Ask Lemmy

Whenever I'm about to do something, I think, "would an idiot do that?" and if they would, I do not to that thing.

• Dwight Schrute

Hope for the best; prepare for the worst.

Being neurodivergent, this is the most efficient way to mentally deal with change (i fucking hate change even though its the only constant in life)

I've always loved the dichotomy between "I think, therefore I am" versus "To be, is to be perceived". Also, "life is what happens to you while you are making other plans".

Pen is mightier than sword, France is Bacon.

Don't be a cunt!

"know thyself"

Plato? I think it's Plato idk

"Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners."

Might not agree with Lenin on everything but this one is right on spot.

Oh, my second favorite quote is also from him I had no idea

"One cannot live in society and be free from society."

"People, what a bunch of bastards".

- Roy from the IT Crowd.

This one speaks directly to me: "The only decision you should make while angry is to stop being angry." ~ Timothy Zahn, the Icarus series.

“A Splendid Torch” by George Bernard Shaw

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

Rationality is not a character trait, it's a process. If you fool yourself into believing that you're rational by default, you open yourself up to the most irrational thinking.

"If you're out to get the honey, then you don't go killin' all the bees" - Joe Strummer

"Sometimes, at the end of a sentence, I come out with completely the wrong fusebox. The problem with using the wrong words is a. that I don't always notice, and b. orange water gibbon bucket of plaster."

I think of this often and have to say we can all learn something from it.

[Note to add: it's a throwaway line from Monty Python sketch. Second note to add: TheWrongFusebox was my reddit username for 15 or so years.]

Your favourite restaurant will end before you do

Never make yourself a priority to someone that treats you like an option.

Here's a few from my time in the service:

"An okay plan applied immediately and vigorously is way better than a perfect plan ten minutes too late."

"Are you willing to do it? No? Then don't ask your troops to do it."

"In the event that signals can neither be seen nor clearly understood, no Captain can do very wrong if he puts his ship alongside that of an enemy."

That's a round down range, can't pull it back

nihil novum sub sole

"Give me the strength to change the things I can change. And the wisdom to recognize them."

"Discussing anything with an IT nerd; you will come to realize its like wrestling with pigs in the mud. They like it."

It's not particularly wise, but it's definitely my all time favorite.

"You knew the job was dangerous when you took it."

Almost always applicable.

A couple from a co-worker:

If you don't have time to do it correctly now, what makes you think you will have time to fix it later.

Remember, you are not stuck in traffic, you are traffic.

And a couple from my grandmother:

Don't study drunk, but if you do at least be a little tipsy when you take the test.

Don't do anything to your car to make it stand it to the police.

We must imagine Sisyphus as happy

I won't break it down, plenty of people have done that already. It's one of those sorta zen points that's both almost trivial and very difficult to understand

The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're computer professionals. We cause accidents.

Nathaniel Borenstein.

If idioms count then my favorite is this one:

"I see," said the blind man to his deaf wife over the phone.

My father would always say that to me growing up if i took too long to explain something 😅

Not sure it's a quote from anywhere in particular but

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” Carl Sagan

also

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

― Robert A. Heinlein

What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

• The Summer Day, Mary Oliver

It can apply in so many instances.

"There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?" - Nahum 3:19

I'm not religious by the way