A few good words that still work

[paddyfool]

Don’t ask for the true story;
why do you need it?

It’s not what I set out with
or what I carry.

What I’m sailing with,
a knife, blue fire,

luck, a few good words
that still work, and the tide.


The above is the beginning of a short poem by Margaret Atwood, which opens a volume of poetry she wrote called True Stories. There's a phrase from it which has been stuck in my head ever since I first read it, which I've also used for the thread title. What that poem made me think of was all the phrases I use, and I'm sure other people also use, in the quietness (or otherwise) of my/their own mind to stiffen my/their resolve, to embolden my/themself, and/or to cheer my/themself up. Some such phrases don't seem to last very long; others see many years good service; others, perhaps, become a permanent fixture.

So, do you have such phrases? What are they? Are they quotations, are they things a friend said, or of your own invention? How long do you find they tend to continue working for?

Looking forward to your replies :-)

Paddy

[Exeson]

And still we will be here,
Standing like statues.

That's what you get,
when you let your heart win,

And my favorite:

Good People still do bad things, and sometimes they still come through on the other side as Good People, as far as People go.

[Alteran]

Thanks to Firefly, "Shiny" has entered my lexicon. I'm sure there are others, I'll return when I think of them.

[Hell Puppi]

"They hid his feathers
And told him he was Latin
'Till he came walking down the street
Like a cannibal in Manhattan"

For some reason my mind drops this one on me every once in a while. It's from a song I've never heard but I remember someone using those lyrics in a picture.

[RabbitHoleLost]

That's what you get,
when you let your heart win,

I actually use this one in my mind often >>

[Renegade Paladin]

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave.

[Jalor]

"One must give value to their existence by behaving as if one's very existence were a work of art."

[Trog]

Words that work for me:

Those that matter don't mind and those that mind don't matter.

Breathe.

Catch the vigorous horse of your mind.

Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.

There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.

Look, children, hail-stones! Let's rush out!

The only Zen you find at the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.

One day Chao-chou fell down in the snow, and called out, "Help me up! Help me up!" A monk came and lay down beside him. Chao-chou got up and went away.

[Tharivol123]

Whenever I need a little extra motivation, I turn that wonderful optimist George Orwell. More specifically, Animal Farm, and Boxer's "I will work harder."

For some reason I also like from Machiavelli's The Prince; "From this there arises a dispute: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the contrary. The reply is that one should like to be both the one and the other, but as it is difficult to bring them together it is much safer to be feared than to be loved if one of the two has to be lacking." Sad that I pulled it from memory.

Of course, if the fact that I get inspiration from those makes you think I'm crazy, I also get a lot of motivation from the late Charles Schulz. "Sometimes I lie awake at night, and ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night."
"My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?"
"The way I see it, it doesn't matter what you believe just so you're sincere."
"I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time."

Not sure why, but I get a sense of motivation from those as well. On a less cynical note, I also like:
"Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." and "A man does what he must-in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures-and that is the basis of all human morality."
Free cookie for the person who identifies where the last two came from.

[ForzaFiori]

I have several of these, but unfortunately they come from religious texts, and I don't wanna get in trouble by posting them. If anyone wants to know them though, drop me a PM. some others are "All we have to fear is fear itself", and "courage is not the lack of fear but the control of fear"

[Alteran]

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather it is the judgment that there is something more important than fear."

I've never had occasion to say this out loud, but it comes to mind quite frequently.

[Thanatos 51-50]

A few that come from songs:

"We can never go home
It's on the Victory
Or Underground"

"We are Soldiers.
Stand or die."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Some of them are taken from various quotes. Others are just things I often find myself telling myself.

-It is our choices that make us who we are.

-It could always be worse.

-You'll never succeed at anything if you never try.

-If you think you can't, then you can't.

-Reach for the stars. That way, you can at least get the moon.

All I can think of right now.

[WalkingTarget]

"I never lie. I'm building a reputation for honesty so I can blow it on something big. This isn't it."

[ghost_warlock]

This, too, shall pass.

In time, all that will remain is dust.

Persevere.

[Zeb The Troll]

The above is the beginning of a short poem by Margaret Atwood, which opens a volume of poetry she wrote called True Stories.

Who brought the cat?
Would Margaret Atwood? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9F_XHb81N0)

:smallcool:

[Alarra]

Much madness is divinest sense to a discerning eye.

[Mr. Moon]

Don't cry over spilled milk, is one I tend to live by.
...
Usually.

[Chunklets]

"Carpe diem" is a classic (and classical!) one; also Catullus' "Vivamus et amemus" ("Let us live and love").

[KuReshtin]

One I use a lot when trying to find a good quote or saying is from an old 'song'. Actually, it's not really a son as it's a guy reading a text while there is some random music playing in the background.

"If the truth can be told so as to be understood, it will be believed."

Also, one I've used a few times when people have been stressed out:

"Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."

That's stolen from the film Shooter.

[potatocubed]

Most things aren't important.

A relationship of difference is not the same as a relationship of superiority.

Both of those I pretty much made up myself (although I expect other thinkers have reached the same conclusions before me) and remind myself of periodically.

[Keld Denar]

Vini Vidi Dormivi

I came, I saw, I slept!

[Eldan]

Most things aren't important.


Strange. One I've often used in my head was:
"All things are important and interesting, if you only look close enough.

[RandomNPC]

I use a few conversational ones in my head, like FF7 advent children:

Sepheroth: "Tell me what it is you cherrish most so that i can take it away."
Cloud: "There's nothing I don't cherrish!"

I do a lot of conversational ones... now i'm concerned about myself.
then there's the few i've extended like:

Do unto others as you would have done to you. And when they have shown you how they want to be treated, treat them so.
(I tend to give people a few weeks before deciding, sometimes you're just having a bad day and take it out on the wrong person)

I'm big on the hope idea, phrases and poetry involving the concept of hope always pick me up.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.” -Gandalf

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." -Abraham Lincoln

[paddyfool]

All good, thank you - keep 'em coming!

[Rutskarn]

Too many words and phrases to mention. I'm deeply, truly in love with the English vernacular, and am easily amused by people toying with words. I collect slang like some people collect strings, and have invented more than a few words.

Anyway, the phrases which leap to mind are from Brian Clevinger's 8-Bit Theater.

"I'd love to see that."

"Good, I didn't make it to never be seen."

---

"Wow. Look at all that secret plan they didn't need to hear, good work."

---

"...where did Black Mage go?"

"To hurt."

[Coidzor]

I've always been partial to "shut up and kiss me you fool"

[lvl 1 fighter]

that which we are, we are,--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Ulyssees by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (the last part of the poem)

It's by far my favorite poem. So much so that I've got a line from it tattooed on my arm.

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu210/thekingdomrpg/become.jpg

[Ripped Shirt Kirk]

"When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks into you."

"I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me"

Somebody had to say it.

[wykydtron]

You can kill someone, but you can never bring them back to life. (Eliminster)

When you can't decide what to do, always have a strong prejudice towards doing something. You'll get alot more done that way. (anonymous)

It's never too late. (anonymous)

The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. (Steven King)

Love makes theives of lawmen, fools of wise men and heroes of cowards. (my own)

[Thanatos 51-50]

"If Justice is protecting the assests of one's friends and damaging those of your enemies, then Justice is the Art of the Thief."
~Socrates (Paraphrased - From The Republic)