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.
Thank you! This might be my favorite thread ever! I’ve learned more life lessons sitting in s coffee shop this morning than i have in the last 50 years. If i could remember any of these, i would probably be more kind, thoughtful, and appreciative.
"Best advice I ever got was an old friend of mine, a black friend, who said you have to go the way your blood beats. If you don’t live the only life you have, you won’t live some other life, you won’t live any life at all. That’s the only advice you can give anybody. And it’s not advice, it’s an observation."
“Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not.” -Uncle Iroh (Avatar the Last Airbender).
I watched this show as a kid when it originally aired and this quote stuck with me. It’s reminded me to make the best of the situation I’m currently in and enjoy the good things around me.
In 2004, I was working on the bridge of a ship that was going to be inspected in a few days. There was a small hole in a wall about the size of an electrical outlet with exposed wiring that I wanted to hide from the inspectors. I printed out a picture of a kitten and taped it over the hole. I visited the ship again in 2018, and the kitten was still there.
This is a weird application of that quote, but I remember when Avengers: Infinity War came out and there were people saying that Thanos was right, and his decision to kill half of all beings would, in fact, lead to less starvation and poverty. And I got in an argument where I said, “You may be right that Thanos’s was a valid solution. But there is not fucking way in hell that it was even close to the best, or even a good solution! Just because you think of something that works first doesn’t mean you should always go with that!”
It’s not even a good solution. Take, for example, Earth. Half the people are gone. We’re at about 8 billion people now. Know when we were at half that? 1973. This solution puts the clock back by 50 years, causes a lot of pain and strife, and Thanos (and most people on earth) would likely have lived long enough to see the correction he made undone. When a solution that drastic doesn’t solve the problem for even a lifetime, it doesn’t even approach being a good one.
"Why did I follow him…? I don’t know. Why do things happen as they do in dreams? All I know is that, when he beckoned… I had to follow him. From that moment, we traveled together, East. Always… into the East."
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.
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.
"these problems are the good ones to have." from an atmosphere song, where they got it form idk. but whenever im feeling like shits going south i remember this and it reminds me that its not all so bad.
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