this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2025
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Even better if you can provide your own understanding of its meaning.

Mine would be :

"Nothing kills a man as much as being forced to represent a country" (and err considering the context, I must stress it has nothing to do with the current US shitshow), by a WW1 soldier, illustrator and writer named Jacques Vaché.

For me it just means being forced into representing a group (national, of course, but maybe also social, racial, sexual, professional, any kind of group) or defining one's identity only by reference to a group is to be avoided at all costs.

Note : Its not the same, imho, as engaging in a collective struggle or defense against a common oppression.

How about you?

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[–] K0W4LSK1@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (2 children)

"Do to others as you want done too you" Wouldnt say its under rated just not actually followed by the masses that preach it but i prefer to say "dont treat people how you wouldnt want to be treated"

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[–] Thcdenton@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

It's not a party if it happens every night

[–] PillBugTheGreat@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

[–] antrosapien@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee? But in the end one needs more courage to live than to kill himself.

~ Camus

[–] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago

"republicans are pussies" - me. thanks

[–] agnomeunknown@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not so much a quote as a poem, but it's brief so here's the whole thing:

They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn By fools in old-style hats and coats, Who half the time were soppy-stern And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man, It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can, And don't have any kids yourself.

  • "This Be the Verse" by Philip Larkin

As for what it means to me, I think it speaks for itself. It's bleak and devastating, yet beautiful. I love the elegance and simplicity of the writing. It's the only poem I have memorized because it's so aesthetically pleasing and emotionally resonant. It has stuck with me since I first heard it over 10 years ago.

[–] needthosepylons@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

It's beautiful and I can understand why it sticks.. Thanks for letting us know!!

[–] vipaal@aussie.zone 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The pleasure of being understood is underrated

  • Simon Baker portraying Patrick Jane in The Mentalist
[–] prex@aussie.zone 3 points 1 day ago

Oof. I felt that.

Life's tough for everyone

-Grandpa

[–] imakeninjascry@lemmy.world 30 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all." -A clump of talking stars in Futurama I look at it like being a good custodian or someone who takes pride in the smallest details of their work, regardless of whether or not you receive recognition for them. Most people don't notice the effort being put in when things are running smoothly. The work of the people behind the scenes is directly responsible for successes in the spotlight.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's a loose quote from the Tao te ching.

[–] imakeninjascry@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Interesting. Something new to look up!

[–] wuphysics87@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago

Perhaps today is a good day to die. Prepare for ramming speed!

[–] Nikki@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"be someones angel"

quote from this little video that really stuck with me, as silly as it might sound

https://youtu.be/Ib2bt28in1c

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[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Hitchens on the death of Jerry Falwell: "If they gave his corpse an enema, they could bury him in a matchbox."

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[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 36 points 2 days ago

"True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country." ~ Kurt Vonnegut

[–] sproid@lemmy.ml 31 points 2 days ago (1 children)

"Feelings are like children, you can't let them drive, but you can't put them in the trunk."

But I feel that one has a ¨spiritual parent¨:

"Educate a child so you don't have to reprimand an adult."

and a ¨spiritual sibling¨:

"If your only tool is a Hammer then every problem looks like a Nail."

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[–] currycourier@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

"Someone once said that love is the best medicine. He was wrong, though; its crack." Source Unknown

[–] needthosepylons@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oh and there's also this one ftom H2G2 :

Slartibartfast: Perhaps I'm old and tired, but I think that the chances of finding out what's actually going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say, "Hang the sense of it," and keep yourself busy. I'd much rather be happy than right any day. Arthur Dent: And are you? Slartibartfast: Ah, no. [laughs, snorts] Slartibartfast: Well, that's where it all falls down, of course

[–] prex@aussie.zone 3 points 1 day ago

Douglas Adams was a gift to humanity.
"See first, think later, then test. But always see first" is a good one.

[–] lattrommi@lemmy.ml 87 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Something my grandpa said, sometime around 2006-2007 I think.

"The next world war, will be between the rich and and the poor, and the rich will win before the poor knows there's a war."

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[–] temporal_spider@lemm.ee 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"Like they should have stopped Hitler at Munich, they should never let him get away with that, they was just asking for bad trouble." Peter Clemenza, The Godfather

[–] needthosepylons@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Recently, I learned about a historical quote, from French PM Daladier on his way back from Munich where he knew he gave everything to Hitler.

He got out his plane, expecting to be lynched or thrown oranges at, and people, when he realized people were praising him as a herald of "peace", let out this magnificent "Ah.. what a bunch of idiots".

[–] penguin202124@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.

George Orwell, 1984

[–] PantanoPete@lemmy.zip 19 points 2 days ago (1 children)

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt" - Often wrongly attributed to Mark Twain or Abraham Lincoln but the earliest record is Maurice Switzer

[–] ApollosArrow@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Mine is similar, but said by Plato. ”Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something”

[–] DeadNinja@lemmy.world 39 points 2 days ago (7 children)

"Hurt people hurt people"

Ever since I heard this, I became relatively more compassionate towards people, even if they piss me off.

[–] HaveMouseWillTravel@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago

This makes a song I've been listening to make more sense. "Gary" by Dave Hause. I was interpreting the line as "Hurt People. Hurt people..." Instead of "Hurt people hurt people". Thanks!

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[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 18 points 2 days ago (3 children)

“No matter where you go, there you are.”

Made absolutely no sense to me when I was younger. Now, I get that it means changing one’s location or situation in an effort to avoid something doesn’t work. You’re still you, you’re there, and the problem still exists. Obviously some situations can be improved by leaving them, so the statement isn’t completely correct, but there’s plenty of truth to it.

“You can never go home again” also used to bug me, because of course you can physically return to the places you grew up. But if you’ve been away a good while the place you grew up in might have changed, the people will have changed, and you will also have changed. Home will be where you have made a new life. Your old home will be like trying to put on a shoe you haven’t worn in a few years. Yeah, it fits, but it doesn’t feel right. It’s not comfortable like it used to feel. Home isn’t there anymore. I kinda envy some people that I know who never left my hometown. They have the same friends, been hanging out for years, still get together for family stuff…but at the same time I’ve experienced a shitload more than they have. My original home doesn’t exist for me anymore.

[–] Delphia@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

"You can never go home again... but you can shop there."

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[–] Diddlydee@feddit.uk 20 points 2 days ago

Comparison is the thief of joy. I think a lot of people could do with that one.

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 22 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those who sang best

[–] xelar@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It's all so tiresome - Lao Yang in the 2011 documentary Empire of Dust

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 12 points 2 days ago

"History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake" - Stephen Daedalus in Ulysses by James Joyce.

[–] MrSilkworm@lemmy.ml 27 points 2 days ago

The less you know about your history, the easier it is to imagine you'd always be on the right side of it.

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 38 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The opposite of love is not hate, but apathy.

Truly hating something takes passion, energy and time out of your day. It also taught me that for masters of personal interest, if you truly need to end a relationship with someone, you simply stop responding. It’s far more effective than loudly proclaiming what you feel they do wrong. That will take far more away from you than if you cut ties.

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[–] RacerX@lemm.ee 18 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.

Earl Nightingale

Someone shared the phrase "The time will pass anyway" with me back when I was working on getting healthier. It was a constant reminder that there was no "best" day to start my journey and that anytime I was set back, I could pick things back up right away.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 19 hours ago

I have people in my life who think my level of patience is superhuman or some shit, but it's just this. Don't think about what you're working towards, just what you should be doing today.

It seems simple to me, but I guess it's not to them.

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