I wouldn’t dare defile Douglas Adam’s memory by not mentioning that you should keep a towel with you at all times, but my second contender is a surprisingly short three-parter:

  1. never lie.
  2. never tell the whole truth.
  3. never pass up a chance to use a real bathroom.
  • ScrubblesEnglish
    735 months ago
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    Confidence isn’t about being confident but acting confident. Act confident and life will be a lot easier.

    • witty_username
      225 months ago
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      Except if you want to do good science. Good scientists will identify false confidence and will aim to steer well clear of it

      • InternetPerson
        15 months ago
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        *Except if you want to do good science. Good scientists will identify false confidence and will aim to steer well clear of it

        If someone isn’t already doing that, they’re not scientists.

    • intensely_human
      15 months ago
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      Faking confidence means running your life as a con job.

      It’s better to acknowledge when you feel insecure, find the root reason why, and then develop solutions to the unsolved problems giving you that lack of confidence.

      For some people it’s as simple as their pelvis being out of whack. In some cases, all you need is a rolfing session.

  • brygphilomena
    725 months ago
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    Leave it better than you found it.

    Goes for your home, your neighborhood, or something you’ve borrowed. It can be applied to the planet, the beach, the trail, the car, the job.

    Hell, it even goes for people. Leave them a little happier, a little wiser, a little more prosperous than before.

    Second rule, give people the benefit of the doubt and don’t attribute an action as the person. Did they cut you off on the road? They’re having a bad day and made a mistake. They’re speeding? Maybe they are on the way to see a loved one without much longer to live. Don’t call someone an asshole just because they made an asshole move. People are so much more than that one interaction with them.

    • Potatos_are_not_friends
      55 months ago
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      Funny enough, these have analogs in programming!

      Leave it better than you found it.

      The Boyscouts rule! Clean up bad code if you can!

      Second rule, give people the benefit of the doubt and don’t attribute an action as the person.

      Sometimes you gotta write janky code to meet a deadline. That is not a personal failure. And give folks a break who do it too.

    • InternetPerson
      35 months ago
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      Hell, it even goes for people. Leave them a little happier, a little wiser, a little more prosperous than before.

      I like that. Thank you. I’ll try.

    • BoofStrokeEnglish
      265 months ago
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      Ride smooth not fast has won me some mountain bike races.

    • Soup
      55 months ago
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      “Fast” is the biggest number in a straight line. Life rarely offers straight lines.

      • umbrella
        15 months ago
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        you can be skilled at cornering too, that will make you faster on them

        • Soup
          05 months ago
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          It’s true, but you need the skill, and buying an expensive car will only get you so far.

  • OttoVonNoob
    445 months ago
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    Think before you speak, I speak without thinking and it’s got me in trouble for petty things. Using WE over YOU is extremely valuable even when you had nothing to do with the problem it is OUR problem.

    • Azzu
      95 months ago
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      “We” should vacuum the house! *wink* *wink*

    • intensely_human
      55 months ago
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      I’ve found that one of the best ways to ensure I think before I speak, is to pause before I speak.

      • Potatos_are_not_friends
        45 months ago
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        A wise teacher told me to carry a bottle of water, always.

        Nobody will stop you from taking a sip, which is really an excuse to pause.

    • IninewCrowEnglish
      115 months ago
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      Simple and to the point, everyone should know and follow this. One of the best pieces of advice from the Dalai Lama

      “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.

        • InternetPerson
          05 months ago
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          If someone says X, but does Y, this doesn’t mean they are not right about X.

          Other example, if someone is raising public awareness about littering in nature and is then caught throwing a plastic bottle into a forest, does that mean they are wrong?

          Sure, it’s shitty, but that doesn’t make them wrong in saying that people shouldn’t do it, even if they are not living up to their own words.

      • RizzRustbolt
        05 months ago
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        I prefer the words of the Dalton Lama: “Be nice. Until it’s time to not be nice.

    • RustyEnglish
      65 months ago
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      No matter how kind you are, the German children are kinder.

  • mydude
    275 months ago
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    No-one has ever said on their deathbed, “I only wish I worked more”

    • PeterLossGeorgeWall
      55 months ago
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      I like to turn that one around and say: nobody says on their death bed that they regret spending so much time with their kids.

    • LizEnglish
      15 months ago
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      I know of at least one person who might have actually said that, were he not busy working from the hospital when he died. People don’t say that because no one who enjoys working somehow failed to find work to do.

      • mydude
        05 months ago
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        I’m not sure what you’re saying, but if a person worked with saving other peoples lives, then perhaps I could be wrong.

        • InternetPerson
          25 months ago
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          I don’t think that this makes it wrong. As I see it, the meaning of your advice is to prioritize self-care over work. It surely helps with mental and physical health. And I think this also applies to people saving lifes of others like medical doctors. They are also still people, they can also suffer from that kind of work. And I always prefer a doctor who thinks about getting enough sleep and quality time in life over someone who drives themselves mad and makes themselves sick by burdening the whole world on their shoulders.

          If they can’t help themselves, how can they help me?
          Or, 101 of car crashes, first save yourself before you attempt to save others.

          There are also others who help. It’s not one single person’s job to save everyone.

        • LizEnglish
          15 months ago
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          What I meant is that there are people who genuinely enjoy their work above all else. Those are the people who might say they wished they spent more time at work. However, there is rarely anything keeping them from work that they don’t also value. If a person enjoys working, there’s very little preventing them from working.

  • joshfee
    275 months ago
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    Identify the true problem before trying to find a solution

    • umbrella
      45 months ago
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      kidney stones are NOT nice.

      drink water removed, your body needs that shit

      • Potatos_are_not_friends
        35 months ago
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        My wife, who gave two births, was in a car accident and fought through hell to survive, still rate kidney stones as the most painful thing in her life.

        I said would she rather take a bullet to the leg? She said she’d take two over a kidney stone.

        All of this can be resolved just by drinking water.

  • Jyek
    255 months ago
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    If everywhere you go smells like shit, check your shoes.

    • Jimmycrackcrack
      75 months ago
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      So is this intended as kind of a metaphor or is this mainly aimed at people who have literally stepped in real shit?

      • OhNoMoreLemmy
        45 months ago
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        Both. It’s like the saying “Governing a big country is like cooking small fish. (With the explanation that if you keep poking it, it’ll disintegrate) also taught me how to cook fish as well as realpolitik.

        The fish advice was most useful.

      • Azzu
        45 months ago
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        It’s a metaphor for people who smell whipped cream all the time, they should check on top of their head.

      • Jyek
        35 months ago
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        This is a metaphor for life in general. If you find that all your interactions are negative, check yourself. Are you the problem in your relationships and interactions? How can you fix that? Clean your shoes.

      • AtariDump
        25 months ago
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        If everyone around you is an asshole, you’re the asshole.

  • Buglefingers
    235 months ago
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    Evaluate how much something matters based on 1 day, 1 month, 1 year.

    I.E. How upset should you be over [Thing]? Will it matter in one day? One month? One year? That helps perspective a bunch. You can use any variation of time really, the point is perspective

  • toastal
    205 months ago
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    Corporations aren’t your friend. Avoid the publicly-traded ones seeking quartely profits the most. If it isn’t a massive burden, find an alternative—avoiding some is better than none.

    • Potatos_are_not_friends
      105 months ago
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      I’d add “Don’t defend any corp”.

      Not just talking to the Tesla bros either. I mean ANY corp. Including Steam.

      You can show support. But if/when they do something shitty, don’t be a bootlicker.

      Same with working. I’ve worked at a few major tech companies. No matter how many rainforests they saved or houses they built. At some point, a bad decision will infuriate you, or a new directive will aim for profits and people lose their jobs.

      They’re not your friend.

      • toastal
        35 months ago
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        I read that as “don’t defend any cop” Also good advice

      • MufinMcFlufin
        15 months ago
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        I think I would change that one to sometime along the lines of “No corporation is above criticism. Maybe with some addendum like “regardless of how favorably you view them. The reason being is that I think it’s perfectly fine to try to set a record straight if there’s blatant misinformation going on about a corporation that’s been doing good by people, but no matter how much good they might have done they should never be above critique.

        Case and point being LMG with their recent issues regarding allegations of sexism, harassment, overworking employees, bullying, and adopting the exact same practices that they themselves have criticized major tech corps for, among other issues. Now I don’t mind correcting the record if someone was saying some stupid BS about them, however you can bet that I was also one of the ones calling them out on the things they did.

  • whotookkarl
    185 months ago
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    If you find yourself in a hole, first step is to stop digging.

    • Joshi
      75 months ago
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      Reminder me of this

      “What to do if you find yourself stuck with no hope of rescue: Consider yourself lucky that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn’t been good to you so far - which, given your present circumstances, seems more likely - consider yourself lucky that it won’t be troubling you much longer. Douglas Adams