Lawyers are not the devil. In fact we need people of the law to make sure we're all getting a fair shake. Lawyers take an oath to uphold the constitution and law by any means necessary. Everyone is entitled to competent representation. No matter what. And often that representation may cause some issues. But the law is the law. Fair or not. Let's look further into how we fix that.
Redditor ahtemsah wanted all the lawyers reading to share some life lessons:
Lawyers, what's a case you regretted winning?
Fallen....
"I'm a work comp attorney. Now represent injured people, but used to work on other side insurance defense."
"There was an applicant with a serious injury. Fell off a ladder, busted back with fusion, shoulder screwed, years of treatment. Internal issues, psych issues - really just messed up. 50%+ permanent disability. We were 5 years in and finally getting to settlement time. If we bought out his future medical, settlement pretty far into 6 figures. This guy was the sole provider for wife and 2 kids."
"Then we found out he had a aggressive brain cancer. Expected only couple years to live, at best."
"Thus, we wouldn't buy out future medical anymore. Still got permanent disability for $60k-ish... but can't give medical buyout based on 25+ year life expectancy anymore."
"I felt terrible for the guy and his family. Me and the adjuster tried to get insurance to agree to some sort of amount like 5 year buyout, but the bean counters said hell no. The attorney knew it wasn't me making the decision. Even though he worked on that guy's file for 5+ years he decided to take $0 in fees. I have so much respect for that attorney turning down $10k+ in fees to help his client in a very crappy situation."dieabetic
Family Law Heartbreak.
"I do family law and I represented a father who had lost most of his custody from heroin use and imprisonment as a result. He came to me saying he was clean and doing good and had his life together and it checked out. He had been clean for almost nine months not counting jail time and seemed sincere in wanting to resume a full relationship with his son. The other side fought viciously to keep him at extremely little custody and supervised at that, but we prevailed and got an order restoring fairly frequent unsupervised partial custody."
"Not long afterwards, only about three months after the case, he was back doing heroin, sold most of his furniture, and for me the most soul-crushing is that he set up a fake GoFundMe stuff for his child's "cancer" (his child didn't have cancer and has never had cancer so you know where that money was going). I withdrew my appearance at this point so I don't know what happened afterwards, but I imagine and hope his custody was taken away."
"Basically the net result of winning that case was that the poor boy had to witness his father relapse on heroin and was exploited for money. Worst case I ever won."DemonFirebrand
$5000......
"Settled a personal injury case for a guy and he was set to get about $5000. He was in jail. I held the money for a couple months and when he got out he came by to get the money without delay. The next day the cops came around and asked if I knew him. I explained that I did. I was told he died that night of an overdose and the only thing found on him was my card, some drugs he had not yet used, and a needle."lessworkiskey
You're Out!
"Eviction law - basically every other case. Even the morons. It's not rewarding to put people out on the curb. Ever."BeattieLaw
Spoiled....
Giphy"I got a spoiled brat of a teenager cleared of a shoplifting charge when he absolutely had done it. His rich parents hired me to represent him, I did that to the best of my ability, and we went to trial and won, but I can't say I felt good about it. This kid needed to be taught some accountability for his actions and his parents just wanted to buy their way out of any trouble he got into."unbelievablepeople
back at square one.....
"I won a summary judgment motion, that my firm filed not expecting to win. We had a decent argument, but odds were way worse than a coin flip and judges don't like granting summary judgment because it's an extreme remedy."
"Client initially was thrilled--"case is over"--we tried to break the news gently... nope. Three years later we're back in the same spot we were before we "won" our motion. The other side appealed it up to the state supreme court and won (because the Supreme Court said the trial judge should have denied our motion). So, we are back at square one. North of $100k in legal bills, with no resolution. Maybe it'll settle, maybe it will go to trial. I'll find out in the next 3-4 months."orm518
DANGER! DANGER!!
"The one I particular hated happened at my first law job. This woman was a long term client of my boss. In the past ten years or so, she has been caught driving under the influence 8 times, violated home incarceration countless times, been caught with controlled substances a few times, and stabbed two people on home incarceration. My boss at the time was the master of getting people off for DUI's so she had only been convicted of a DUI third and always managed to stay on home incarceration with whatever releases she desired. I always regretted her cases because that woman is truly a danger to the public. She's undoubtedly going to kill someone someday. But I'll be damned if she isn't the luckiest woman alive in getting away with DUIs."EssenceOfEspresso
Define "Win!"
"Family law is a little different in that you never really "win" per se. You may get more favorable rulings or better terms, but unless the opposing party did something illegal or mindbogglingly stupid it's never a decisive "win" really. Although I did have a case where my client fought really hard for the dog, and then ended up turning him over to a shelter. The ex wife received an "anonymous" tip and was able to get him back quickly."WholeMilkStandard
Plot Twist....
Giphy"I convicted the father of murdering his wife and years later found out he lied when he confessed to cover for his teenage son who actually been the one who killed her. In the meanwhile the son committed suicide father was content to serve his time in prison."curiousidaho
(Personal Protective Order)
"Not my case, but a former associate of mine won a PPO motion hearing (Personal Protective Order) where he represented the person who the order would have been put against (not the victim). The victim's request to put a PPO on his client was denied, and like 2 months later the victim ended up getting put into the hospital by the client (he beat her). That one still bothers him."davonoches
I'm Out.
Giphy"Guy lost his wife and children in a car accident. He wanted to exercise to get his emotions and mental health back in check. Doctor wrote him recommendations for exercise equipment (ball, chin up bar, nothing crazy) and he submitted the expenses for same to his insurer."
"Client (insurer/adjuster) wanted this fought tooth and nail because exercise equipment was only covered for physical rehab and he was not physically injured."
"I do not practice in this area anymore."ChipSmash
Climb the Pole.
"I wouldn't say I regret this so much as to this day it amazes me. As a first year associate I was given a (terrible) PI case where my client received a flu shot and thereafter felt pain in his shoulder. He went to another doctor who performed an MRI and determined he had a torn rotator cuff, which was undoubtedly not related. My job was to allege the flu shot caused the rotator cuff tear. Our ortho actually correlated the two (which is the more regrettable position) and the case paid out."
"Being the bottom of the totem pole I had no choice but to take the case, which was handed down by a partner. But at the same time, just overwhelmingly made me feel like the worst stereotyped attorney and just hated having to walk into court on it and feel my reputation being destroyed."ezkwyer
By Default...
"I do juvenile work, criminal law and family law..."
"I represented this client first when he was a juvenile charged with disorderly conduct at school and fighting, then when he became an adult it for was for simple things like possession of marijuana."
"As he got older, it became easier and easier to figure out what part of his life hasn't gone as well as it could and I tried to counsel him and push him to better himself."
"He got his GED, he started going to NA, he started classes at a community college, and found a part time job."
"On the night of his 21st birthday, he was charged with a DWI. Of course I'll take care of that too."
"About 6 months later, we are due in court for trial (on a Monday) and he doesn't show up; which at this point in his life is highly unusual."
"As I'm trying to figure out where he is, the court starts going over Arraignments/First Appearances and then low and behold three people are up for Murder charges. The prosecution starts to tell the judge what the facts/circumstances of the case are and mentions a few victims names."
"Apparently, my client was at a party when these three individuals decided to allegedly do a drive by shooting. My client suffered multiple gunshot wounds and didn't make it to the hospital."
"So... by default, as you can't prosecute a dead person; the State has to take a dismissal. I guess technically a win."
"Either way, it was crushing to me as I thought he had really turned his life around."phitheta219
"blue collar lotto"
"As a personal injury attorney, I've seen a few clients win the "blue collar lotto" or getting more money than they reasonably know how to deal with. I do my best to educate them, but my job is to try and maximize their recovery, not teach them finance. I have definitely contributed to a few drug habits." Uncivil_Law
No Lessons Learned....
Giphy"In one of my first cases after passing the bar exam, a young man retained me on a drunk driving charge. No one was hurt, but he totaled his car."
"During trial, the arresting police officer testified that my client was clearly drunk at the accident scene, and that my client was loudly blaming the accident on the ahole who stole his car, crashed it, and then fled before the cops arrived."
"However, according to two other witness statements tendered into evidence, it was my client's friend (the passenger) who was screaming about who stole the car, not my client (the driver)."
"The cop must have confused the two men during his testimony."
"This discrepancy raised a reasonable doubt in the judge's mind, so she acquitted my client."
"At the time, the acquittal was somewhat unexpected for me (in my personal view, my client was clearly drunk and responsible for the accident, regardless of who was blaming the mystery asshole to the cops), but I was happy my young client got off, no one was hurt, and lessons were learned. And I was quite euphoric to have won my first criminal case."
"The regret? About a month after the acquittal, my young client called me at 3 am from the police station saying "it's me again! The police arrested me for drunk driving again! Can you help me?"
"Not only did I answer no, I instantly regretted getting the earlier acquittal. My client apparently didn't learn any lessons." Horrified_Witness
"I work in medical malpractice defense. Once I had a obstetrician/gynecologist who burned a patient during a procedure. When I met with the doctor, he lied to me throughout the representation over 16 months saying he had no idea how it happened. There is a doctrine in law called "res ipsa" meaning absent some sort of negligence, this accident could not have occurred."
The Burn.
"Woman came in without a burn, and after the procedure, the woman left with a burn. There's no way this doctor didn't know what had happened. The area of the burn was where he was operating on. It wasn't until I brought up settlement, because this was not a case we could win did he say, "oh maybe I do know what happened." We ultimately settled that case, which is considered a favorable outcome considering the potential high monetary verdict. Sometimes I think this doctor really ought to have lost that case and their license."mclarenf1boi
Criminal defense is a hard business.
"Had this happen to me twice. Got my client out on bail only to thereafter have him up and killed. First time, he was in building supposedly selling, got chased by the police and a struggle ensued where he was shot point blank in the head. Mother told me that it was my fault that he was killed and that i was working with the DA and the police."
"Second time, a young man no more then 16 gets released while waiting trial on robbery. One of the conditions of release was that he maintain a curfew. That very night he breaks curfew goes over to somebody else's house and was killed in a drug Related robbery. Mother blamed me and said that the devil was working through me that we were all demons."
"Criminal defense is a hard business."Armtoe
"stop suddenly"
"Little late to the party, but I've got one I still think about a lot. Worked in criminal defense, represented a guy in a DUI. He had priors, so another convocation meant time, loss of license, problems. Long story short, he was pulled over by police after they followed him leaving a bar. At trial I elicited admissions from the arresting officer that during the 2.5 miles he followed him for, he did not observe a single moving violation - no speeding, erratic driving, driving over the lines, blowing stop signs, running red lights."
"Didn't even "stop suddenly" at red lights. Also got the DRE officer to testify that the accused only spoke Spanish and they couldn't get an interpreter officer to the roadside to explain the field sobriety exercises, which the officers documented the accused "refused to perform." Jury came back in 15 minutes. Guy was extremely grateful, and his lovely family was very gracious in thanking me and our office. Feel good about the whole thing."
"Couple months later I'm in county to meet with a client, and I see him in one of the pods. Find out sometime after the trial he violently assaulted his 8 year old step-daughter."
"Think about that one a lot." MakeBelieveNotWar
Fee Shifting?
"There was a case that I saw that involved a claim with fee shifting - meaning that if the plaintiff won, their attorneys' fees would get paid by the defendant. Defendant pushed an aggressive legal position at trial that the judge agreed with, and won, avoiding a few thousand in liability to the plaintiff and a few thousand in attorneys's fees. So far so good. But then the plaintiff appeals all the way to the state's high court, requiring a ton of briefing and time. High court agrees with plaintiff, reverses and sends back to the trial court, which now enters judgement against the defendant for a few thousand in damages against the plaintiff and tens and tens of thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees from the appeal. The defense lawyer probably regretted winning at first on that aggressive argument to the trial court."dotajoedotajoe
Gross Dad.
Giphy"Did a divorce where the husband (who I was representing) wanted to trade custody of his children for a set of bedroom furniture."
"The bedroom furniture was not even like a family heirloom. It was furniture that you could probably get at a Rooms-to-Go or something."
"Ugh, still makes me ill. That's why I got out of family law." mintrawr
These were some interesting stories! Do you have similar experiences to share about the law? Let us know in the comments.
Every now and again, we might experience something that makes us stop dead in our tracks or gives us the shivers.
More often than not, there is a logical explanation for what happened, often resulting in our laughing about it down the line.
An electrical power surge caused the lights to flicker, that haunting noise we heard was just a nearby car radio, or that unexplained cold blast of air was simply owing to our standing too close to the air conditioning vent.
But sometimes, we experience something we simply cannot explain, and still lie awake at night trying to figure it out.
Redditor GifGuyRob was curious to hear people's mystifying experiences to which they still can't offer an explanation, leading them to ask:
"What is the weirdest thing you have seen that you can’t really explain?"
Card Tricks... Without The Cards.
"I was hanging out on the sidewalk in front of a drugstore when some dude walked by, stopped, looked at me, and asked me to think of a card, any card."
"Then he said 'you’re picturing the five of clubs!'"
"I was amazed."
"That’s the card I was thinking of."
”'Holy sh*t, that’s right!' I said."
"The dude just winked and walked away."
"That’s the best magic trick I’ve ever seen, and it was some rando on the street that I never saw again."
"I have no clue how he did it, other than some form of subliminal planting of the image in my mind, but that’s unreliable."
"It was a card trick that involved no cards at all."
"That was the most inexplicable thing I’ve ever seen."- I_Framed_OJ
Cosmic Injustice...
"In a hospital, the nicer the patient, the worse the prognosis."
"If they work charities and are really polite, definitely aggressive cancer."
"If they are rude a**holes, they will live long no matter how sick they are."- Koorsboom
The Knocks Hospital GIF by feierSunGiphyParanormal Activity
"I once saw a clipboard fly off of the hook it hung on and land around 3 feet away."
"The room was totally still beforehand, no breeze or earthquake or anything."
"Just hanging up where it always was, then flung across the room for no reason at all."
"Most boring poltergeist ever."- Reiseoftheginger
Lucky Pennies...
"I was living in my last apartment back in the 90s."
"I walked down the hall, turned to go to the bathroom, and got hit in the back with a penny."
"Nobody else was in the apartment."- kmsc84
Wrong Floor...
"Family was on holiday at a resort in Vietnam."
"My sister and I took an elevator in the hotel and it stopped and opened up on the top floor, where nothing was built."
"Just bricks laying about, a wheelbarrow, no fence or wall around the edge of the building, and there was a single small tree growing out of the ground in front of the elevator doors a few feet out."
"There was also this impenetrable fog that was floating around, obscuring the sight of what would be the rest of the resort below and it was quite windy."
"We both agreed it was weird and looked dangerous to be up here - we clearly weren't meant to have access to the top floor since it wasn't fully constructed."
"We went back down to the ground floor and noticed that it was actually a sunny and clear day all round."
"We wondered where that fog and wind went to."
"So we decided to go back to the unfinished rooftop level to check again, but when we did it was perfectly fine and fully built."
"We couldn't explain it and couldn't find that half-built top floor again afterwards."- lifesnotperfect
Going Up 13Th Floor GIF by Taylor SwiftGiphyNot-So-Little Piggy
"My friends and I flashed a powerful light across a river and saw what appeared to be an absolutely massive boar."
"It then stood up on its hind legs and it simply did not compute."
"Immediate fear everyone ran."
"I was a kid but I have a very good memory and several friends that are positive they saw it as well."
"Idk."- 444jxrdan444
Unexplained Exit
"I went from driving on one highway to another highway in pouring rain."
"Still headed in the right direction, and about 10 miles in total displacement."
"But I consciously chose one and was on it until I saw road signs telling me I was one the other."
"I just went numb."
"No loss of time or any other abnormality."
"If I didn’t have to actually make a distinct effort to choose the route I wanted, I can see how it might have been a simple mistake."
"But I was on the road I chose (geography etc) until I wasn’t."
"Like something picked me up and put me down instantaneously and I didn’t notice until how long?"- Stayvein
Creature Of The Night
"Actually, one that was recently solved thanks to the internet!"
"We used to have parakeets in an outside aviary."
"One night I was woken up by the budgies screaming and there was... some odd animal attacking it."
"It had a pointed, cone shaped head, no visible ears and a long tail that was not foxlike."
"But it wasn't a possum."
"It was thin and moved like a cat -- it jumped and moved lithely."
"I tapped on the sliding glass door and it stopped, cocked its head, and came over to look at me."
"We were looking eye-to-eye and for the life of me I still couldn't figure out a face."
"Now I was really into nature in my area, really into reading books and sh*t because I wanted to be a forest ranger, and I still couldn't identify this animal."
"Everyone who I told said it was a bad dream but it was real."
"Anyway, years later it was still the weirdest thing that happened to me."
"The internet had come along and I finally had my answer: I saw a Fisher!"
"It's a super rare animal in my area -- like 500 left, max."
"Kind of like a weasel, but heavier."
"They do have ears, btw."
"I assume it was hidden by fur."- Z0ooool
Cabin In The Woods
"When I was about 13 or 14 years old myself and two friends found a house in the middle of the woods that just didn't make sense."
"We were all neighbors, and along all three of our houses was a very large wooded area."
"It runs a few miles back and becomes a state forest."
"We had run around these woods plenty of times and even had areas we'd recognize as we went."
"This particular day we followed this ravine that was sometimes a stream, but was dry at this time."
"That part is important, because we followed that same ravine several times after that and never could find the house again."
"When I say the house didn't make sense, I mean it. It was a white trailer."
"I'd say a double-wide."
"There was white underpinning along the bottom."
"It was a poor country area, so that's not uncommon."
"But it was unusually clean."
"Like, brand new, perfectly white."
"But that's still not the weird part."
"It didn't have doors."
"Or windows."
"Or a driveway."
"We were in the middle of the woods."
"The entire walk through the woods is full of bushes, thorns, spiderwebs, bugs, vines, logs."
"Woods stuff."
"But this was a clearing of flat grass like someone mowed this area."
"We weren't afraid or anything while we were there."
"There really wasn't anything remarkable about it, and that's honestly what makes it so weird to think about to this day."
"We just walked around it for a bit, said it was kinda weird, and we went back on our adventure."
"Eventually we all just went home."
"I'm still friends with both of the other kids."
"We're in our 30s and I'm even going to a wedding for one of them this weekend."
"We've talked about it since, and the story still just doesn't add up."
"My parents still live in that house, and we spent years after that day exploring the woods all the time."
"Never found it again."- Lemonbeeee
Horror Home GIF by Knock At The CabinGiphySometimes our eyes might be playing tricks on us.
Other times, we know for certain what we're seeing is real, but simply can't explain what we're seeing.
Either way, there is little more disconcerting in this world than uncertainty.
Who hasn't, at one time or another, dreamed about hitting the lottery big time?
When you do lotto research (as I frequently have), you learn the best thing for you is anonymity.
Hiding your fortune is one of the best ways to stay alive!
That's not a dramatic statement.
There are horror stories surrounding lotto winners.
Money changes everything, so keep your secrets.
Redditor divorced_dad_670 wanted to hear about how creative people would get to make sure nobody knew they were super rich, so they asked:
"Powerball is currently at 1.4b, if you won, what is your cover story as to why you’ve suddenly gained so much wealth?"
I have thought long and hard about how I'm going to win the lottery and how I will hide it.
I'm clearly not alone as may Redditors have their own plans.
Out West
Farm Workers Food GIF by Denyse®Giphy"No cover story. I'd tell no one. Then I'd move to a ranch in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Northwest, and spend the rest of my days riding dirt bikes and gardening."
Clintman
Fists Up
"Keep working for a week or two. Get more and more angry. Get in a fight with someone and get fired, never to be heard from again. No one will miss me."
dr_xenon
"I would totally miss you, dude. I feel like we are kindred spirits, you and I. And I would never let a kindred spirit miss out on a prime business opportunity like the one I am about to tell you."
TigLyon
"Bro, for 10k, I'll start the fight with you, and you can leave because of a hostile work environment. Then in 6 months when you blow it all, you can come back to work and I'll apologize."
spenser1994
Spend Less
"If people have realized I've gained obscene wealth, I've failed already."
thoawaydatrash
"The only way to really tell is if you go straight Hollywood baller route. I remember 50 Cent saying you don't want a house that big. If you think s**t I don't want to walk all the way down there it's too big."
Klashus
"This. I would absolutely not tell anyone, keep working, pay off my house and car (and not tell anyone), (secretly) invest, and keep my mouth shut."
AnAntsyHalfling
Remember
"Bought Bitcoin early. Forgot password. Remembered password."
savethearthdontbirth
"This sort of happened to me. I got tipped $1 in Bitcoin years ago because of some stupid comment here on Reddit. I forgot about it for years until Bitcoin was actually worth something. Sold that little bit for ~$300! Most forgettable comment I’ve ever made on here, but the most profitable!"
Vefantur
Be Gone
"I won the Powerball. I'm disconnecting my number. You won't be able to reach me. If I want to reach you, I'll send a helicopter. Lol, get screwed, nerds."
"Vanishes in a cloud of smoke which cost me $230,000 to have set up!"
d**k_for_hire
A big, splashy peace out "I QUIT" MOMENT can be a lot of fun.
Fools...
Diva Hello GIF by WHOLLY GUACAMOLEGiphy"I'd tell people I stopped buying avocado toast based on a story on the news - next thing I knew it I had a ton of extra cash."
random-idiom
Making a Family
"I’d immediately start some bogus MLM, and begin soliciting anyone who asked about my money. I know I haven’t seen you since high school, but I’d like to talk to you about an exciting business opportunity. We’re more of a family than a team, really. If you’re a go-getter, you’re exactly who we’re looking for. #Bossbabe #MyownCEO #IDidYouCanToo."
Nwcray
"This is actually genius. People will think you're swimming in debt to sell the idea, when in fact, you're swimming in cash 😂."
69stangrestomod
Florida Issues
"I would say I sold all my crypto. Those who say they didn't know I was in crypto I would say yeah I didn't want to talk about it because too many crypto bros out there ruined talking about it. Florida releases the names of winners 90 days after they claim it. So the lie is not going to work for long. I would have isolated myself by then so it's not like I will need to worry about people showing up where I live and work asking for money."
"Apparently a corporation, trust, non-profit, partnership, or estate can claim lottery winnings in Florida. I was told many years ago that you had to claim it yourself. That's great to know I don't have to claim it myself. I'm still concerned it would get out that I won. That would be a nice worry to have compared to worries I am dealing with."
Orcus424
BOOM!!
"When a colleague who ran our work lottery syndicate decided it was our turn to win, he said we should figure out how we were going to quit."
"His plan was supposedly to blow the south wall off the open plan office all the programmers use, hire a helicopter with some sort of harness arrangement, and the London symphony orchestra to play him away from the car park with Ode to Joy as he disappeared backward on his harness over the city under the helicopter with two fingers up at the building the whole time. I wish he’d won, he was just crazy enough to have possibly done it."
JT_3K
Karma
"I will ask everyone I know if I can borrow money. Every single person will be asked for an amount that will be enough that they don't say yes instantly but not so large they can't afford it. If I barely know you maybe I ask to borrow $40. If you're my parents I ask for $10k. I write down every single person's response. When I am later asked for anything I will reply with that exact answer."
nevetscx1
Simple Plans
signing season 3 GIFGiphy"No cover story. You call an accountant, a lawyer, and a financial advisor. You move states and claim the ticket after you have moved."
-brokenbones-
Money is fantastic but it can be dangerous.
Lessons learned.
Do you have any fantasies about winning the lotto? Let us know in the comment below.
Reddit user rigorousthinker asked:
"Which person who died too early in life had the most potential?"
Henry Mosely
"Henry Mosely, a British physicist."
"One of the greatest physicists of the 20th century. Developed Moseley's Law that helped to define the atomic number."
"The reason why nobody has heard of him is because he [was killed by] sniper at Gallipoli when he was 27 years old."
"Isaac Asimov wrote about him: 'in view of what [Moseley] might still have accomplished ... his death might well have been the most costly single death of the War to mankind generally'."
"He's the reason why countries keep their scientists and researchers from being drafted or allowed to fight anymore."
~ Vio_
GiphyÉvariste Galois
"I'd forward Évariste Galois."
"At the cutting edge of mathematics, as a teenager solved a centuries standing open problem, and created a field of mathematics which was so complex at the time that Galois' contemporaries were stymied and overlooked it's value."
"He was killed in a duel at the age of 20."
~ butts-kapinsky
Arthur Tudor
"I'm going historical. Prince Arthur Tudor. He died aged 15, leaving his younger brother Henry to become Henry VIII of England."
"Arthur was apparently more of a scholar than anything else, compared to his brother who was more into the idea of being a warrior king."
"Had Arthur survived and gone on to become King, then global history would have taken a very different turn."
~ c0_sm0
"Many of those priceless manuscripts existed nowhere outside of England because they were written in English. Back in the ninth century, the West Saxon king Alfred the Great had established an educational system where children learned to write their native language first before learning Latin."
"The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is in English because of that. Beowulf was written down in English because of that. The Old English they spoke then is practically indecipherable now except to scholars, yet English is still the best documented secular language of the early Middle Ages."
"Only a tiny sliver of that literature survives. Mostly because Henry VIII had the rest of it burned."
~ doublestitch
GiphyThe Classics
"Amadeus Mozart.
"While he wasn't terribly young, I'd say his true potential life was cut in half. Imagine what music will never be or where it could have gone had he lived a longer life."
~ WhoFan
"35 IS terribly young. And throw Franz Schubert in this thread as well. Died at 31 and was writing some of the greatest music ever produced."
"Just for the final 2 movements of the Unfinished Symphony alone! Supposedly on his deathbed he said 'I have so much still to say'."
~ 8805
"And Chopin, too. Died age 39, was writing the greatest piano works ever."
~ BreadBoi-0
"Shout out to my boy Felix Mendelssohn, died at the age of 38. Wrote 4 amazing symphonies, the famous music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the greatest violin concerto in the repertoire."
"I'd give anything to see what he would have done with another 38 years."
~ Plug_5
Otis Redding
"Otis Redding."
"Based on his energy, the fact that after a short career with an amazing voice, he came back from surgery with a better one, recorded one of the great songs of the 20th century, and then immediately died."
~ TDOMW
"Otis is interesting to me. He died right before he was going to crossover to white audiences."
"What would Dock of the Bay sound like if he got to finish it and realize his vision (he had kind of a Pet Sounds vision for the full album)?"
"If he didn’t die, would soul have lost so much ground to funk in the 1970s?"
"And would Stax Records still be around and thriving, instead of closing in the mid-1970s?"
"All interesting questions."
~ ChocolateOrange21
GiphyAlan Turing
"Alan Turing—died for the worst f*cking reason and what happened to him was a travesty."
~ Far-Polaris
"Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts. He accepted hormone treatment with DES, a procedure commonly referred to as chemical castration, as an alternative to prison."
"Turing died on 7 June 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined his death as a suicide."
~ DimesOHoolihan
"If you're unfamiliar with Turing and what he did for the world (and also the punishment he had to endure after the fact), I highly recommend watching The Imitation Game."
"It's a phenomenal movie, and Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of Turing amazingly. It really drives home how extra terrible his death was, considering all of the good he did for the war effort."
"We likely would have lost the war (or struggled through it for a lot longer, and lost many more innocent lives) if not for him."
~ TenFoxxe
Roberto Clemente
"Roberto Clemente was going to be a great humanitarian and role model after he retired. Charity and helping the people of the Caribbean and Latin-America was really important to him and he spent almost all his free time doing charity work.
"He played 18 seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 13 seasons as an All-Star, played in 15 All-Star games, 12 Gold Glove Awards."
"Clemente was the first Caribbean and first Latin-American player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the first for many things in his career."
"MLB was only integrated for 8 years when Clemente started playing in 1955. What Jackie Robinson did for Black players, Clemente did for Caribbean and Latin-American players. Just think of all the MLB stars he paved the way for."
"The Roberto Clemente Award is given to the player who 'best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team'."
"His friends and teammates described him as a humble, kind man. He was 38 when he died in a plane crash delivering humanitarian aid to earthquake victims."
~ LakotaGrl
GiphyStevie Ray Vaughn
"Stevie Ray Vaughan."
"He really got his sh*t together and seemed to really be in a good place career wise and in his personal life."
~ 1-21_Jiggawatts
"Dude played the cleanest guitar I've ever heard. No missed notes or leaning on too much feedback or too many effects or anything."
~ loptopandbingo
Steve Irwin
"Steve Irwin—I believe his conservation work would have probably spilled over into environmental issues and he seemed passionate about doing good not just fame and money."
~ No_Character_5315
"He is my inspiration."
"I was in 6th grade when he died, and it took me some time to get here, but I currently have a degree in Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries and I'm working on a second in Forestry conservation and restoration sciences."
"I'd like to think that one day I'll be able to make the world a slightly better place even if I'll never have the impact he did."
~ redwolf1219
"I think Robert and Bindi (and recently, Terri, too!) are doing great work to reach a modern audience with social media these days. Of course, nothing will ever be like The Crocodile Hunter ever again."
"That show was a gem of its time. I still grieve Steve when I watch their content, especially when they show clips of him. But it's so cool to watch his family carry on his legacy."
~ only_1_
GiphyJeff Buckley
"Within the sphere of music, I think Jeff Buckley is unquestionably the answer."
"'Grace' is an absolute tour de force of a debut and my easy pick for best album of the 1990’s. He was an almost indescribably incredible vocalist and fantastic young songwriter who likely would have only gotten better at his craft."
"It’s such a shame he never got to finish that second album because even what we have of it contains some gems and I’m sure the finished product would have been incredible."
~ dcrico20
Buddy Holly
"Buddy Holly. Of course, he already wrote some fantastic songs, but man would it be a treat to see his songwriting in the '60s!"
"Could end up being the same or he could have grown. But it's those what-ifs!"
~ DirtlessEye
"Buddy Holly was only 22 when he died. Lennon and McCartney had not peaked by that age, so who knows where he would have gone with his music."
"Buddy would have been 30 in the summer of 1967, the Summer of Love. Maybe he’d have been out playing in a toga in Golden Gate Park with shoulder length hair and granny glasses, protesting the war in Vietnam."
"Sadly, we’ll never know."
~ AtmosphereFull2017
GiphyDouglas Adams
"Douglas Adams."
"His ability to create the most absurd possible sentences and situations and make them as funny as they are... amazing writer."
~ shapiritowastaken
"The infinite improbability drive. The hyperspace bypass. The bowl of petunias. Really knowing where your towel is."
"So much happy silliness. Might just have to dig out my copy and read it again."
~ lurkerwholeapt
Martin Luther King Jr.
"Martin Luther King Jr. People remember him as some wise old man. He was 39 when he died."
~ FredTheLynx
"Martin Luther King Jr., Anne Frank, and Barbara Walters were all born in 1929."
~ miclugo
"It's actually crazy to think MLK could have feasibly lived past the 00's, even the 10's."
"Like, can you imagine THE Martin Luther King Jr weighing in on the 2016 election as an 85-year-old man?"
"What an alternate timeline that would be."
~ thattoneman
"Or if he lived to see Obama become President."
~ Currywurst_Is_Life
GiphyThomas Sankara
"Thomas Sankara was only 37 when he was assassinated."
"He brought through huge reforms in Burkina Faso in such a short space of time."
"He increased literacy massively and improved women's rights, also brought through vaccination programs and improved infrastructure."
"None of which was popular with the French."
~ shawbawzz
Jimi Hendrix
"Jimi Hendrix hadn't even reached his full potential when he died."
"Yet he is still regarded by many to be the best guitarist of all time."
"Imagine if he had lived."
~ CoatsBoi
"The man made sounds that no one had ever heard before in the history of humanity."
~ No_Net_1590
GiphyThe Good Doctor
"My husband. He was special to me yes, but he was important to his patients. We all know about the ER docs that are dismissive, condescending, and are just all around jerks. My husband, even at his most burnt out wasn’t like that. He was the type you pray you get."
"The one that will actually listen, who will figure out what’s going on. It didn’t matter if you were female, a POC, trans, or any combination. He was listening. He was going to treat your pain. He wasn’t going to send you home until he had an answer."
"I knew this about him, but it was confirmed by the patients that left messages on his obituary page. Sure he did the usual emergency med life saving things. But a car accident is easy. There’s no argument about whether or not a patient is hurt. It’s assumed something is wrong."
~ koolchicken
It was surprising just how young some of these people were when they died.
Who else do you think was gone too soon?
