Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Motto Rejection
My nephew was asking about personal mottoes this weekend and he assigned me one based on a dislike for whatever my answer had been. At this time, however, I reject the motto assigned me: "If you are going to buy a chandelier, make sure you have a ceiling". The pragmatism exemplified in the motto is no longer applicable. I am working to escape my nay saying self. (Sorry, S). I am chastising my 12 year old self that proudly announced to her little brothers that she was retiring from play. I am renouncing the 19 year old girl who wrote in her college diary that she was finished with dreaming. I am repudiating the bubble-filling-LSAT-test-taker. I will no longer be stymied by practicality. Though pragmatism does have its role, it is not the only consideration, and should not be my primary consideration.
Mottoes which succinctly capture this approach will be given due consideration.
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21 comments:
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young
May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young...
i like it, though, it's hardly succinct. (btw, BD said the answers were blowing in the wind. The wind mllr!)
That was before he found where the answers really are, In 1979 he wrote...
I believe in you when winter turn to summer,
I believe in you when white turn to black,
I believe in you even though I be outnumbered.
Oh, though the earth may shake me
Oh, though my friends forsake me
Oh, even that couldn't make me go back.
Don't let me change my heart,
Keep me set apart
From all the plans they do pursue.
And I, I don't mind the pain
Don't mind the driving rain
I know I will sustain
'Cause I believe in you.
PS you can pick out a succint motto almost anywhere in the song "Forever Young"
eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die
it is succinct, biblical (although taken out of context) and best of all it's hedonistic in the extreme
1 Corinthians 15:32
American Standard Version (ASV)
Copyright © 1901 Public Domain
[A Public Domain Bible]
32 If after the manner of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.
forgive me for misquoting, i received from flack for it here at home and i apologize to anyone else who might have mislead by my carelessness
"If you want to kill a rabbit, don't kill one that calls you 'doc'" - Spencer
S- thanks that's a much better motto. Waiting to kill until you are certain that it is something that ought to be dead is a good guide.
B- context is everything.
We should consider every day lost in which we have not danced at least once.
- Nietzsche
what's nice is that I can still read deleted messages through email :)
Bet-- hmmm. dancing. I've lost a lot of days.
never spit into the wind. (I thought you might like the wind reference)
I think the point is to dance in the future, not to worry about days past.
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. --Tolstoy
No matter how many pair of pliers you buy, you will never be able to find any when you need them
I was going to replace my deleted comment with something else but got sidetracked.
Take naps, they make you happy.
while it is succinct, i do not know if it captures the feel you were describing -- "i reserve the right to happily be me"
B- that seems like something i could live by... thanks for giving it some thought.
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