What quotation, phrase, saying or motto, has helped define yourself and by which you now live your life?

Question

I want to know what famous phrases people have adhered to, phrases that meant enough that it became a guideline for them. What stories or anecdotes can you share with us, about yourself, that would illustrate how a simple phrase has influenced your decisions or actions?

Most Thumbs Up or best story wins the vote.

Answer 1

"The game isn't over till its over" by Yogi Berra

I have cancer and I have to constantly tell myself this so that i don't just give up on life.

Answer 2

Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such as these belongs the Kingdom of Heaven. Unless you become as a little child, you shall in no wise enter in. (We do not need to understand, we just need to hold His hand). JESUS

Having been close to death a number of times, I have learned to look more to God in my life; actually in putting Him first. More of Him, and less of me (as He says we must die to self / the flesh/our carnal natures). This world is not my home. I am going to a better place one day.

Jesus also said:

Lay not up treasures for yourself where rust and moth doth corrupt, and where thieves can break in and steal. But seek ye the Kingdom first, and all else shall be added to you.

Our lives could be taken from us at any time. Even TODAY. We need to focus on what's important and see the eternal picture.

Jesus says: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man shall come to the Father, except through me.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Focus on such verses, and meditating on God's Word and being in relationship with Him, seeking His will is the basis by which I make my decisions and make choices as to how to act in life.

I know this might be a little of the beaten path of what you may be looking for, but it is the only way I define my life.

Answer 3

Semper Fidelis - Latin for "Always Faithful". The motto adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps by the then 8th Commandant in 1883. From one "jarhead" who could never mentally leave the fighting hole. Everything I ever needed to know about working with other people were skill sets developed in combat and working under the most basic situations for human survival. All other necessary skill sets were established and learned by the time I was 5 years old. Semper Fi, Gerry

Answer 4

1 - As a man thinks, so he is
2 - Do unto others what you would have them do unto you
3 - whatsoever you sow, that you shall reap
4 - Do not follow the multitude to do evil; this means the multitude can be wrong, therefore the phrase "the voice of the people is the voice of God" is to me totally INCORRECT.
I live by these sayings.

Answer 5

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
by Robert Frost

whenever I make a decision or choice against the popular decision or against the crowd, this poem helps me in keeping going. I quote this to myself whenever I go with my conscience and that is an unpopular decision

Answer 6

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that Id like to do
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
Id save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you.



No explanation - personal reasons. But my high school and college friends from the past are still just as important to me as they were way back when. This can apply to my family also.

Answer 7

"I don't do business that don't make me smile" a quote from the song Treetop Flyer by Stephen Stills and covered by Jimmy Buffett. To me it means that once I stop liking what I'm doing, I leave and do something else. Life is to short to do a job you hate. You don't need to hurt others to take care of yourself, but make sure you take care of yourself.

Answer 8

So ring the bells that still can ring--
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything,
It's what lets in the light.
Leonard Cohen

I drove myself crazy for years trying to make my life and myself "perfect." This helps to remind me that nothing is perfect, and that things don't need to be in order to be good.

Answer 9

Never stop the denial- ernest holmes

In the beginning was the word and the word was good- Jesus


'It is important to develop intuition, for he who is God-conscious is sure of himself. He knows and he knows that he knows . We must be sure of God's presence, as sure as we are that we know the taste of orange. It was only after my Guru had shown me how to commune with God and after I had felt His presence everyday that I assumed the spiritual duty of telling others about Him'.

'Between the eyebrows is the door to heaven. The centre in the brain is the seat of will. When you concentrate deeply there and calmly, whatever you are willing shall come about.'

'LOVE Him. Talk to Him every second of your life, in activity and in silence with deep prayer, with the unceasing desire of your heart, and you shall see the screen of delusion melt away.'

'IT is all right to enjoy life; the search of happiness is not to become attached to anything. Enjoy the smell of the flower; but see God in it.'

'THE true practice of RELIGION is to sit still in meditation and talk to God.'

'WHETHER a man is born in India or in America, he someday has to die. Why not learn how to 'die daily' in God, like St. Paul?'

'THOSE who go deep enough in their concentration will penetrate that 'third' eye and see 'God'.'

'IT is important to develop intuition, or some direct knowledge, for he who is God conscious is sure of himself.'

'AS soon as your consciousness is right, God is there. He is not hiding from you, you are hiding from Him.'

'HE who is persistent will realize God. So try your best to make meditation a regular experience in your life.'
True friends want nothing from you except the joy of your presence. No matter what you do, they will always be your friend. - yogananda

To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour.
William Blake

Answer 10

All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream" Edgar Allen Poe.

Not sure but I think it keeps me going when somethign bad happens....