Martian

So recently I've found myself discussing matters philosophic and my own view of the world with several different people. Because of this and because I'm always interested in other people's take on the world, I thought it might be fun to create a thread where people could share their own perspective. However, because it's very easy to write long diatribes that say very little (something I'm accused of regularly) and because I'm a fan of brevity (not that you'd know it from my posts), I decided there should be a limit on how much each person could say. This in theory will force people to consider their own perspective in terms of what really matters to them. I chose five statements because I find round numbers elegant and pleasing.

Naturally, I'll go first.

1) Always keep in mind first how little you truly know.

2) Always respect the opinions of others, even if you don't agree with them.

3) Remember that insults are the refuge of the ignorant; never stoop to that.

4) Never take yourself too seriously, and remember that a good sense of humour will help you in virtually all of your dealings with others.

5) Never stop learning.

So there's mine. They're not perfect, but I think they're a fairly accurate representation of how I approach life. Do I have any other takers?

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Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

- Journey, Don't Stop Believein'

highthief

Treat your neighbour as you would wish to be treated yourself.

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Si vis pacem parabellum.

Hektore

1. "I don't know." will often be the most intelligent thing you could have said.
2. Feelings never trump honesty. Ever.
3. Work as hard as you possibly can, even if you don't get what you were working toward, you'll still have accomplished something almost no one else has.
4. Don't worry about things that can't be helped, it's a waste of time and energy.
5. Your actions are the most important way that you can define yourself, what you think and what you say amount to nothing when compared with what you do.

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Existence precedes essence.

Hain

Everything is connected. The only thing that matters is how you connect to other people and things. Will it be to their positive or their negative?

Human potential is limitless. What do you do with yours?

The destination is not as important as the journey there. How will you get there?

We live on through the people we meet, the choices we make, and lives we touch. What about you will be immortalized?

Punk.of.Ages

Put yourself in another's shoes before you do something that will affect them.

If it's not honest it shouldn't come out of your mouth; and if you're going to let honesty out make sure you can handle the consequences.

That which truly does not matter is not worth worrying about.

Without rebellion comes stagnation.

Have some fucking manners.... please.

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"The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion..." - Henry Steel Commager

"Punk rock music is great music played by really bad, drunk musicians." -Fat Mike

Baraka_Guru

1. We all suffer in similar ways.
2. We can know the cause of suffering.
3. It is possible to cease our suffering.
4. We can find the way to cease suffering.
(Yes, this is essentially Buddhism's Four Noble Truths.)

5. Wisdom isn't linear, it's cyclical.

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"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. [...] In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer."

—"Politics and the English Language," George Orwell

"Humankind cannot bear very much reality."

—"Burnt Norton," Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot

debaser

Things are not as bad as they seem.

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powerclown

1. Democracy
2. Whiskey
3. Sexy

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"Well, I ask a psychopath, I get that kind of an answer." --Woody Allen

Willravel

Know thyself and to thine own self be true.
Be responsible for all of your thoughts, words, and deeds.
Be the change you wish to see in this world.
Respect the people and things around you.
Love unconditionally and be loved unconditionally.

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ɯǝɥʇ ǝʌlos uɐɔ ǝʍ ʇɐɥʇ ǝɔuɐɹouƃı ɥƃnoɹɥʇ ʇou sı ʇı 'sɯǝlqoɹd ǝʇɐǝɹɔ uɐɔ ǝƃpǝlʍouʞ ɟı

CandleInTheDark

1. Do unto others as you would have done unto you
2. Do not expect other people to follow the above
3. Knowledge is power
4. Self-improvement is its own reward
5. Fight for what you believe in

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Where there is doubt there is freedom.

powerclown

This.

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"Well, I ask a psychopath, I get that kind of an answer." --Woody Allen

KellyC

Laugh
Kindness
Knowledge
Humility
Live and let live

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Him: Ok, I have to ask, what do you believe?
Me: Shit happens.

pppg

No war.
Stay out of other peoples business.
There is no room for hate in anyones life.
Jesus went out of his way to help people. Do the same.
Don't go to bed upset.

QuasiMondo

1. Everything has a price, how much are you willing to pay?
2. It's easier to hop on a runaway bus and slam the brakes than trying to stop it with a huge crowd.
3. Put nothing on MySpace...or Facebook...or LiveJournal...or YouTube...or...
4. If you don't have a plan by now, then you're just screwed.
5. Ask not what the lulz can do for you, but what you can do for the lulz.

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"Like it or not, change has come. O.J. is in prison, and a black man is in the White House. Is everybody happy now?"

-Tim Reid & Tom Dreesen

Fotzlid

Live and let live.
You get what you give.
Never be afraid to admit you dont know or can't do something.
Don't sweat the small stuff.
Things can be replaced, people can't.

levite

1. Do not do to other people what you do not wish done to you. That is the beginning and the foundation of ethical behavior: the rest must be learned forthwith.

2. Know yourself. Accept yourself. Love yourself. You cannot truly know anyone else unless you know yourself. You cannot truly accept the world and the other people in it unless you accept yourself. You cannot truly love another person unless you love yourself.

3. Accept the teaching of others. Seek out the wisdom of your predecessors and your elders. Shun ignorance. Understand the finiteness of knowledge (remember there are things you know, things you don't know, and things you don't know that you don't know). Think about what you learn, analyze it, question it, then do it again. Learn all you can, and at the end, think for yourself.

4. Seek balance. Strive for harmony. Master your passions before they master you. Don't shun passion, don't avoid the intensity of emotion, don't deny or sublimate. Be aware. Recognize. Channel what is not useful: rage, hate, jealousy, greed, envy. Take their strength and use it for other things. Learn to focus and expand what is useful: love, joy, contentment, compassion, lovingkindness, loyalty, honesty.

5. Seek to preserve the integrity of your self. Strive to change those things which need changing, but understand that you must accept the things beyond your control. Make peace with the notion that the world goes according to its fashion, and neither can nature be altered nor can people be changed from without. Know what is and is not your problem to worry about, and be punctilious about not adopting those problems which do not belong to you.

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"How wrong Emily Dickinson was! Hope is not the thing with feathers. The thing with feathers has turned out to be my nephew. I must take him to a specialist in Zurich."

Woody Allen

Greg700

I believe the maximum role of government should be the protection of life liberty and property; and the maintenance of a free state....Because if you start making rules to force people to do only things you like, they will probably do the same.


From Heinlein: "I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."

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"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence

Ustwo

The beat goes on.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

silent_jay

Viva La Revolucion

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Proud Canadian

Bring Omar Khadr back to Canada

Sun Tzu

1. Always do your best

2. Know the power of your word, honor, and integrity

3. Never make assumptions

4. Dont take anything personally

5. Yeah right . . . I often wonder if humanity will make it to the United Federal of Planets

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None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. -Johann Wolfgang Goethe

GeneralMao

1) Nothing matters. Seriously, nothing.
2) Our lives are relatively meaningless. Cope with it and make the best of it.
3) Nothing is impossible, chances are you just won't see it in your time.
4) The world is filled with corruption, greed, liars, hypocrites, and 'evil'. Everyone carries one of those traits. If they tell you they don't, they're liars as well.
5) Our lives are planned from the start, not by God or some supernatural being but by politicians and economists, by the color of our skin and our gender, by the place and time we were born.

That's the best I can think of in twenty seconds. My mind is bound to change on some of them...

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A man who fights for nothing, loses everything.

Shauk

1. Society is a stereotype, who's to tell you what you should and should not consider "normal"
2. Media is a wretched tool in the hands of Socialized people
3. Knowing that you know nothing is the path to enlightenment
4. Music will succeed where words fail
5. Politicians come and go and on the grand scheme of things, while it's cool to think it all matters in some way, you have to wonder if it really means anything at all unless humanity is striving for a common goal for the good of everything in existence.

Seer666

The world is like an oyster. Once you've sucked out the meat and found the pearl, the only thing the rest of it is good for is an ash tray.

Have any opinion you want, but try and push it on me and be ready for a fight.

If you get into a fair fight, it's your own fucking fault.

Never let a friend go if you can help it. True ones are all to rare.

there is always a situation, no matter how unlikely, that will make any action the right one. Right and wrong are a matter of circumstance.

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Bad spellers of the world untie!!!

I am the one you warned me of

I seem to have misplaced the bullet with your name on it, but I have a whole box addressed to occupant.

Borgs

1. In the end, no one knows anything. But it's important for us to think that we do.

2. People are more worried about how they will die rather than how they live their lives.

inBOIL

1. The Golden Rule shouldn't always be followed; what's best for you may not be what would be best for me if I were in your shoes.
2. You can always improve, but it's hard to know what's an improvement.

I haven't figured out the other three yet.

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Life is like playing the violin solo in public and learning the instrument as you go.

AKR

1. Democracy is flawed, as not everyone is fit to make good choices
2. Regardless of whether there is a God or not, live like there is none. Your true character will show through.
3. There is no set rule book. When you tell someone what they are doing is wrong, remember that you`re stating a belief.
4. There`s more than one way to live a life. If your friends gay, or a virgin, or a poor squatter on the west coast, and they`re happy, leave em alone.
5. Natural drugs (pot, shrooms, raw coco leaf) are medicine, and like all medicines, only hurt when you take too much. Do it right, and the soul will be healed.

Bear Cub

5 words:

Everyone is full of shit.

AKR

That`s true too.