> While our immediate problems tend to distract us in everyday life, having a mantra can help us stay in touch with our deepest goals. Mottos ultimately can do many things, such as increase your productivity, inspire you, or help you change a habit. [1]
[1] 9 Reasons You Need a Personal Motto, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/changepower/201508/9-reasons-you-need-personal-motto
Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it; marry or don’t marry, you will regret it either way.
Laugh at the world’s foolishness, you will regret it; weep over it, you will regret that too; laugh at the world’s foolishness or weep over it, you will regret both.
Believe a woman, you will regret it; believe her not, you will also regret it…
Hang yourself, you will regret it; do not hang yourself, and you will regret that too; hang yourself or don’t hang yourself, you’ll regret it either way;
whether you hang yourself or do not hang yourself, you will regret both. This, gentlemen, is the essence of all philosophy
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_S%C3%B8ren_Kierk...
[EDIT]
It looks I am being downvoted, so I am adding more details for those confused:
This is written from the point of view of the Aesthete, someone who lives entirely for pleasure. From the point of view of pleasure, each decision is a missed opportunity for a different kind of pleasure. You'll find some pleasure in marrying, but you'll miss out on some other pleasures by doing so. Due to this, every choice is meaningless and thus cause for regret.
Kierkegaard paints this as being very different from decisions made in the ethical realm. Once in the ethical, we choose based on certain principles, and those principles guide us to do what is right. In that scenario our choices become meaningful and we are no longer plagued with regret, for even if there was pleasure in the other option, we did what was good, and thus we are satisfied. The life of pleasure seeking is characterized by this kind of regret, for Kierkegaard, whereas he characterizes the ethical life as being made up of meaningful choice.
A crappy prototype is better than an idea. A three day vacation you take is better than a week only planned. It's a series of small steps.
These days many of us are too stressed for hours, days or weeks on end. Whereas back in our forest days you’d be stressed once in a while when you’d suddenly see that tiger. Our bodies are made for short durations of stress, not prolonged periods.
So when I notice I am stressed or feel tense, I ask myself: “Is this an exceptional moment to be stressed?” If no, I try to take a step back and evaluate why where the stress is coming from, what would happen if I ignore the situation or put less effort into it? Then hopefully feel less stressed.
(I don't really have a "motto", this is a good mantra though)
Edit: also, "if you dislike change, you'll like irrelevance even less" - General Shinseki, US Army
And
"If you don't lie, you never have to remember anything" - attributed to Mark Twain
Also: "Accept your inner experience, choose a valued direction, take action" from ACT therapy.
Whenever stressed those two mantras can guide the mind to a more productive state.
I realized that super-dumb and super-smart people often get to the same conclusions. So often times, when I find myself stuck, I remind myself to think stupid before making a decision.
"The noblest kind of retribution is to not become like your enemy"
Marcus Aurelius
"If the world hates you, remember it hated me [Christ] first."
"It all works out in the end, and in the end, we're all dead."
A bit salty in ordinary conversation. Several online translators agreed "Non futuis mecum" is an intelligible Latin equivalent. Though in conversation, probably less useful than Klingon or Navajo.
I remember reasoning like this a lot in my early adulthood when I had to to use our (diy, somewhat inaccurate and scary) table saw.
I've fixed old undocumented industrial controls, atomic clocks, all sorts of things.
I'd be happy to help fix/reverse engineer any captured UFOs. ;-)
No matter what there's always a tradeoff between having something in life the way you like it with lots of effort or rely on somebody else. But when you rely on other people they'll do stuff the way _they_ like.
It's both a motto that encourages me to try new things and invest time doing them but also to respect other people's work and point of views.
Sometimes one's fears leads one to a fate worse than death; sometimes better to just accept the risk of death and say that if death wants to come then let it come.
Also, the pace of time means that everything changes and sometimes this is hard to accept; but unavoidable. Everyone's life has seasons of joy and hardship.
All philosophy boils down to those two words in the end.
Edit: of course that I use it mostly when something bad happens, something that's maybe unlikely but possible. That's when I tell my peers «these are things that happen». Like, after a robbery or something. Son cosas que pasan
From "Survive" by Gideon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNxiXy1nAeU
I use this mantra to remind myself that I can always go more than I think I can, and when I think I've done all I can, I can do more.
Said when a maniac flies by me on the highway.
(the whispered “hell” after that sentence is understood.)
Not in a dismissive way like a statement of idle non-preference, but rather as a hyper-pragmatic statement along the lines of ''doesn't matter how weird/silly the solution, if it solves something important, then it is valuable"
-Abraham Lincoln
"You only die once".
"The early worm gets eaten by the bird".
sucks as a motto but that's basically what i live by
Move fast and break things. Prove them wrong.
Keep me going forward!
(But someone’s gotta do it).
No such thing as down time
No such thing as free time
All you have is life time.
- Henry Rollins
I run a cybersecurity firm and have lots of prioritizing of my time. I live by this motto.
(I borrowed this one.)
In our age of digital Devices and social media, we are used to having instant access to information and news. This can be a good thing, but it can also lead to information overload and anxiety. The constant stream of alerts and notifications can make it difficult to focus, and we can become bombarded with so much information that it becomes difficult to process it all.
The Latin phrase "armor fati" means "to armor oneself against fate." In other words, it means to be prepared for the worst. This is a good mindset to have in our fast-paced, constantly-connected world. We should take the time to step back and assess the situation, rather than blindly following the latest news cycle.
Of course, this is not to say that we should live in fear or ignore the news altogether. But we should be mindful of how much information we consume, and make sure that we are taking the time to process it all. Otherwise, we may find ourselves overwhelmed and bogged down by the constant deluge of information.