Ask Lemmy

I don't know who originally said it, but "Everything in moderation, including moderation." That is, it's okay to go overboard on something as long as that's an exception, not a norm. Want to eat a whole carton of ice cream? It's not going to kill you if you do it, as long as you don't do it every weekend. Enjoy stuff, don't be excessive generally, but the rare occasion is just fine.

Note: there are, of course, exceptions. You probably don't want to try even a little black tar heroin unless you're okay with the risk of becoming an addict.

“Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.”

-Ron Swanson

"You're imagining everyone in this story way more attractive than they actually were."
- some reddit guy

"I have the right to wipe my ass with a pinecone, but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do."

Building self esteem requires esteemable acts.

"No good deed goes unpunished."

"I'll take a weird person over a mean person any day."

Life's a bitch and then you die, that's why we get high 'Cause you never know when you're gonna go

Self explanatory

"Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky, they are people who say 'This is my community and it's my responsibility to make it better.'" - Tom McCall, Oregon Governor 1967-1974.

"Necessary? Is it necessary that I drink my own urine? No! I do it because it's sterile and I enjoy the taste!"

Meaning: It doesn't matter if it's necessary, you should still do things because you enjoy doing it.

Be angry at the sun for setting If these things anger you.

-Robinson Jeffers

The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can touch the poison of hatred without being harmed.

-Badass Lion Turtle

sometimes people will really fuckin hurt you and you won't ever get an apology

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."

ETA, same thing a different way: "That's the thing. I don't think I believe in 'deep down'. I kind of think all you are is just the things that you do."

„Bees don’t waste their time explaining flies that honey tastes better than shit.“

"Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom."

"The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is right now."

Stop regretting what you didn't do in the past, and do it now. Time will continue to march into the future irrespective of whatever actions you take. In another 20 years from now would you like to arrive there having accomplished many of your goals or accomplishing nothing?

I am wiser than this man; for neither of us really knows anything fine and good, but this man thinks he knows something when he does not, whereas I, as I do not know anything, do not think I do either. I seem, then, in just this little thing to be wiser than this man at any rate, that what I do not know I do not think I know either.

• Socrates at the trial where he was sentenced to death, in Plato's Apology

“Easy things tend to become hard, and hard things tend to become easy.”

This was said to me by my mentor when I was contemplating a very difficult career choice. I have found a lot of truth in it through various areas of my life. The most striking has been watching people I knew when I was much younger who always look for the easy way out of whatever life throws at them. Over time I’ve watched how this catches up to people and makes life much harder for them because they never plan, never save, never deny themselves in the moment.

"the dude abides"

That's literally all life right there.

Always have an exit plan.

Not sure it's really a quote, so maybe it doesn't count ... but it's such common wisdom that it probably should count.

I never really appreciated it until I went through something where the wisdom of it would have made the difference. The slightly more precise version, IMO, is that whenever you're in a position where something beyond your control can have a substantial influence on the outcome, you need an exit plan before you commit to that position, where that plan includes the definition of the conditions which trigger both the preparation of the execution of the plan and the time to actually exit.

The whole idea is to be prepared to not get fucked by other people or bad luck. And half of the benefit of having the plan is in the perspective it gives you. Instead of having Stockholm syndrome or suffering from the sunk cost fallacy, you naturally assess your situation as the set of trade offs that it is and more naturally perceive the toxic people that are essentially stuck in their worlds and either hold others back or propagate the culture that holds others back.

Make sure you have the plan, including the trigger conditions, formulated ahead of time, and regularly think back on the plan as you're going along, adjusting or reassessing as necessary.

"Tell one lie, and you end up saying 1000 more lies to protect that lie" - My math teacher

a hippy dippy one:

"whatever time it happened was the right time, whoever was there were the right people, whatever happened was the only thing that could have happened. It is always your time to do it, and same for everyone else."

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Practice the basics, get it right. Don't try to go faster for the sake of going faster, you'll hit your limit and get sloppy and pickup bad habits. Test your limits to learn them, but don't hit them every time. Get comfortable within them and the goal posts will move.

“After everything is said and done, there’s a lot more said than done.”

— my old man

"It's amazing how far some people will come to have a bad time."

After seeing an argument between a couple at a large EDM show (Sasha and Digweed) in the chillout lounge.

"Just imagine what it's like inside his head."

After getting verbally assaulted by an angry guy.

“The more you tell the truth, the more your life becomes an adventure”.

My favorite psychology professor told me this, and it rings true. I’m autistic, and have an obsession with never saying anything inaccurate or untruthful, even if it’s a common way to phrase things.

I’ve also had a ridiculously interesting bunch of adventures in my life, and it just keeps getting more interesting.

I think that my unwillingness to bend the truth in order to fit in or smooth things over or ignore things, has led to a lot of those adventures happening.

We tend to use lies, as a culture, to stabilize our lives into predictable, known shapes. Once you stop that, it goes off the rails very quickly.

“The best thing you can do as you grow older is to do it gracefully.”

"A mind changed against its will is of the same opinion still."

You can't argue your way to winning people over with your ideas/opinions.

Don't sweat the small stuff. Just let it go.

This too shall pass.

"you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you find you get what you need". - the great philosopher Jagger

I may not always get exactly what I want, but if I put in the effort and do my best, I find that sometimes what I want is not what I needed in the end.

Misery is not a currency.

Meaning you cannot pay off grief, sadness, guilt, or remorse by forcing yourself to be miserable. It’s not a penance. Fell your feelings, and get on with life.

“Hey, hey.. don't be mean; we don't have to be mean; remember, no matter where you go, there you are.”

"I've learned that life is one crushing defeat after another until you just wish Flanders was dead"

-Homer Simpson

"Everything you want in life has teeth".

It means no matter what you think you want that'll surely make you perfectly happy, it'll never quite be what you want.

Don’t set yourself on fire just to keep others warm.