it sounds less aggressive.
I disagree. The quote has an “I fucked up, what are you going to do about it?” vibe.
I think that’s why it says “emergency”. Asking for help is okay, dumping your problems over to me so it’s my “emergency” is not.
You can ask for help and give me some of your work, but not your responsibilities.
Related: Remember your PPPPPPPs! Proper planning and preparation prevents piss-poor performance!
‘This is a you problem. Not an us problem.’
Corollary: Prior planning and preparation prevents piss-poor performance.
This one stuck with me and resurfaces in my mind every now and then, particularly nowadays:
“We’ve arranged a global civilization in which the most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster.” ~ Carl Sagan
If you want to travel fast, go alone; but if you want to travel far, go together.
It’s one of those African proverbs with an unknown origin but their emphasis on community has always been a guiding principle for me.
I like that, a lot.
Love this
It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.
Jean-Luc Picard
That’s a good one. Also, “no being is so important that it may usurp the rights of another”.
“Many hands make light work”
As a young child I interpreted this as acknowledging all of the people involved in:
- Mining and transporting coal
- Running the powerplant
- Installing and maintaining the powerlines
- Wiring the house
- Manufacturing the lightswitch, light socket, light bulb, etc
All so I can flick a switch and turn on a light in my house. It really shows that all the small things we take for granted rely on a well functioning society.
Then when I was around 10 or so someone used it in a context where it’s usual interpretation was the only one that made sense.
there’s a similar one in german that I really like because it also rhymes (and as we all know, things that rhyme are automatically true)
“viele hände, schnelles ende” / many hands, quick completion
Hm, I first interpreted that as ‘light work’, as in light vs. heavy work. More people contributing eases the burden for all.
thats the way it usually is interpreted, yes
Not my whole life but ever since I learned it twenty years ago in the army. “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”. It’s a saying that means to learn things carefully, slowly, and methodically. When you are learning like this speed will follow as a natural progression. So if you learn something slowly and smoothly it will translate into being quick and doing it correctly. I have applied this to all sorts of different things in life and it has never failed me.
Your username reminded me of my favorite Sanderson quote.
The most important step a man can take? It’s not the first one, is it? It’s the next one. Always the next step, Dalinar
I still think about it all the time when I’m in a tough spot.
All the knights radiant oath are great too.
It takes a woman nine months to make a baby, nine women cannot make a baby in a month.
Classic (and likely mangled by myself) computer science quote which I always enjoy encountering in the wild!
Classic project management quote.
It’s from “The Mythical Man Month” by Fred Brooks. It was published in 1975. I’ve seen people make the same project management mistakes that the book discussed for the last 30 years.
Sorry to break it to you, but that’s almost 50 years.
Nine women can average one baby per month, but only with an extra nine months of pre-planning.
“It is no measure of good health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society”
Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.
Marcus Aurelius
Anyone who appreciates this one and hasn’t read the entirety of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (compiled into book form) really should. Many gems of stoic wisdom therein.
“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life.”
― Captain Jean-Luc Picard
That’s really rough to accept, but I’ve come to do so.
I still think we should do our best. Nothing hurts more than losing because we didn’t try hard enough.
Something along the lines of:
‘You’re just an NPC in everyone else’ life, no one really cares about what weird shoes you wear, or whatever. No one’s remembering, don’t worry about it’
Really helps out in the world really, it’s kinda true.
Yeah, but that means if you stick out too much, you’ll get recorded and posted online for entertainment
people online feel less like NPCs somehow. I guess cause we can read their perspective
If you want some NPCs, read reddit comments!
When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back. Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s gonna burn your house down… with the lemons! I’m gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!
- Cave Johnson, Portal 2
Maybe not words to live by, but certainly a memorable quote.
Maybe they’re not words to live by – if you’re a coward.
Unbelievable. You, [subject name here], must be the pride of [subject hometown here]!
All of his quotes are just great. My favorite:
All these science spheres are made of asbestos all the way. Keeps out the rats. Let us know if you feel a shortness of breath, a persistent dry cough, or your heart-stopping. Because that is not part of the test. That’s asbestos…Worst case scenario, you miss out on a few rounds of Canasta, plus you forwarded the cause of science by three centuries. I punch those numbers into a calculator, it makes a happy face.
In 20 years, the only ones to remember all the hard work and long hours are your children.
Oof, this one hit hard for me. I’ve been working a lot of hours lately and I need to start putting my actual life as a priority. Thanks for this.
