Top 5 Quotes That Will Change Your Life
Yes, this is the title I have decided to go with…
“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.”
As Floyd Mayweather taught us all: A strong defense is the best offense.
So in defense of this article’s title, isn’t it true that all internet quotes end up changing your life?
When anyone here is nice enough to take the time to read a quote, then they have now lost at least 3–10 seconds of their day, forever augmenting their reality and their life as they know it!
Whether the quotes I have chosen for this article change your life for the better or the worse… well, that’s up for you and a jury of your peers to decide.
So before we get into this listicle, I want to make this very clear for all you internet judges and lawyers out there: My clickbait title is completely appropriate.
I am not a crook! I’m a writer and a cunning linguist.
All kidding aside, I actually love quotes. They are like how Twitter was meant to be… Except they are good and come with a lot less bluebird poo.
Let’s do this thing!
1. Be Excellent to Each Other
“Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained.”
In place of this beautiful quote, I almost went with Gandhi's “You must be the change you wish to see in the world,” or the more contemporary “I’m starting with the man in the mirror” from the King of Pop.
But in the end, I had to go with the OG Lao Tzu: founder of Taoism and Panda Express circa 500 BCE.
His insightful quotes will cover the noodles in your brain with sweet and sour sauce, mixed with spicy chicken strips dipped in Sriracha.
And I don’t even think he could speak English! Isn’t that crazy?!?
He must have been cheating off of someone like Christopher Columbus’ ancient past-life ancestors in English class to write beautiful gems like this one. What a boss.
2. When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going
“The measure of a person is not what they are like when things are good and they are comfortable. But it is what type of person they are when things are uncomfortable and all things are going bad.”
Buckle up. We are now sojourning through time at ludicrous speed! We just took a journey from 500 BCE in the last quote, and have arrived in 2018 AD MMA UFC 226 (BYOB) with this one. AND we misused the word “sojourn” while we were at it. High five!
I personally love that the last name Cormier sounds like it comes from some ancient French philosopher, and not someone who reached the top of the mountain by getting punched and kicked in the face a little less than others.
Daniel Cormier knows about struggle, hard-work, and pain, more than I will ever dream of. And this quote always reminds me of who I want to strive to be, even when times are down.
Also… I think he borrowed it from Martin Luther King Jr.
But, thank you, Mr. Daniel Cormier, Sir. Please don’t hurt me.
3. Stop Judging, for With What Judgment You Judge, You Will Be Judged
“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
Eleanor Roosevelt has some of the best quotes I have read over the past decade of scouring the internets. But this one is by far one of my favorites of hers.
Take a moment and think about all the times you are talking with someone or a group of someones, and you suddenly realize “This conversation is awful! What the hell am I doing here? Why do I keep talking to BK and his ilk?”
Whenever those completely valid thoughts grip your brain, remember Eleanor’s quote and consider its validity.
You will be surprised at how often you find the conversation is awful because everyone there is focusing on the people, or the events, while completely ignoring or misinterpreting the ideas from all sides of the discussion.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s beautiful mind always makes me regret never paying attention in history class, but I’m pretty sure they never said anything about her other than she was the wife of some president or some war-mongering despot. I can’t remember who her spouse was…
Wait a second… Could it be that our schools are teaching through cutting out the “ideas” throughout history? So in History class, they leave only the “people” and the “events” as the things we need to learn about? Thus, training us all to be either “average-minded” or “small-minded” people like Eleanor had warned us about?!?
Eleanor Roosevelt, I didn’t think it was possible, but I love you even more now!
Thank you for utterly destroying the lameness of the current education system with this beautiful quote!
Man, she musta been so hot! (Avoid the temptation to look her up. Fantasy is often better than reality. Especially on the internet.)
4. Feelings, Nothing More Than Feelings
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Over my four decades of living life, I keep finding this to be very true. And for writers and over-thinkers like myself, it being so true is extremely terrifying.
But, I gotta give it up for Maya Angelou. She has a wide array of quotes that I love dearly. And in this quote, she was able to isolate a key truth about human nature then masterfully craft it into one beautiful sentence.
And… that’s all I have to say about that.
5. Don’t Fear the Reaper, Enjoy the Journey
“The truth is everyone is going to hurt you. You just have to find the ones that are worth suffering for.”
Oops… You know the old adage, “End with a bang?”
Well, I take my bangs very seriously, so I guess I just wanted to end with a thud instead and talk a little about death for this last quote…
There are so many human relationships I have never been hurt by. So for me, the truth of this statement comes from the idea that maybe relationships with others are a finite thing.
Someday, by either choice or by forceful happenstance, all our relationships will no longer be connected to us in the physical realm. And because of that truth, every connection we make with another human will eventually end up hurting us in some way.
… Pretty funny, huh?
Oh man, I gotta try and get our minds away from this dark inevitability…
Well… while this Bob Marley quote never makes me laugh, it does always help me smile when I think of how grateful we should be for what we have, every day we have it.
On a long enough timeline, everyone and everything will end up hurting us or leaving us in some way. But what that means is that each joyful moment we were fortunate to have spent with someone else, is a huge blessing and a gift.
Man, this last quote is so thought-provoking that I don’t even want to try to say something silly here… I guess I’ll just have to go for a smile instead of a laugh. Let’s go with: No Woman No Cry!
If you don’t smile even a little from that video link, I’m slightly concerned about your happiness levels. I mean… this publication is still called “Listicles & Laughs”… Why aren’t you at least smiling?!?
Conclusion — I Hope Your Life Is Changed for the Better
“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”
I hope you enjoyed these quotes and I pray that my rambling didn’t get too much in the way of your mind being blown so hard that the fabric of the space-time continuum in the universe and galaxy are now both compromised.
If you survive, please come again, subscribe to me on Medium, and clap, and comment, and all those great things to say to others who are nice enough to pay attention to you ’til the end of a long article.
As always, I appreciate all of you who stuck it out ’til the end. Much love & God bless ❤
Until next time, may all your listicles be round and mighty, and may all your laughs be sound and hearty.