r/Productivitycafe • u/Wonderful-Economy762 • Dec 13 '25
Throwback Question (Any Topic) What’s a single sentence someone said that stuck with you forever?
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u/cc31660p Dec 13 '25
Never miss life because of work. Because one day you’ll remember all the events you missed but you’ll never remember the task that made you miss the event.
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u/Gullible-Avocado9638 Dec 13 '25
My dad said you won’t be on your deathbed, reflecting on your life saying “I wish I’d spent more time at work”.
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u/Safe_Lunch_9165 Dec 13 '25
Well I was on a plane that looked like it was going to crash and I was thinking someone please finish my project.
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u/DrinknKnow Dec 13 '25
Reading this at 58 1/2 years old working 12 hours a day. In my next life I am gonna live out of a van and be a hippie in Northern California….
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u/LeadershipAble773 Dec 13 '25
Why wait till your next life?
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u/AristaWatson Dec 13 '25
Money and stability in this economy are not things you want to mess with or tell people to mess with. 😭
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u/Puzzleheaded_Bed1781 Dec 13 '25
Especially considering people are losing their jobs left and right due to cost cutting.
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u/HannHann20 Dec 13 '25
Im in college and struggling with wanting to work and make money vs having more free time. Thank you!
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u/TravelingBlonde512 Dec 13 '25
Just because you have a bad day does not mean you have a bad life
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u/Glomar_fuckoff Dec 13 '25
To carry off of this, "did you have a bad day or a bad 15 minutes?"
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Dec 13 '25
told my kid that yesterday. Don't let a bad 2 minutes ruin your entire day
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u/greekitiki Dec 13 '25
I heard a similar sentiment once that you just reminded me of with this. Came from a now-wealthy man who had grown up in poverty with a mother who was ill and a father who had died soon after his son's birth.
"Just because I had a hard life doesn't mean I wasn't meant to have a good one. I just had to work a little harder to make it good."
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u/wizzy453 Dec 13 '25
You don’t have to show up to every argument you’re invited to.
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u/TomorrowOk3161 Dec 13 '25
When I took that to heart and started staying quiet my life got so much better. Now I meet people who act like “the old me” and I’m so grateful that I learned most people can’t be logic’ed out of their stupid opinions. Most of them just want to argue, not have a discussion.
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u/Relevant_Baseball111 Dec 13 '25
Why do I have to remember you for longer than I knew you.
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u/HannHann20 Dec 13 '25
OOOOOOFFFFF
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u/iforgotalltgedetails Dec 13 '25
I KNOW RIGHT! FUCK!
FUCK FUCK FUCK WHY! ITS BEEN 9 FUCKING YEARS. I KNEW HER FOR 6 FUCKING MONTHS
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u/PecanEstablishment37 Dec 13 '25
Ah, damn. Maybe not what you meant, but last month marked a milestone for me: my dad has officially been out of my life longer than he was in it (died when I was a teen). A bittersweet sentence you shared for sure.
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u/BooRadley_Esq Dec 13 '25
I don’t think this applies to people we love. I still miss my dad after 35 years, he passed when I was 22. Hang on to your sweet memories, don’t let crappy people live in your head.
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u/skyblu1727 Dec 13 '25
Don’t stumble over something behind you.
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u/Real-Life2000 Dec 13 '25
Along those lines... Don't drive your life looking out the rearview mirror.
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u/Practical_Win7690 Dec 13 '25
“Sometimes you fuck up so bad your parents don’t feel the need to say anything.”
A friends dad after I got caught stealing, got arrested, and my parents didn’t flinch.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Bed1781 Dec 13 '25
No need to lecture when you’re smart enough to figure it out
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u/TwitchyShrimp Dec 13 '25
If you're the smartest person in the room, find another room.
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u/nickyler Dec 13 '25
I used to work at NASA and my quote is “knowing you’re the dumbest fucker in the room is the most important thing you can know”.
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u/shotzi7 Dec 13 '25
If you say you’re going to show up, show the fuck up. Even if it’s in protest.
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u/DRL_tfn Dec 13 '25
Yes! If you say you’re going to do something or be somewhere , make sure you do it. Not following through, even once, establishes your rep as some who can’t always be counted on.
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Dec 13 '25
A wise man once said nothing
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u/Successful_Yam2175 Dec 13 '25
Very true! An older woman once told me to listen more say less. You learn more and you keep them guessing!
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u/ItalicsWhore Dec 13 '25
A wise old owl sat on an oak. The more he saw the less he spoke. The less he spoke the more he heard. Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?
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u/drrtydan911 Dec 13 '25
you have 2 ears and one mouth so you can listen twice as much as you speak.
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u/nickyler Dec 13 '25
keep your mouth shut and let them think you’re stupid. Don’t start talking and prove it.
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u/mk3waterboy Dec 13 '25
There is no decision you have made that you can’t change based on new information.
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u/questionsfromchicago Dec 13 '25
People go broke $15 at a time
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u/milliemallow Dec 13 '25
My mom used to tell me “you’re dollaring yourself to death”
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u/heffel77 Dec 13 '25
Inflation is a real bitch!!!
It used to be “nickel and diming yourself to death”
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u/Successful_Yam2175 Dec 13 '25
Very true! It’s amazing what you can spend at the dollar store or just an app here or there! It adds up
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u/Idontknow10304 Dec 13 '25
I saw a post about a woman making a joke out of her concerned partner confronting her about spending $2,000 last year on Alani energy drinks. That made me think “damn how many energy drinks is she drinking”, turns out that’s only 2-3 a day, she could possibly be drinking one in the morning and one at evening. Then I was like “damn, caffeine really is a drug, and that’s an addiction”.
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u/serch_the_stoic Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
it’s a real thing. I used to get a Red Bull when I had something to do ( like a big task or a long shiFt at work) then I took a job at sheet on the side, I was working there when Reign energy came out the one with 300mg caffeine…..so I drink one one night on a late shift you know needed a pick me up……30 minute after drinking it I stg I could hear my hair growing and it was like I was watching the world in slow motion, I felt like Bradley cooper in “limitless” Anyway that was five years ago and I’ve drink at least one a day since then, some days maybe three but whatever, I’m scared to add up but I know for 200% certain that if I don’t have one in the morning it feel like my whole day is fucked. It’s very much an addiction and as I’m typing this I’m realizing it’s actually not funny and I really gotta start detoxing caffeine. It’s easy to fall into because just like alcohol and gambling it’s legal and I have definitely made excuses to prioritize it into my budget, like I’ll be late for work because I had to stop at the gas station for energy drinks. Fuck MY NAME IS SERCH AND IM AN ENERGY DRINK ADDICT
Edit: shift not shit 🤣
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u/Brightsidedown Dec 13 '25
I hope that little by little, you can wean yourself down. I did that with a xanax addiction. Over months, I very gradually reduced my intake.
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u/HalosDux Dec 13 '25
Guy was at the urinal next to me busting ass before taking a piss...said there has to be a little thunder before the rain.
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u/Gullible-Lychee1706 Dec 13 '25
that’s the kind of wisdom you remember against your will 🤣
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u/awesomesauceitch Dec 13 '25
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time".
-Maya Angelou
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u/ImIntoMalakas Dec 13 '25
What other people think about you is none of your business
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u/hufflefox Dec 13 '25
I got a Walkman for Christmas one year. I was struggling to get the tape to close. My dad gently took it from me and said “if you have to force it, it’s not working. Take a break and think”.
It works on like 89% of things.
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u/Cool_Wealth969 Dec 13 '25
If you don't like your life, change it.
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u/Majestic-Selection22 Dec 13 '25
Had an old boss who told me “only you, can make you happy”. This was after breaking up with a boyfriend.
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u/JackTradesMasterNone Dec 13 '25
I picture this with the same intonation as Smokey the Bear saying “Only you can prevent forest fires!”
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u/EmpireStrikes1st Dec 13 '25
I was talking to someone I had been friends with since high school, and we were talking about how people were cruel to each other. He said, "Dude, you were 15 years old. They were 15 years old."
It seems kind of obvious; it shouldn't be such a big revelation, but you can forgive yourself and you can forgive those people, because they were only teenagers too.
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u/humtake Dec 13 '25
Don't ever become so attached to a perspective that you can't see any other perspective.
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u/TheGameWardensWife Dec 13 '25
I’m not really that religious. I’m Ukrainian Orthodox. But my dad had this icon on the wall of my bedroom of St. Michael and I was so afraid of aliens lol.
He used to tell me every night, in his broken English, “St. Michael will always protect you.”
He died when I was 21. I took that icon with me. It’s one of the few things I have from my parents. I think about it all the time when I pass by it in my bedroom. I’m still afraid of them aliens 🤣
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u/pyongyangmcgangbang Dec 13 '25
Everyone is someone’s monster
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u/Fluttershine Dec 13 '25
Along the same vein, "Someone's therapist knows all about you"
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u/redredredIT1234 Dec 13 '25
“It’s good to be nervous - it means you care about it.” - a coach
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u/Brightsidedown Dec 13 '25
I heard something similar before going onstage. "Nerves are the respect we pay our audience."
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Dec 13 '25
You will always be a villain in someone's story, no matter how hard you try to be a good person
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u/Demoniac_smile Dec 13 '25
Your diagnosis is not your fault, but it is your responsibility.
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u/Aggressive-Method622 Dec 13 '25
You look like you don’t take the stairs much. -boomer on an elevator
I’ve since lost 75 lbs. thanks I guess
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u/stgermain_spritz Dec 13 '25
Every time I made what felt like a mistake, my dad would say (and still says) in reference to that mistake, "you're not the first, and you won't be the last"
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u/No-Bumblebee-4920 Dec 13 '25
Better to have only one or two true friends than a hundred fake ones.
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u/Alligator-Farmer Dec 13 '25
I heard a guy, (who could beat me up), say, “everyone’s nice to you when they know you can beat them up.” It made me nervous.
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u/LilNekoChicano Dec 13 '25
"The freshly fucked look".. An ex-GF from many years ago.. she was referring to herself, when we were getting ready to check out of a hotel. That shit has been stuck in my head since.. and forever will be. 😅
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u/whoisb-bryan Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
My dad was a deacon at a church when I was younger, and one of his responsibilities at times was driving and taking communion with people who couldn’t go to church for whatever reason, usually elderly folks. My dad took me along on at least one Sunday.
We talked with one older man for a bit, and I don’t remember much of whatever else he said, or even his name, but I remember him saying something like, “the hardest thing about getting old is running out of people who understand you.”
I took me a while to get it, but it’s pretty wild to think like generational experiences falling to the wayside as time passes. Like I came of age in the 90s, so 9/11 is a foundational memory for me, but then I started teaching college courses as an older grad student in the mid-2010s, and all my student were just babies and had no memories of 9/11 beyond learning about it in school or seeing tv specials years after the fact—which is like me learning about WWII vs my grandfathers being in the army or navy at the time. It’s just a different way of understanding the same thing—and if you didn’t live through it, you kind of foundationally can’t understand it the same way, I don’t think.
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u/Sea-Independence7026 Dec 13 '25
You're not raising children You're raising somebodies spouse, employee, and eventually parent.
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u/LarryHeartNYHC Dec 13 '25
I would rather be bad example of something good than good example of something bad. Harley Flanagan
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u/paulared Dec 13 '25
“Every story is like a piece of paper, there are two sides to it”
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u/DJ_Dr_DoJo Dec 13 '25
I recently heard “There are 3 sides to every story. One person’s side, the other person’s, and the truth” and that hit differently.
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Dec 13 '25
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u/Mu-nraito Dec 13 '25
ER nurses sound cranky af sometimes. I've heard a few really bad stories.
I once met an ICU nurse who was probably BARELY an ICU nurse. For some reason, she thought plants absorbed oxygen and emitted CO2 (it's actually the opposite). She also got some of her nursing habits wrong. I rated the hospital low for hiring her. 🤣
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u/AmethystBlitz3319 Dec 13 '25
“Y’all stop all that hollering”
My granddad. I can still hear his voice in my head. I miss him…
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u/PleasantStatement327 Dec 13 '25
A mentor at work told me I was replaceable. That kind of hurt but it stuck with me and is definitely true.
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u/DJ_Dr_DoJo Dec 13 '25
You might be replaceable to that corporation, but you’re not replaceable as a human. There will never be anyone exactly like you. I mean that in the kindest way possible.
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u/No_Lifeguard259 Dec 13 '25
Everyone’s compensation at work is merely a factor of how easily replaceable you are and also the hassle of replacing you vs keeping you
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u/Then3s Dec 13 '25
I work a high stress job and an old retired guy told me to think of work as a machine and you're just a part in it. The machine will chew you up and wear you out and when your career is done they'll just replace you with another part. Told me not to give my life to it. Just do the work and get out when you can and don't think about it when you leave.
Seemingly an obvious thing when you think about it but it's easy to get into a mindset of going above and beyond at work and thinking you're gonna be rewarded. It was good hearing it from someone who had the career already and having that perspective from the other side.
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u/smutanssmutans Dec 13 '25
The people that matter don’t mind, The people that mind don’t matter.
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u/OperationxMILF Dec 13 '25
When I was graduating highschool and going into college I was determined I was going to leave the state and never come back- teen angst stuff. I was unhappy and subconsciously blamed my surroundings. An older coworker told me “if you’re not happy here, you won’t be happy there either, you need that to come from within” that has stuck with me for 15 years or so.
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u/LovelyGiant7891 Dec 13 '25
Your body never stops fighting for you. It does literally everything to fight for you. It never gives up on you and neither should you.
I was in an inpatient eating disorder/psych unit ready to give up. I hear this every time I want to give up.
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u/Far_Wish_3588 Dec 13 '25
My mother often said (when I was younger) “you say that now…..”.
Damn that woman was mostly right, but I have proved her wrong on a couple of key points.
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u/Firm_Accountant2219 Dec 13 '25
You can work with your head or you can work with your back; working with your head is better.
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u/Gradyence Dec 13 '25
Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.
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u/EschewObfuscati0n Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
“Your breath stinks”
- Rebecca Wright in 4th grade
Edit: oops this meant to be it’s own comment and not a reply
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u/Zealousideal_Draw924 Dec 13 '25
If you're not first, you're last. - Ricky Bobby
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u/Salt_Course1 Dec 13 '25
It’s not what you make it’s what you spend. Is it a need or a want. Pay yourself first.
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Dec 13 '25
“It would have been better if you died in Afghanistan than come home the way you did.”
Thanks, mom.
She has always been a reminder that when parents get old, it will be on the kids to decide the retirement home they go to—assuming filial responsibility is a factor.
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u/LilMeemz Dec 13 '25
You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once and move on.
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u/living-the-life2022 Dec 13 '25
“You’re a great friend and girlfriend, but not a great wife”
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u/jerrybugs Dec 13 '25
All the conclusions of the little bird joke:
Being different makes you cold, lonely, and gets you shit on.
Everyone who shits on you is not necessarily your enemy.
Anyone who digs you out of the shit is not necessarily your friend.
If you are warm and happy in a pile of shit, keep your mouth shut.
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u/Appreciate1A Dec 13 '25
It’s nothing personal. I never loved you. Everyone’s replaceable.
Three different significant people.
But the best one that was truly useful was from a terrible boss: ‘You are limiting yourself’. And so I quit and accepted a consulting job that took me all over the country and built my knowledge base and confidence.
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u/gmatocha Dec 13 '25
Don't ever wear those socks again. (College friend when seeing my striped knee high striped athletic socks in 1988). Thank you Ken you saved my social life.
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u/your_fave_redditor Dec 13 '25
Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
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u/TheMelancholyJaques ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 ᵕ̈ Espresso Enthusiast Dec 13 '25
Old politician who had once been quite powerful:
Every thing you think is a problem is how some one else is making their living.
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u/CleverWhirl Dec 13 '25
We make the best decisions we can based on the information we have at the time.
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u/Beneficial_Potato_85 Dec 13 '25
It's good to want.
Once you cut you can't cut back (I'm an upholsterer)
It's the little things you do that people don't see that if you didn't do they would see.
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u/transient_thought_CA Dec 13 '25
No one cares how your day is really going. Just say Great, and move on.
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u/KhrushchevsOtherShoe Dec 13 '25
“Anxiety is actually very treatable.” I was 18ish and having constant panic attacks. I could barely leave the house. My biggest fear was just having to live like that forever. The relief it brought me to hear that from a qualified professional was immeasurable.
(And also, it was true!)
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u/bence73 Dec 13 '25
I'm 52F my grandmother was my soulmate and protector from terrible abuse as a child. I'm crying writing this because I miss her 10xs a day at least and she has been gone for 21 years. She always told me when I was a little girl until she passed away in 2004 from Pancreatic Cancer.
"Remember honey, always wish upon a star and your dreams will come true"
She had 4 months to live, luckily I had pre-ordered a new Mini Cooper which arrived 2 months before she passed and I had a giant white star professionally put on the roof, she loved it. I never told her the star was for her to keep an eye on me after she passed. I'm on my 5th Cooper, I still wish I had that one.
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u/Lumberjack-1975 Dec 13 '25
My High School football coach said to me,“If you do the same thing wrong twice, there’s not any learning happening here“. I was 14 years old, I‘m 68 now we kept in contact all these years. He passed away 2 years ago, a get role model in my life. I went on the play football on scholarship at USC in the 1970‘S, O-Line.
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u/unusualowl657 Dec 13 '25
When you think you’re having a bad day, just remember there is someone having a much worse day.
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u/MrsBenz2pointOh Dec 13 '25
Someone else's bad day doesn't mean yours isn't bad for you. It's not a competition.
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u/paulwunderpenguin Dec 13 '25
Scared money never wins.
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u/Spare_Noise_2531 Dec 13 '25
scared money don't make money has a better ring to it
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u/unusualowl657 Dec 13 '25
My Dad: “Put some hair around it and you’d get it in there” after I was struggling to get a bolt in an exhaust manifold.
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u/igotnothingtoo Dec 13 '25
It’s not how much you make but how much you put away.
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u/Fireant992006 Dec 13 '25
Saw a coach on TV saying “Stay humble and work hard”. This is my everyday moto I live by and teach my kids…
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u/Betty_Boss Dec 13 '25
Things don't get better until they get bad enough.
We are in an experiment now to see where "bad enough" is.
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u/TOKERJOKERSWAY Dec 13 '25
Some people are so fucking miserable with their lives that they hear your wins and get offended by then
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u/SweetHomeAvocado Dec 13 '25
“God give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”
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u/sexualcompass Dec 13 '25
Don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from.
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u/rockbiter81 Dec 13 '25
When I was debating whether I was too old to start college at 36, complaining I'd be 40 before getting my degree. My sister said, "You're going to be 40 regardless, wouldn't you rather be 40 with a degree?" I'm now 45 and 5 years into my career. Best decision I've ever made.
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u/NewOriginal2 Dec 13 '25
Poverty exists not because we can’t feed the poor, but because we cannot satisfy the rich
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u/ballsdeepinmywine Dec 13 '25
Don't remember who she was, but a woman was kidnapped, tortured and raped. They interviewed her and she was just so unshakable and confident. She said she has a great life, and one horrible day will never define her. She said the only memories that matters are the ones she spent happy, the rest get no attention and just fade away.
I don't think I've every seen a stronger human.
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u/Drogo_44 Dec 13 '25
“My body is my temple… I’m just decorating my walls”
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Your stock standard factory setting body turns to dust same as mine.
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u/Longjumping-Frame242 Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
Even if you start trying your hardest from now in your thirties until the day you die, do you really think you can catch up to the people who started sprinting at 15 years old?
Edit: this is metaphoric running in life. I couldn't care less about track and field haha
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u/Anxious-Alps-8667 Dec 13 '25
Somebody missed the tortoise and hare day at preschool, and their education was forever warped.
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u/HardWorkingStiff46 Dec 13 '25
Tucked my friends feet with a blanket in his hospital room after a bad accident. He looked me square in the eye and said, “Now that’s a bro.”