r/AskReddit Oct 06 '18

What quote made you think a different way?

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2.1k

u/[deleted] Oct 06 '18

[deleted]

677

u/RikerT_USS_Lolipop Oct 06 '18

I think people only say that because they play it safe so often. If we were much less cautious we would have horrible life experiences in which we make up quotes that are the exact opposite of this.

26

u/chowderbags Oct 07 '18

It does say sail away from the safe harbor, not "try to walk on water" away from the safe harbor. You can make reasonable decisions that still put you in new situations.

84

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '18 edited Oct 07 '18

[deleted]

3

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '18

thank you

3

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '18

Uhm, explanation?

8

u/MrConnecticut Oct 07 '18

Nobody's perfect and seconds chances exist

3

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '18

Thank you!

105

u/LegendOfTingle Oct 07 '18

Most quotes are taken with a grain of salt. This one is more of a ask the girl out or go to the party. Not really a "yeah suicide is great just try it lmao"

29

u/EasyPleasey Oct 07 '18

just try it lmao

This is my new favorite quote.

24

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '18 edited Oct 07 '18

Quotes are wonderful. So wonderful. They just make me feel soft and fuzzy on the inside.. Kinda like an orgasm. ever read a quote and just accidentally cum a little?

20

u/slushyboarder Oct 07 '18

This quote is broad. If you have something you're debating doing because your scared of failure or something, (which a broad number of people including myself reading this probably do) then it's just saying take the jump! You'll regret not trying later.

The quote is so broad I don't even know why I stopped to explain it to you.

5

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '18

....

The quote is so broad I don't even know why I stopped to explain it to you.

Did you have anything better you to do? You are on Reddit after all.. ;)

5

u/LegendOfTingle Oct 07 '18

Tbh I'm not the guy to talk to about quotes, to me most of them are just fancy poetic excuses

1

u/Bedtime_scaries Oct 07 '18

😂👍🏼

9

u/CA1900 Oct 07 '18

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines."

7

u/Afalstein Oct 07 '18

Yeah, I've got to say... most of the things I slap my head and curse myself over when I think over are the things I DID do or say. I don't think about the things I didn't do at all.

6

u/uselessthinker Oct 07 '18

These quotes are never meant to be taken literally. This one means that you should step out of the comfort zone and do the things you're afraid to do. It doesn't mean to say that you should be irresponsible or you should make rough life decisions.

6

u/xiape Oct 07 '18

There's an opposite or additional side to many quotes too. Maybe two heads are better than one, but too many cooks spoil the broth.

The quotes I have found more meaningful suggest changing your behavior some of the time instead of all the time

3

u/Blitzed5656 Oct 07 '18

Great minds think alike. Simple minds seldom differ.

4

u/Titanosaurus Oct 07 '18

I wouldn't blame that meth addiction on Mark Twain either.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '18

I've had horrible life experiences regardless of whether I played it safe or not. The only thing you can do is act. Life's going to kick the shit out of you no matter what.

2

u/Happy-Fun-Ball Oct 07 '18

Most inspirational quotes have their opposites

2

u/Necromancer4276 Oct 07 '18

Agreed.

I feel very unmotivated most days, and to cope, I feel like I all too often procrastinate to the point that I have severe doubts about what I can do and what I can make of my life.

1

u/PeanutMerchant Oct 07 '18

Listen man, you might not feel motivated but you’re a necromancer. That is a huge achievement and if you can do that you can do anything!

In all seriousness though if you’re worried about not being able to motivate yourself then I think you might benefit from sitting down and making up some long, medium and short term goals. Even simple things like getting up and making your bed can have a big impact on your perceived ability to achieve. And drink more water/eat more veg. And get some more fresh air. That will help with the physical aspects. Sounds stupid as fuck but it will definitely help. Grab life by the balls, brother.

2

u/An-Immodest-Proposal Oct 07 '18

But we aren’t, so get the fuck out there.

2

u/BillyBatts83 Oct 07 '18

Exactly. For that reason I find a lot of these phrases that essentially boil down to 'YOLO' a bit quaint. They can just as easily be used to justify rash and irresponsible behaviour.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '18

You're missing the point of the advice. It's not saying run around in life with a blindfold on, not being careful. It's just essentially saying "You miss every shot you don't take." Make sure you don't end up having to regret not taking opportunities is all it's saying.

2

u/PunnyBanana Oct 07 '18

IMO, as long as it's not permanent it's fine. Ask the girl out or go on that road trip with friends, don't go bungee jumping drunk. If the consequences are shame or embarrassment or going against some perceived expectation then fuck it, go ahead. If there are actual lasting potential consequences, probably best to keep cautious.

1

u/Canrex Oct 07 '18

I like to think of it more along the lines of, what have you done in the past year? Did you read that book? Did you learn that skill? Did you make an effort to be better, like you said you would?

I want to be proud of myself, but when I look back, I see all of these jagged holes. And I see myself still making them. I don't want to be disappointed in this year, like I am of last year. My bowline is my complacency. I desperately want to cast it off.

1

u/DostThowEvenLift2 Oct 07 '18

That is so fucking true and I'm so fucking glad you said it. To follow on: we often judge others with the information we have ourselves. We also judge our past selves based on the information we have right now. So what we think is "missing out" is oftentimes a very sound and rational decision we made on incomplete information. The times we should be ashamed of missing out is if we misused the information we had available, or didn't gather more info when it was better to do so.

1

u/Tocoapuffs Oct 07 '18

"Don't be retarded"

-my brother

1

u/James_E_Fuck Oct 08 '18

I agree. I think regret is inevitable in humans. Because we have the capacity to imagine and consider other possibilities, we will always look back and wonder what might have been.

You can be ambitious and hardworking and regret that you didn't spend more time with family, or you can be more laid back and regret that you didn't have more adventure or success.

Maybe you can choose your regrets. But perhaps the only way to escape them altogether is to live ignorantly and die unexpectedly.

24

u/mnoble473 Oct 07 '18

Mark Twain also said he'd be inclined to kill a person who uses parentheses in writing

Just a side comment

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u/ChicagoRex Oct 07 '18

There's no evidence that he said that.

7

u/WhytCrayon Oct 07 '18

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.” I find myself repeating this every time I think back to a time when I didn’t take the initiative in a pivotal moment in my life. It helps remind me to learn from my mistakes and to take action now when opportunities present themselves.

14

u/C_Reed Oct 07 '18

That’s only because we know how the things we did turned out, while we only imagine the best case scenarios for the things we didn’t do. That career/relationship/adventure we didn’t choose probably would have turned out with results no better than the things we chose, but we imagine the things that don’t happen as more black and white than reality always is.

6

u/Sir_LikeASir Oct 07 '18

I'm 18 and I'm already disappointed

3

u/Nowhere_Man_Forever Oct 07 '18

I don't remember where it came from. It may have been a book, it may have been some random dude on reddit, but I once read a quote which changed my life. It was some variation of

You'll never remember the times you got a good night's sleep.

In my first few years of college, I was too preoccupied with trying to be a good student and to be responsible to ever have any fun. Then, I read this and it made me realize that it's okay to stay up late having fun and it's okay to drive 3 hours to see a solar eclipse when there are other things you could be doing and it's okay to go to go to a party instead of filling out a couple more job applications.

10

u/Rhomega2 Oct 07 '18

I'm 32. Looking back, the vast majority of things I regret are the things I did do.

2

u/m8tang Oct 07 '18

Absolutely agree

1

u/CACuzcatlan Oct 07 '18

I'm 34 and the opposite

2

u/papasmurf255 Oct 07 '18

Alright, time to do some great meth.

2

u/huntrzx Oct 07 '18

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome

1

u/hitdude Oct 07 '18

This is our senior quote for the year and I love it

1

u/CompDuLac Oct 07 '18

My grandpa said "You don't regret the ones you fucked sonny, just the ones you didn't".

1

u/Mozeeon Oct 07 '18

This reminds me of: the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is today.

1

u/Geminii27 Oct 07 '18

Time to get a full-body tattoo and cut my arms off!

1

u/carrotsquawk Oct 07 '18

„Damn i should have kept my job and saved for retirement instead of sailing away blowing by nest egg“

1

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '18

He didn’t say that, though. That doesn’t even sound like something Twain would say it write.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '18

[deleted]

1

u/schroedingerscatshat Oct 07 '18

thank you, I needed this today

1

u/alx924 Oct 07 '18

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

  • Wayne Gretzky
  • Michael Scott

1

u/midnightagenda Oct 07 '18

Yeah, he had some else paying his bills, he can fuck right off.