Aphorisms You Might Have Heard

[Lemon Merchant]

Webster defines the word aphorism thus:

--> a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.”

When I was a young girl, my grandfather always used to say "Beware the smiling dog, for he still has sharp teeth." as a warning not to give blind trust to just anyone. I always found that rather interesting and I was thinking about it the other day. There are lots of cases where there are aphorisms or pithy sayings in our lives, meant to give meaning or warnings about things.

How many do we remember? Or is there one that you are particularly fond of? Please share and discuss.

 

[Birdjaguar]

My grandmother had many, IIRC many had biblical roots. I'll see if I can remember any.

"If you can't say something nice, don't say it."

Others:
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

 

[Zardnaar]

"Don't eat yellow snow".

NZ wisdom.

 

[red_elk]

"We wanted to do the best, did the usual".

 

[r16]

"If you can't say something nice, don't say it."

a close equivalent of it was said yesterday in the Parliament , to be taken as more suppression of the Media and stuff to come ...

 

[Valka D'Ur]

From Dune: "Beware the charismatic leader."

 

[Zardnaar]

From Dune: "Beware the charismatic leader."

"The spice must flow"

And

"Fear is the mindkiller".

 

[Valka D'Ur]

"The spice must flow"

And

"Fear is the mindkiller".

"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing."

 

[Zardnaar]

"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing."

You win I'm not that much of a Dune geek

 

[Valka D'Ur]

You win I'm not that much of a Dune geek

I started a DuneFanatics social group back when we still had social groups here.

 

[Zardnaar]

I started a DuneFanatics social group back when we still had social groups here.

I like Dune and read a few of the books old and new but not everything.

Cool concepts executions a bit off.

 

[Samson]

You need 2 things in your tool box: WD40 and duct tape. Is it moves and it should not, use duct tape. If it should move and it does not, use WD40.

Related: Duct tape is like violence. If you think it does not work, you have not used enough.

 

[Kyriakos]

This quote is also discussed in Plato's dialogue "Theaetetos" (or "On Science").
It is the start of the first sentence of Protagoras' (now lost) book, "On Truth".

Should be noted that in the original greek, the word is "anthropos", which means human, not man (though often in english "man" can stand for the species, I suppose, as in "mankind").

 

[AmazonQueen]

Are we counting traditional proverbs?

Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Manners maketh man.
A stitch in time saves nine.
Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

More modern is TANSTAAFL which was used for the name of a libertarian nation in the sci-fi RPG 2300.

 

[tjs282]

Related: Duct tape is like violence. If you think it does not work, you have not used enough.

I prefer the one which compares it to the Force:

"It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the Universe together"

A couple I heard from my various tech-diving instructors:

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" (or the UK-squaddie version: "Proper planning and preparation prevents [p***-]poor performance")
"Murphy goes on every dive"
"Adrenalin is never your friend"

 

[AmazonQueen]

Theres also SNAFU. I'll leave any who don't know to figure out what the F stands for.

 

[Samson]

Software development principally, but more widely applicable: You can have Cheap, Quick, Good. Pick two.

 

[Josu]

Software development principally, but more widely applicable: You can have Cheap, Quick, Good. Pick two.

My project manager uses this sentence often, I always add: Dirty deeds done dirt cheap

 

[schlaufuchs]

"The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

 

[El_Machinae]

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease" vs "the nail that sticks out gets pounded".

"When seconds count, the cops are only minutes away".

One that stuck with me for years after some intense drama was an observer shrugging and saying

"Hurt people hurt people"

It was linguistically smooth and communicated a lot