Pearls of wisdom can sit inside your head like a song on repeat. The good ones, you don't mind so much, while the bad ones can make poke your ears with a q-tip and never stop. Hopefully, these people lucked into the former when they bore witness to these great bits of worldly advice.
Reddit user, u/goldenlightoflove, wanted everyone to share the most wisdom fueled thing:
What is the wisest/most intelligent thing you have heard someone say?
Best Not Argue With History
If you have a problem and you completely lose your head over it, you now have two problems.
Marie Antionette would like to have a word
Speak Your Mind
I went to a speaker that gave the two greatest pieces of advice on empathy ever: "100% of frustrations are caused by unmet expectations" and "Don't expect people to read your mind. Don't expect them to remember every detail about you and what you want. Don't drop hints and expect them to interpret exactly what you are expecting. All of your interactions with that person will be set up to fail. Any relationship, romantic, personal, or business, is at its best when both parties just say what they want."
Might Be Best To Get Out Of The Way
Regarding mean/nasty people:
Sometimes you're just collateral damage in someone's war with themselves.
Rust_DawgFollow Through Is Key
"An apology without change is just an admission of guilt" -my good friend A.R.
Don't Just Think. Listen.
That listening to someone while you are planning out what to say next is not truly listening.
Once I took this to heart and adapted it into my daily life, two things surprised me: 1) How many people haven't learned this skill, and 1) how many people just need to be listened to.
The World Owes You Nothing
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Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you're a good person is like expecting a bull not to attack you because you're a vegetarian.
It Shouldn't Be A Point Of Pride
Don't let your pain define you.
A lot of people tend to wear their pain as a badge of honour, and that the world now owes them. Its not a healthy way to live.
You Could Never Be Who You're Meant To Be
"A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are built for." — John A. Shedd
Smooth seas don't make good sailors
Why Hurt Both Of Us?
There's this person at work who everyone hates because's she's super loud and just all around annoying. I was working with her the other day along with a couple other people. and she was doing her typical annoying things. and a coworker said "I don't know how she doesn't bother you just watching her boss you around drives me crazy" or something to that effect. I said something like "well it does bother me I just don't let it show because that would end up making things worse for both me and her."
he kind of looked at me like he never thought of it that way before.kind of tilted his head like a confused puppy then went on a delivery.
It's Not Always Broken
Read this on a similar thread but, "Every object only has so many uses before it's broke."
You can take this at its surface or look at it from a deeper perspective.
Never Going To Talk About The Good Stuff
Also that no one is [going] to gossip about other people's virtues.
Figure The Balance Out
You shouldn't strive for perfection, you should strive for balance.
That changes how I looked at a lot of things. And being the kind of perfectionist that could not start doing anything because I knew it could not be done perfectly this really helped me turn my life around.
Simple, But Gets The Point Across
"you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."
my mom always told me this, people can give you all the help in the world but at the end of the day its up to you the make the change, the only person who fix you, is you. Hardest pill I've ever had to swallow
Doesn't Matter How Hard It Gets...
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Whatever you do, do it with pride.
Even if your pay is sh-t, take pride in your job. It reflects who you are as a person.
Um...Yeah. Checks Out.
"Don't pee on my back then tell me I'm sweaty".
My then girlfriend now wife.
It's All A Mental Trick
When you have work you need to do, be it chores or a school assignment, put on shoes. Not slippers or house shoes, your actual everyday going places shoes.
I don't know why this helps so much, but it does. I had a friend in college with ADHD and this was something that always helped him get into the right mindset to get work done. This nugget of wisdom has gotten me through many research papers and more loads of laundry than I care to admit.
"No One's Gonna Draw A Map For You."
Never choose to live someone else's life in hopes to live yours later. Life is too short and later may not leave you the strength to do it. - My grandfather at 84
Edit..thanks for the upvotes, he lived a good life, loved his kids, grandkids, and great grandkids, but there were things he always said he was going to do later that never happened. He passed away about 10 years ago, 8 months after the conversation I had when he shared this.
Dad Speaks Truth
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My dad once looked at me sadly when I was a kid and said mostly to himself, "Every year you get older, the pedestal you put me on gets a little shorter."
He knew we have to grow up and that one day, I wouldn't be able to view him as a perfect, unflawed super hero anymore.
What's the best piece of advice or wisdom you've heard before? Share it with us!
Real life contains the scariest horrors you could ask for. So aren't we all living in a horror movie, in a way? At least, these people sure freakin' were.
MisterSnowman69 asked: What was a moment in your life that felt like a horror movie scene?
In the words of the legendary Mary Vivian Pierce in the film Pink Flamingos, “Murder merely relieves tension”. I’m sure the following Redditors felt differently.
Nothing scarier than the woods at night.
Went into a real deep woods hike for only the second time in my life.
My gps broke and had to rely on my compass. Got turned around a few times because I couldn't remember the direction I came from, and it was getting dark. Lost the trail way.
But the woods are weirdly silent in the dark and alone.
It was around 2am by the time I found the trailhead.
Darn foxes.
the simpsons react GIFGiphyMy friend and I got lost late on one foggy night in the Italian countryside. There were rats all over and every once in a while we heard someone scream.
I've never been more sure I was about to get murdered than I was that night.
It was probably a red fox that was screaming.
Could've also been a lynx, but they are much rarer in Italy.
At least she wasn’t speaking in tongues.
My mom is quite the sleep talker, but it's usually pretty short and incoherent when it happens. One night as a teenager, I woke up to her scream-yelling the Hail Mary prayer (my bedroom was across the house and upstairs).
Difficult to get back to sleep after that one.
Sometimes scary sh*t ends up just being funny coincidences. Super funny. Right?
Don’t give them any ideas.
I was exploring an abandoned mental asylum and then got the scare of my life when a scary looking person inside one of the rooms was just staring at me without moving. Turns out some joker had left a cardboard cutout there.
And now I have plans this weekend... Just need to find a couple of cardboard cutouts and to break into the local abandoned asylum.
Don’t you hate when that happens?
Evil Dead Horror GIF by Coolidge Corner TheatreGiphyI was driving home on backcountry roads at midnight in heavy fog. Like can't see 10 feet in front of you thick. Suddenly I see an all-white silhouette running in front of the car. Every hair on my body stood up. I immediately think "oh god, oh f*ck, it's a f*cking woman in white, I'm gonna f*cking die"
Nope just a drunk who dove into the ditch.
Gotta love paranoia.
When I was about 12, my parents went out for dinner leaving me home alone. We lived out in the country, on a private road with only three other houses, surrounded by cow fields and wooded areas.
I went into the the kitchen and glanced out the window towards the trees and there in the fading light I could see a person walking slowly through the woods. They were wearing all black, moving slowly and appeared to pause behind trees. My heart started pounding so hard in my ears I couldn't hear anything else and I was weak and shaky from fear. I froze and just watched them. Would they come to the house? Where were they going?
This was before cell phones but I suddenly remembered my mom had left the number of the restaurant by the living room phone. Slowly, I made my way towards the living room, trying to watch this stranger in the woods.
Just as I entered the living room, all the lights in the entire house went out. By this time it was nearly dark outside. I started openly sobbing and in the dark I heard a weird boom like noise. That was it, I ran to my parents room, hid under their bed and sobbed. That's where my mom found me hours later (it felt like).
Well, turns out the stranger in the woods was a stupid cow that had busted through a fence, the lights going out was from an accident a few miles away (hit the power line) and the boom was the pilot light in the gas stove. Man, I have never been that scared in my life though!
I have a lot of questions.
A naked man who was covered in blood chased me across a park at 2 in the morning. I was totally alone. He just wanted money for a bus (????) and luckily nothing bad happened but I thought I was going to die.
But of course, the genuine horrors do exist. And they aren’t scary in a fun horror movie way, they’re actually terrifying because they can happen to anyone.
A scary few seconds.
car chase GIF by Mayans M.C.GiphyI am a "baby" in a car seat in between cousins in backseat. Dad is driving. This is in the 80s and it is my aunt's insistence that I am in this seat even though I am like 5.
A sleeping semi driver is coming over into our lane and there is a cliff on other side. Basically my dad did some amazing driving but semi blew us up. I am uninjured sitting in the seat swinging my legs while everyone is unconscious. They all wake groaning. Dad doesnt wake up.
Long story short just minor scrapes and dad has broken leg. But the crunch of metal and those few seconds/minute of being the only "alive" person was quite fear inducing.
Glad they’re all ok now.
Two days after my now boyfriend told me he liked me he fell from a zip line and broke his back. Almost died. 6 months later he got into a car wreck from a drunk driver - almost died. 6 months after that, he passed out and had to have emergency brain surgery, again, almost died. I now have severe anxiety/separation anxiety/and ptsd. That whole year was a f*cking nightmare
Edit: we're both okay now, the brain injury was almost a year ago. But TBIs take a while to heal so he still has side effects. Thankfully our relationship is still strong; he's physically getting better and I'm healing emotionally too. Lucky for him, the trauma of the injuries has caused him to forget the majority of the pain and memories of those incidents.
ALWAYS wear a helmet.
Driving home from work at 23, listening to my favorite song.
I pull up to a red light, and see this guy on a motorcycle coming up next to me in the other lane. I rolled down my window to compliment his bike when he stops. He doesn't, and runs the red light. He hits a car going at least 55mph. His motorcycle shatters apart, he goes flying, hits the hood of another car, and lands on the ground and rolls into the curb (no helmet). The car he hit with his motorcycle was totaled. I had to step over his body to talk to the police. He was still alive when they got there. I regret not holding his hand. It was just a normal day, and all of a sudden it felt like the rug was pulled from out beneath me. He was only 18.
Edit: The song was Sunny by Boney M., for those curious
What did we learn today, kids? Foxes scream like humans, shadowy figures are usually cows or drunken rednecks, and once again, PLEASE WEAR A HELMET WHEN YOU RIDE ANY KIND OF BIKE.
Scary sh*t surrounds us. But where there is horror, there are heroes. So next time you think you see a scary figure in the woods, know that Bruce Campbell is probably right around the corner
Hypocrisy is everywhere; it's like a disease. And sadly everyone does it. Some of us indulge in smaller doses than others. But some people live their life by it. Like how can you support civil servants, like police, firefighters, etc... yet try to find ways to hide money in order to not pay taxes? Tell me... I'll wait.
Manga...
Hungry Night Court GIF by LaffGiphyItalian moms that say you're too fat then say I'm making grandma cry by not finishing my pasta.
Asian moms too! Not only that if you try to not eat, they make to go containers for you. Oh, sorry I have to leave, RUNS AT LEAST HAVE SOME FRUIT.
Phonies...
Celebrities positioning themselves as champions for social justice while launching a clothing line with no comment on the labor conditions their garments are made in.
Sexy Times...
The Porn Industry
Why is prostitution considered a crime, but it becomes perfectly legal once a camera is put beside them?
I think the first amendment helps with that one. There's been many a supreme-court case about whether porn is protected speech.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...
You can get away with WAY more crap, in general, when you're attractive.
But we all kind of aspire to attractiveness and it's not like it's attractive people's fault, exactly. So what is there to be done?
So true. Money and beauty are treated like virtues and they aren't. They're luck of the draw. It probably helps you to be a better person if people assume that you are gentle and clever just by looking at your face or wallet.
KIDS
GIF by MOODMANGiphyPeople screaming at you if you don't want Kids and Kids are the greatest thing in the World and then turn around and whine how expensive they are and how annoying yadda yadda.
Yeah see... humans are a mess. And too often then not, personal conviction and dignity are just a myth, or a punchline. Double standards have always been a way of life. And many of us have begrudgingly learned to navigate.
Fashion
Fashion Model GIF by NYFW: The ShowsGiphyIf a skinny person wears something out of the ordinary, it's a fashion statement and awesome. It can even just be something like a crop top or overalls.
But God forbid a fat person wear the same thing.
Distractions
The hypocrisy hypocrisy. People love to call it out but rarely notice it on themselves and if they notice it then it's something completely different or a distraction.
That's the worst. I hate that I have to hate that. But if I don't hate it, then the hate will just continue. So, really, my hate comes from my love of an end to hate. So anyone who hates my hate hates love. And we must hate anyone who hates love!
My Morality
My own personal hypocrisy; When I was a lot less well off financially, delivering pizzas trying to get through college, I kept a cup of coins in my car. When a homeless person would approach me for spare change, I gave them the cup. Most of the time it was nearly full, so there was probably 20-30 dollars in there.
Now that I have a good salaried job, even if I've got a few bucks in my wallet, I tend to not even make eye contact anymore. I know it's awful, I know it makes me crappy, but the last 4-5 years have made me a jaded craphead towards people in general. I used to be so hopeful and I wanted to help everyone, and tried to live a life that reflected that.
Now, while my general and political morality is pretty much the same, my personal morality has gotten more grey. I'd jaded, I hate people, I assume the worst of people I used to assume the best of. I don't really care about the strangers around me like I used to, but I still expect everyone else to.
Placing Blame
Victim mentality.
It's so freaking frustrating when it becomes entrenched. "You did this, it's your fault" "you should've known to do x, its your fault" Yeah bro your problems aren't my problems and if all you do is make excuses and blame me for them, it's not going to be my fault when you don't develop as a person and accomplish your dreams. I'm sure they'll find someone to blame though.
In D.C.
Donald Trump Reaction GIF by Election 2016GiphyPoliticians work part time, are given free housing, education, and health care, and exempt from the everyday violence we experience, but refuse to lift a finger to help us.
At this points most people running for a position in the government are only in it for the benefits of being a politician and the amount of money they can embezzle. Well in my country at least.
Just speak a truth and live it. Yes, it maybe hard. But what part of life isn't? Hypocrisy is just lying. Plain and simple. And it's a sin to lie.
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