What's a quote that has stuck with you for your whole life?

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.

Makeshift,

Paraphrased probably, but:

“What is an ocean but a thousand drops?”

It’s a really good way to get rid of the mentality of one person can’t make a difference. Because everyone is a drop, and without so many drops, there is no ocean. Maybe one individual drop doesn’t truly make a difference alone. But what if every drop was gone?

It helps me feel that, even if the difference I make isn’t big enough to make an impact, an impact only exists BECAUSE of all the drops.

That goes for both positive and negative things. A thousand bad drops are needed to make a bad thing. A thousand good drops to make a good one.

CanadaPlus,

Sorry to question it, seeing as you like it so much, but doesn’t that not make a difference if you’re still fairly sure there’s not enough other drops?

I prefer the starfish on a beach analogy for the same thing because it cuts others out entirely.

Makeshift,

Hm. Good question, and I can’t say I have a great answer.

I like the starfish one too, the ocean one is just better for my mindset.

I guess accountability? The starfish story appeals more to personal ego (not using the term ego as a bad thing here), where as the ocean one feels more like accountability to me.

Starfish is saying that the little thing you do can help someone, even if it doesn’t solve the problem. Ocean one is saying that everyone is responsible, even if only a tiny bit in the grand scheme.

I kind of pair it with a mindset of if every drop thinks that they don’t make a difference, that adds up. One person can’t save the planet, but every person thinking they can’t save the planet means that you have that ocean of people all thinking that they don’t matter. And that’s a big problem.

Like I said, probably not the best answer. Just rambling what came to mind.

CanadaPlus, (edited )

Hey, if it works for you, I guess. I find I’m easily frustrated if I imagine there’s a ton of other people working against me but that’s really my issue.

Vitaly,
@Vitaly@feddit.uk avatar

“Who controls the present controls the past. Who controls the past controls the future”

ProffessionalAmateur,

Now Testify

bh11235,

Grey’s Law: Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice

CanadaPlus,

Isn’t that just Hanlon’s razor reworded?

bh11235, (edited )

In a certain sense it is the opposite of Hanlon’s razor. In the face of difficult behavior, Hanlon’s razor encourages even-mindedness (“they probably mean well”) whereas Grey’s law encourages conflict (“even if they do, so WHAT”).

r4tzt4r,

“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”

Subversivo,

“Everything will be forgotten and nothing will be repaired”, from Milan Kundera.

Wayren,

“God thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips.” -David Bowie

wheelie,

Take your time

dudebro,

It’s the least thing you’ve got.

littlegift,
Fraeco,

People don’t stop playing because they grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.

Therevev,

Idk. Im 40 and hurt myself on a bouncy slide not long ago.

My body defintely isnt in agreement with how young i feel.

dudebro,

Totally agree.

some_guy,

“Wearing a watch is like being handcuffed to time.”

DeskP1loti,

Everytime you eat a steak, a hippie’s hacky sack falls in the gutter.

-Patton Oswalt

tryagain,

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

onlinely,

Hanlon’s razor

dudebro,

Probably one of the most pretentious quotes in existence being perpetuated by pseudo-intellectuals.

tryagain,

✨✨Thanks! ✨✨

squaresinger,

German quote from an old podcast: Konsequenz heißt auch Holzwege zuende gehen.

Rough translation: Being consequent means also following the wrong path to the end.

It’s used for people or organisations that tend to stick to a decision to the end, even if that decision was obviously flawed. E.g. sticking to extremely stick to a regulation even if it’s outdated/was dumb from the beginning. Corporate password policies are a good example.

cousinofjah,
@cousinofjah@lemmy.world avatar

“Perfect is the enemy of Good.”

CurlyWurlies4All, (edited )
@CurlyWurlies4All@prxs.site avatar

Every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

— Carl Sagan

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