Asklemmy

German quote from an old podcast: Konsequenz heißt auch Holzwege zuende gehen.

Rough translation: Being consequent means also following the wrong path to the end.

It's used for people or organisations that tend to stick to a decision to the end, even if that decision was obviously flawed. E.g. sticking to extremely stick to a regulation even if it's outdated/was dumb from the beginning. Corporate password policies are a good example.

Assumption is the mother of all fuckups.

"Think for yourself and question authority." It's on a TOOL album.

You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think. - Marcus Aurelius

"Who controls the present controls the past. Who controls the past controls the future"

I took an introduction to nursing class in high school where we had to know the names of all the bones, the chambers of the heart, CPR, etc. During one particular topic, one of the students kinda snapped and exclaimed "I'm too stupid for this!" The teacher, a badass ER nurse who was a single mom, rode a Harley, and had seen everything from electrocuted flesh to years-old bed sores, simply said "Good. That means you're learning."

I work with special needs kids, and whenever they complain about feeling stupid, I pass along that wisdom, but in a bit nicer way: "You're not stupid, you're just learning."

Success leads to stagnation; stagnation leads to failure. ... Failure leads to maturity; maturity leads to success.

• Steven Brust (from Jhereg)

Pick your battles.

“You judge yourself by your intentions, but judge others by their actions”

This has helped me with my procrastination and helping to understand co-workers and people in general. Life gets busy and we always mean do get to things, but it’s really on what we actually do and complete that is real.

“He has no friends” - Dad

Once is never, twice is always.

“If God is all-powerful, He cannot be all good. And if He is all good, then He cannot be all-powerful.”

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." - Steve Jobs

The life of a punctual man is a hell of undeserved loneliness

I read this in a book when I was 15 and I've never been on time since

"Good things come to those who wait". It has been true so many times in my life.

It's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't.

Basically at any given moment, any from a random assortment of Simpsons quotes. Right now it’s “but when are they gonna get to the fireworks factory?”

It is by doing whatever that one becomes whoever.

This thing we tell of can never be found by seeking, yet only seekers find it.

"Love is the only rational act." -Morrie Schwartz, Tuesdays with Morrie.

Here are a few off the top of my head (though I looked up the original kanji for some of the Japanese ones)...

To enjoy life's immensity, you do not need many things.

• Ryōkan, a Japanese poet

Ain't no shame in holding onto grief, as long as you make room for other things too.

• Bubbles, from the last episode of The Wire

Honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do.

• Kaladin, from The Stormlight Archive Book 2 by Brandon Sanderson

Beware the difference between intelligibility and correctness.

• Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Success consists of moving from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

• Winston Churchill

猿も木から落ちる (Saru mo ki kara ochiru)

Even monkeys fall from trees.

• Anonymous, traditional Japanese saying

正勝吾勝 (Makatsu agatsu)

True victory is victory over one's self.

• Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido

"be careful of what you wish for, as you may just get it"

If you can't love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else.