HN Explorer

Ask HN: What is the one quote that you carry around in your head all the time?

32 points by oggyhead ↗ HN
Mine for some reason is "By relieving the brain of all unecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and in effect increases the mental power of the race"

41 comments

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headsoup
"There is no life I know that compares with pure imagination"
mkempe
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.
meric
'Fahren Sie, fahren Sie, dann brauchen Sie keinen Treibstoff' (Drive, drive, then you do not need fuel) - Erwin Rommel
sharmi
I found something on hn a few days back and i am trying to carry it around and make it a part of me.

"""For someone who hated routines and felt trapped. The simple advice that schedules are my friend and I should schedule my day in a way that would make me happy when I go to bed. Been doing this for 2 months now. Never been more productive or happier. """ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17159515

The thought that the schedule should be one you are happy about is very powerful. I am trying to incorporate that into my daily routine.

manibatra
Hey there that was a comment that I made. I am glad that it helped you.

I learnt it from Jordan B. Peterson. I highly recommend his book "12 rules for life" which has improved the overall quality of my life by a substantial magnitude in the last two months. This book led me to read some of the writings of Carl Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz which were further eye openers.

A warning though that he has a polarising effect on people. They either hate him or worship him. I would suggest reading the book with a beginners mind and applying in your life what seems apt to you :)

rubicon33
Would you mind posting an example schedule of your day? One that makes you "happy" as you say...
AlexAmee
“We suffer more often in imagination that in reality.” — Seneca
arthev
"Do the thing and you shall have the power." from Jeff Olson's 'the slight edge'
jurgenwerk
"The more you know who you are, the less you let things upset you" from Lost in Translation movie, said by Bill Murray.
gcatalfamo
“If you feel you are in control, you are not going fast enough.” -Steve McQueen
marktangotango
People who don’t value their time will waste yours.
partisan
No matter where you go, there you are.
meagher
desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.
dbielik
Actions express priorities
neverminder
"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."
MiddleEndian
You only get good at what you do

- someone on the internet or something

mayamatrix
“World War III is a guerrilla information war with no division between military and civilian participation.”

— Marshall McLuhan, “Culture Is Our Business”, 1970, p. 66

mikelevins
"Memento mori."

-- "Remember death." A traditional Roman saying, whispered in the ear of victorious generals when celebrating their victories to remind them not to let their heads get too big, nor to waste time in vain indulgence, but to direct their efforts toward ends that are worthwhile. It also appears in Plato's Phaedo, and in countless classical and medieval texts.

I think of it every day.

iDemonix
"You're not here for a long time, you're here for a good time"
deliriousferret
"You're not allowed to complain unless you are doing something to improve what you are complaining about" Me
summadat
"If you keep doing what you have been doing, you're going to keep getting what you've got"
nanospeck
Recently, I got a different take on this from a book called ‘Mad Genius’. The author says in today’s fast moving world if you keep doing what you have been doing, you will perish very quickly. Like Nokia.
kleer001
I like. Smells like the Red Queen hypothesis to me:

"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place..."

Vaskivo
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

C.S. Lewis

tapvt
"Nothing is fucked, Dude."

- Walter Sobchak

faux_intellect
From David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest: "no single, individual moment is in and of itself unendurable"