Even better if you can provide your own understanding of its meaning.
Mine would be :
“Nothing kills a man as much as being forced to represent a country” (and err considering the context, I must stress it has nothing to do with the current US shitshow), by a WW1 soldier, illustrator and writer named Jacques Vaché.
For me it just means being forced into representing a group (national, of course, but maybe also social, racial, sexual, professional, any kind of group) or defining one’s identity only by reference to a group is to be avoided at all costs.
Note : Its not the same, imho, as engaging in a collective struggle or defense against a common oppression.
How about you?
It’s a poem by Stephen Crane, but so short I’m often reminded of it in full:
A man said to the universe:
”Sir, I exist!”
“However,” replied the universe,
“The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.”
It sounds nihilistic, but it’s somehow calming whenever I start to feel like I’ve been wronged or I’m owed a break of some sort.
“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”
I would be so far ahead of where I am right now if I had just decided on a course and committed instead of analyzing all the choices to death.
Men are scared that women will laugh at them , women are scared that men will kill them.
You are under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago. - Alan Watts
Dad told me when I was young to “learn to drink your coffee black and cold and you’ll never be disappointed.”
I don’t think he was just talking about coffee.
As in have low expectations of everything?
More like be grateful for what you’re given
That’s much more wholesome!
“Don’t follow people - follow ideas” which seems more relevant today than ever before it seems.
I think there is a quote somewhere from someone that says people talk about people, smarter people talk about facts and even smarter people talk about ideas. I am probably murdering the quote, but it was something like that.
It makes sense though, talking about other people doesn’t really provide much direction in life. Facts do provide more direction in life, but ideas really function as a pointer in a lot of situations when may not know what to do otherwise.
I feel like this is most appropriate with politicians. No politician will be everything you want, but if they have a few policies you’re into, they’re worth your vote.
I think it applies outside of politics as well like art and even business.
Totally fair.
Hold on tightly, let go lightly.
The Croupier in Croupier.
It doesn’t come with extra instructions, so it means what I want it to mean and someone else may have it mean something else entirely. For me it means hold on to the important things tightly while they are important and when they aren’t then it is time to let them and other things go.
Don’t carry things that don’t need to be held onto, especially if you can’t control them. I hold onto the memories of my sister both good and bad, I embrace the pain of her not being here anymore when they come, then I let the pain go because I keep ahold of the happiness she brought into people’s lives while she was here.
Hmmm. I’ll try to remember this one, thank you, that’s a real gift.
I would rather have questions that cannot be answered than answers that cannot be questioned.
Richard Feynman
It’s always darkest before the dawn.
How I interpret it is that when things get bad, and reach a new level of bad, that could be just what is needed for the pendulum to swing the other way, and swing extra hard.
Kind of like a Great Depression giving labour laws kind of a thing.
Gives me hope.
Rewatched that recently. I was really surprised how dark it sometimes gets for a kids’ show. It still holds up really well!
I got two. First is just Hanlon’s razor; “Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to incompetence”
The second one is a bit of a strange pick; its “But there’s no sense crying over every mistake; You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.”
Another version I’ve heard is “When you suspect a conspiracy you often only find incompetence”
I hate Hanlon’s Razor. It’s used as an excuse by and for too many malicious people lately.
Fortune favors the bold.
It was written in a graduation card from my grandfather.
Golf: A nice walk, ruined.
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.” -Seneca
When we complain about not having enough time, we think of ourselves as being passively allocated an insufficient resource. But maybe the problem isn’t that life is too short, but that we waste much of the time we’re given.
I think this is relevant in these modern times more than ever. How much of our time goes to mindless scrolling, worrying about things beyond our control, or pursuing goals that don’t truly align with our values? We should be thinking about the difference between being busy and spending time meaningfully.
And that’s not to say all time spent should be something “productive”. Leisure time can be meaningful. But I think it’s worth even thinking about that. Are you truly happy with how you choose to spend your leisure time when you watch 100 short videos you probably won’t even remember? Or when you sit there getting angry or depressed about article after article after article? I think it’s worth thinking about.
Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. Those who know history are doomed to know it’s repeating.
It’s the second part that makes this otherwise well know phrase hit much closer to home for me.
