A hurt that cures is better than a hurt that endures. —Self
Paradox of Self-improvement
Pain speaks louder than healing and agony argues with wisdom. —Self
Focus and Belief
I never thought of the possibility of failing, only of the fame and glory I was going to get when I won. I could see it. I could almost feel it. When I proclaimed that I was the greatest of all time, I believed in myself, and I still do. —Mohammed Ali
No Fairness in Life
Not all pictures in life are drawn with the same shade of crayon, and some ill-deserving bastard will always have the deluxe set. —Self
Discovering Truth
[T]ruth is best discovered by powerful statements on both sides of the question. —Lord John Scott Eldon (1751-1838) quoting Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Untimely Experience
Experience is something you don’t have until just after you need it. —Self
Sorrow Is Not Pessimism
And the truth about me is not that I’m really volatile and I’m unstable, but that I’m really vibrant, and the color of my sorrow is just as bright as the stripes of my delight. —Jenny Slate
Ockham’s Razor
Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. —William of Ockham
Beautiful Truth
Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. —John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn
The Process of Victory
If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride and never quit, you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards. —Paul “Bear” Bryant
Difficult Forgiveness
It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. —William Blake
Perpetual Goal Setting
Never quit. Set a goal and don’t quit until you attain it. When you do attain it, set another goal, and don’t quit until you reach it. Never quit. —Paul “Bear” Bryant
Unprecedented Until…
Everything is unprecedented until it happens for the first time. —Tom Hanks as Chelsey Sullenberger in Sully
Academic Weariness
Much study is a weariness of the flesh. —Ecclesiastes 12:12
Value of a Word
A word is worth a thousand sentences (to an etymologist). —Self
Private Citizens, Public Servants
I’m a private citizen with rights, but you’re a public servant with duties. —Self
Broken or Hardened
Maybe sometimes it’s better to be broken than to be hardened. —David Kaczynski
Fighting Harder
Losing doesn’t make me want to quit. It makes me want to fight that much harder. —Paul “Bear” Bryant
Personal Growth
In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety. —Abraham Maslow
One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again. —Abraham Maslow
MacGyver
Some people can MacGyver any problem. Other people somehow will MacFucker every problem. —Self
Today’s Best
The essence of our “best” is not whether it can be somehow improved upon at a later time. Today’s “best” will produce tomorrow’s “better still” which will expose shortcomings of yesterday’s “best.” Our “best” is only our “best” as long as we cannot improve upon it until tomorrow. That is, the essence of our “best” is not whether it can be somehow improved upon at a later time. Our best is cognizable by our inability to improve upon it today. —Self
Challenging Paths
If you’re not facing challenges, you’re not pursuing your destiny. —Self
Change
Understand as it is, imagine as it can, strive as it will. —Self
Judging Displaces Loving
If you judge people, you have no time to love them. —Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu
Reassembly
Only once we have been shattered can a higher power guide us through the reassembly. —Self
Vice of Capitalism, Virtue of Socialism
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. —Winston Churchill
Plain Honesty
An honest tale speeds best being plainly told. —Shakespeare, Richard III
Contentment Is Good
Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat well, drink a good glass of wine, and enjoy their work. —Ecclesiastes 5:18
Horse and Water
I led the horse to water. I made the horse drink. The horse drowned in the process. I beat the dead horse to a pulp. The currents carried away the horse. The horse is no longer my problem. —Self
Unnecessary Words
I don’t need to hear what you don’t need to say. —Diana Muldaur as Katherine Pulaski, Star Trek TNG S2E14
Simplify
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. —Albert Einstein
Control Versus Influence
Just because something is out of our control does not mean that it is outside of our influence. —Self
Civil Disobedience
Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves. —Henry David Thoreau
Looking Back to See Forward
The further back you can look, the further forward you can see. —Unknown (often attributed to Winston Churchill, never confirmed)
Sharing Happiness
Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. —Buddha
Blind Sight
So, you mock my blindness? Let me tell you this. You with your precious eyes, you’re blind to the corruption of your life, to the house you live in, those you live with—who are your parents? Do you know? All unknowing you are the scourge of your own flesh and blood… —Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, ±ln 409.
Seeking the Unattainable
Never stop seeking what seems unattainable. —Stephanie Niznik as The Wraith, ST Enterprise, “Rogue Planet” S1E18
Fishing and Catching
If you keep fishing in the same old sewers, you’ll keep catching the same old shit. —Self
Knowledge Vanishes
Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes. —Peter F. Drucker
Medida de progreso
Tu invidia es mi progreso. —lema anónima peruana
Hindsight
My hindsight is so good, I should walk through life backward. —Self
Danger in Appeasement
Appeasement only makes the aggressor more aggressive. —Henry Strozier as Dean Rusk, Thirteen Days
Many Eyes in Team
There is no “I” in team, but there are twice as many “eyes” as there are players and an “aye” in the middle. —Self
Good Judgment
Good judgment comes from experience which mostly comes from bad judgment. —Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop in The Mechanic
Inimical Haste
Haste is the enemy of Prudence. —Self
Acceptance and Belief
Take me for what I am, but believe in me for what I will be. —Self
When Right ≠ Legal
There have been times throughout American history where what is right is not the same as what is legal. Sometimes to do the right thing you have to break a law. —Edward Snowden
Christian Mistreatment
The biggest difference between Christ and most Christians is that Christ didn’t mistreat people. —George Carneal
Horse’s Tail
Sometimes I’m the head, sometimes the tail. But even the tail leads when the horse finds it necessary to back up. —Self
Examination of Thoughts
People do not deeply examine that which they deeply disdain. —Kellyanne Conway on The Daily
Pipe Dream Foundations
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. —Henry David Thoreau
Opaque Communication
I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you’ve probably misunderstood what I’ve said. —Alan Greenspan
I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. —Alan Greenspan
Knowing and Dreaming
Knowing little dreams lots. —Self
Disputation
The person who cannot refute a disagreeable position holds an indefensible position, lacks pathos, or lacks acumen. —Self
Maintaining Liberty
He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself. —Thomas Paine (1795)
Originality and Coincidence
Everything I write is completely original, and any thoughts attributable to another person are entirely coincidental — unless you believe in collective unconsciousness, in which case it is just another expression of the same original thought — unless you subscribe to the notion that everything that is written has already been written before, in which case you have to ask, is the dog chasing its tail or is the tail taunting the dog. —Self
What Money Buys
Money doesn’t buy happiness; it buys entertainment and sometimes, diversion, either of which is preferable to mindfulness of unhappiness. —Self
Reclaiming Life
No one can give you your life back, so you have to take your life back. —Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in The Defenders
Discoveting Truth
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. —Galileo Galilei
Extreme Hope
Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery. —Bertrand Russell
Errant Conclusions
People jump to the conclusions which best validate their speculations. —Self
Going Big
Go big or go home, but make sure you don’t bet the farm or the cow. -Self
Go big or go home, but be judicious in going all-in so that there will still be a farm and a cow waiting if going home becomes necessary. -Self
Go big or go home, but make sure you don’t bet the farm or the cow so that there is still a home option. —Self
Social Accountability
We are accountable not for what we are taught but for what we learn. (In other words, we are not accountable for being taught bigotry or racism or sexism or xenophobia, but we are accountable for learning those behaviors.) —Self
Punctuality
Arriving late wastes your time. Arriving early wastes my time. —Self
Homily Paradox
If we’re supposed to make lemonade when life brings us lemons, when life brings us plums, should we make prune juice? —Self
Plan A and Plan B
There is no Plan B. You have Plan A, and you keep working at it until it happens. There is no Plan B. —Zac Baker, 60 Days In
Plan B gets in the way of Plan A. —Ashleigh Baker, 60 Days In
Apathy Nurtures Evil
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. —Edmund Burke (disputed)