Axioms

[Jen12]

I'm going to bounce off of the "stuff you've learned the hard way" thread and ask, what would you say are truths that you've come to find as standard -- either things you've learned on your own, or even things that your mother or grandmother used to say to you?

Here are a few:

Nobody is ever nicer when drinking.
If it's worth it, you'll find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse.

[Jen12]

Oh...and nobody can ruin a movie like a geek who has to point out "what they got wrong."

[wackyjacky1]

Gosh, I have to disagree with you about the drinking thing, lol. As my dad (and Frank Sinatra) used to say: I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.

That's my axiom and I'm stickin' to it.

Seriously, the one that rings most true with me is: If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.

[malkin]

Don't lie to people who trust you and don't trust people who lie to you.


I just heard this today at my daughter's white coat ceremony (proud mama!!) :
"Your patients will not care how much you know until they know how much you care."

[goldfinch]

I was brought up to be respectful of others and that people were entitled to their opinions, even if wrong headed. It took me a while but I finally figured out that opinions without facts to back them up are worthless and a worthless opinion is not entitled to respect. Harlen Ellison said it the best:

Everybody has opinions: I have them, you have them. And we are all told from the moment we open our eyes, that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Well, that’s horsepuckey, of course. We are not entitled to our opinions; we are entitled to our informed opinions. Without research, without background, without understanding, it’s nothing. It’s just bibble-babble. It’s like a fart in a wind tunnel, folks.


And, from Charles Darwin:

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge

[Bethany1]

Things my mom taught me as a teenager:

If you don't go where you aren't supposed to be you'll never get into trouble.



Nothing good ever happens after midnight.



Even if you didn't do anything wrong with a group of friends, you are guilty by association.



Men will never grow up. Their toys just get more expensive and take up space.

[VeganBikeChick]

Not an axiom, per se, but a quote that gets me through my roughest days...

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" -Eleanor Roosevelt

[Biciclista]

do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

and hey, my kid was born after midnight!!

[Jen12]

Things my mom taught me as a teenager:


Men will never grow up. Their toys just get more expensive and take up space.

Hahaha true. Given the actions of some women in my life toward a mutual friend recently, I'm leaning toward the idea that women will never grow up either. The gossip just gets meaner and more hurtful.

[marni]

engage brain before opening mouth

You have to either learn to think of it as an endearing quality or kill them.

marni

[Kubla]

Here are some of my favorites-some original, some not:

If you think something is wrong-it probably is.

Guilt is a many-splendored thing.

There are worse things than being alone...like wishing you were.

Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. (Benjamin Franklin)

Three people can keep a secret...if two of them are dead (Benjamin Franklin)

People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. (Abraham Lincoln)