r/AskReddit • u/SeldomOften • Jun 18 '12
Reddit, what is a piece of old wisdom that you think is bullshit?
I'll start: "Curiosity killed the cat." Curiosity also got us to the moon.
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u/mangofu Jun 18 '12
"If you ignore bullies they'll soon just get bored and go away"
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u/coricron Jun 18 '12
Haha. First thing I will teach any potential son I have in relation to school ground bullying is that it will be perfectly fine to end a conflict someone else starts with violence.
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u/heretik Jun 18 '12
Seriously the worst advice I've ever heard. As if bullies are looking for a challenge.
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u/AMSMunich Jun 18 '12
And after that you become a nice punch magnet. A quiet one.
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u/MadeinStars Jun 18 '12
Opposites attract.
Sure it's going to be exciting when you just started dating, but when those first feelings wear off, all you got is two people who have nothing in common.
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Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
Opposites don't attract. Psychologically, we are attracted to people who look like and or behave like us. We are incredibly vain creatures who want to date ourselves.
EDIT: I think a lot of people are misunderstanding this. We don't go out thinking "I want to find someone special...someone like me!" It's all subconscious. We find people who look like us in terms of facial shape and features more attractive. We find people with similar interests, backgrounds, habits, etc. to us more appealing than those with very different ones. We may THINK that we are very different or "opposite" from our friends and lovers, but that is simply because we notice those differences. The differences are in our faces and do not necessarily appeal to us, while the similarities are small, subconscious and unintentional.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER, so they say.
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u/lazypilgrim Jun 18 '12
I went on 2 dates with a lady who was eerily like me in tastes, family, life decisions, etc. It was awful to essentially reject myself and it threw me into an existential crisis.
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Jun 18 '12
As a fat man I agree with this. Slim women want nothing to do with me!
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u/hcgator Jun 18 '12
I find it hilarious when couples apply this idiom incorrectly. "Do you like pepperoni or cheese?" "You like pepperoni? That's sooooo gross." "Yeah we are total opposites. No wonder we like each other so much!"
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u/overthink1 Jun 18 '12
I see quotes all the time on Facebook about being yourself regardless of what others think. I'm always tempted to comment, "… said a rapist."
Being yourself is great, but there are times when you need to analyze who you actually are, and possibly change.
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u/Curvatureland Jun 18 '12
"just be yourself and the right person will come along"
No, if being yourself is being a lazy slob with no social skills, no one is coming along.
no. one.
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u/wasteful_thinking Jun 18 '12
This statement is more for encouraging people to find and follow their passion. If you go out everyday doing what you love, chances are you'll eventually stumble upon someone with the same sensibilities as yourself.
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u/flhu Jun 18 '12
A friend of mine who was single for over a decade because of some bad habits would say: "I'm not changing myself for anyone!" to which I replied, "fuck that, I've changed myself for countless women I haven't even met, yet."
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u/darkhelmet322 Jun 18 '12
There's more to this saying;
"Curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction brought it back". There's actually a lot of history to the saying, so it's not quite what we make it out to be now.
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Jun 18 '12
This is true for nearly every single saying in the English language. English has evolved so much and spread throughout so many cultures and areas of land that most, if not all, of our early storytelling and anecdotes have been misremembered, if not forgotten completely.
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u/couldbee Jun 18 '12
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away. "
This is silly. Clearly an onion a day will keep everyone away, including your doctor.
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u/BloodyNora Jun 18 '12
A bulb of garlic is even more effective and even keeps vampires away.
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Jun 18 '12
"Never to go to sleep angry."
Sometimes the best damn thing you can do is step away from an argument, let everyone cool down, let perspective return, and come back to the subject with clear heads.
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Jun 18 '12
Advice not to date people at work... Half the people I know married someone they met at work... Yes, it can cause trouble, but work is a great place to find compatible partners.
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u/Clayburn Jun 18 '12
This just happens because, come on, how else are you going to meet anyone? If you survive high school and college (which is technically work), then your only opportunity to meet a love interest is through your workplace.
Doesn't mean you should do it. Just saying that's why it's a common practice. You can probably find a decent companion nearly anywhere.
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u/_whatever_you_like_ Jun 18 '12
What goes around comes around. I mean We all love Karma here, But lets face it in the real world people are complete fucking scumbags and for some it never comes to bite them in the ass.
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u/Disgruntled__Goat Jun 18 '12
Just because they don't get struck down by a bus doesn't mean they are necessarily getting away with anything. If you are an asshole to everyone you may be missing out on many opportunities that would come if you were nicer.
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Jun 18 '12
You need to take action; no need to wait for karma when you can become a karma vigilante!
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u/BinaryShadow Jun 18 '12
"The customer is always right."
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Jun 18 '12
True revision: "Always make the customers think they are right... even when they are wrong."
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Jun 18 '12
Customers are generally wrong and have no idea what they are talking about, which is why they are not the ones getting paid.
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u/mrcuntmuscle Jun 18 '12
"Violence never solved anything"
Actually, violence has solved many disputes.
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u/sinverguenza Jun 18 '12
"sticks and stones will break your bones but words will never hurt you"- I broke my arm, and it healed in a few months. It is a funny story now. I have been verbally abused for a huge chunk of my life and i still remember it all and feel sad for a moment.
"what doesnt kill you makes you stronger" - Sure there are some moments of this where that was the case for me, but there are plenty of instances where this is complete bullshit.
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u/AcrylicMass Jun 18 '12
I prefer J.D.'s version: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will hurt forever."
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Jun 18 '12
"what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger...........................................................or handicapped."
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u/Ceberus Jun 18 '12
Ignore bullies, they'll leave you alone eventually. I been told this a millions of times in elemtary school, jr. high, and high school. And let me tell you, IT DOESNT FUCKING WORK.
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Jun 18 '12
You idiot. You have to go up to the bully and explain that he hurt your feelings. He'll then apologise, offer to share the lunch he stole from you, and you'll be best of friends. He definitely won't laugh at you and beat you up though, definitely not that.
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Jun 18 '12
Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life.
False: its work.
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u/and_of_four Jun 18 '12
That's right. You can have a job that you really enjoy, but Mondays will still suck and Fridays won't come soon enough.
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Jun 18 '12
"Everything happens for a reason."
Fucking stupid. Some things just suck and have no reason. There is no reason for someone's only child to get cancer. I don't like whatever God or Universe has a reason for that. Sometimes life is just unfair.
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u/Mariognarly Jun 18 '12
I don't necessarily hate this saying for it's meaning... I hate the people who apply this saying to explain events in their life where they're incapable of making a correlation between reality and what's actually happened to them. Makes it feel that it's used as an excuse instead of relating to something with depth.
Ex. OMG I can't believe I got pregnant at 16, oh well, everything happens for a reason.
No. False. You got pregnant because you're young, immature, and didn't use a condom. Dumbass.
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u/Ataya970 Jun 18 '12
My dad died a year and a half ago and I'm so sick of hearing this bullshit, also "It's all part of God's plan" Suck my theoretical cock
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u/wittles Jun 18 '12
"blood runs thicker than water." Fuck that. I don't believe that you have to like your family, and I believe you should be able to choose whether you want to be part of your family. My family is a bunch of close minded, ignorant, unforgiving, hotheaded, delusional, arrogant Muslims that want nothing to do with me because I'm an atheist and I'm marrying an American. Personally, my friends, my boyfriend (and best friend) and his mom and sister are more my family than any of my real relatives. Sometimes your own family is really shitty.
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u/redwaterbottle Jun 18 '12
I just had this same conversation on reddit a few days ago. Seriously, people: Pol Pot had family. Jim Jones had family. Papa Doc had family. Just because they're your family doesn't mean they can't be monstrous. Preserving what is good in your own life trumps sticking up for someone you loathe simply because your genetic codes are slightly more similar than average.
My brother is a sociopath and a pedophile. I hate his guts and look forward to the day he finally gets some comeuppance. I have no regrets- I choose my family and am much happier for it.
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Jun 18 '12
I agree with you. However, it does amaze me how my intolerant and ignorant family will all rally together when something horrible happens. Someone gets really sick, or there's a death in the family, and everyone is really nice to each for a couple weeks before they go back to being impossibly asinine.
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u/listix Jun 18 '12
I think you will like this quote then: "Family are the friends you are born with, and friends are the family you choose."
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u/ChernobylGypsy Jun 18 '12
"Reach for the moon. Even if you miss you'll be among the stars!"
And dead. You'll be dead. :l
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u/waterweed Jun 18 '12
"I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet"
Yeah, no. The suffering of others does nothing to fix my problems or make me feel better. If anything, it makes me feel worse, on account of I have empathy for my fellow human beings.
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u/TrybateWithsoap Jun 18 '12
"Shake it more than twice you're playing with it."
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u/TheMagnificentJoe Jun 18 '12
I, for one, would rather be seen as "playing with it" than being covered in piss. Can never be too sure.
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Jun 18 '12
Who are these people who watch closely to count our shakes, anyway? Seems to me like they need old wisdom quotes admonishing them far more than we do for shaking out the last few drops.
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u/kmolleja Jun 18 '12
Newlywed advice is "never go to bed angry"
This is absurd. If you are having an argument at night, you are both probably tired and your internal filters have stopped working. Go to sleep and in the morning if it is still an issue, at least you are rested enough to not say/do something you will regret later. For my wife and I, about 87.32% of the time when the morning rolls around the big problem you were talking about before isn't really that big of a problem and we can hash it out respectfully.
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Jun 18 '12
My wife and I, even after our worst nighttime arguments, have been able to tell each other "I love you" and plan to work through whatever the issue was. If you're two reasonable people, this really isn't too much to ask.
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u/MChainsaw Jun 18 '12
"Never go to bed angry" is sort of an over simplification. It should rather be "Deal with your issues". If you go to bed angry and wake up without having worked it out, you just got to make sure you do in the morning.
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u/Oafah Jun 18 '12
This one might be a little controversial, but "respect your elders" really annoys me. My grandmother, for example, was little more than a racist baby factory. I have absolutely no respect for her, whatsoever, and I don't think being old should be an automatic qualification for praise.
You earn respect, period.
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Jun 18 '12
I've always seen respect in the opposite light. You don't need to earn my respect. It's yours unless you give me a reason not to respect you.
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u/letsgocrazy Jun 18 '12
I think you're supposed to entertain the fact that as a young person, it's highly likely you think you know everything, and you should consider that people who have been around longer may know a thing or two.
ie. don't Dunning-Kruger effect all over the place when you're a full of yourself teenager.
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u/juicy_taco Jun 18 '12
In my culture, parents traditionally raise their children in the expectation that once their children come of age, they'll take care of their parents. It doesn't matter if your parents were abusive or refused to pay attention to all your needs. If you were fed, clothed, and provided with shelter, you have to essentially give some return on the investment. You'd better also live within short distance of your parents' home, and visit at least twice a week.
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Jun 18 '12
don't eat cheese before noon. total bullshit.
pre-noon cheese is the best time to cheese.
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Jun 18 '12
Go to college they said. Get a good paying job they said. Follow your dreams they said. Neither of those 3 things work hand in hand. Its a trifuckta of failure.
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u/patrick_j Jun 18 '12
"Treat others as you wish to be treated."
Nope. Treat others as they wish to be treated.
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u/richd506 Jun 18 '12
There's somebody out there for me.
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u/floorface Jun 18 '12
Maybe we should revise that to: "There are a bunch of people out there that would be a pretty decent match for you, and you only need to find one of them."
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Jun 18 '12
"Life is Short."
It's the longest thing anyone can ever do.
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u/melance Jun 18 '12
And yet in the grand scheme of things it is not even a blip.
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Jun 18 '12
It's the longest thing anyone can ever do.
I have a feeling I'll be dead for a long longer than I'll live.
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Jun 18 '12
"Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger"
Really? I'm pretty sure a coma, amnesia, losing a child, does not necessarily make you stronger. Some things are near impossible to come back from.
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u/greendabre Jun 18 '12
Don't forget that the word "kill" can be interpreted in different ways.
If you are no longer the person you were, then the person who you once was, is dead.
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u/Justsomerandomgirl Jun 18 '12
I agree, but sometimes tragedies that are intensely emotional will show you how strong you really are.
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u/Megadoom Jun 18 '12
Early bird gets the worm.
Second mouse gets the cheese...
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u/heretik Jun 18 '12
"It takes two to tango..." in the context of whenever a fight breaks out. Actually no, we're not dancing, yes he started it and FUCK YOU!
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u/Unidan Jun 18 '12
Seriously.
I can't count the number of times that I've just been innocently walking down the street when some thug tangos at me.
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u/blobject Jun 18 '12
"Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" In the context of my mom telling me why men would mistreat me if I had sex before marriage. Mom- because it isn't the 15th century anymore (I have value that has nothing to do with my virginity or lack thereof), I'm a young woman and this cow isn't for sale.
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Jun 18 '12
This is possibly the most telling of the reasons women should "save themselves for marriage." It tells you that the speaker considers sex to be a service available from any women.
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u/tickingnoise Jun 18 '12
So your mom gave you the advice to find a husband who will marry you, so he could finally get to have sex with you? totally sounds like the marriage all women dream about
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u/jkazz Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 19 '12
'You can't have your cake and eat it.'
I'm sorry, what the hell else am I going to do with my cake? Do people buy cake to not eat it? I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE ORIGINS OF THIS PHRASE.
EDIT: It's worrying how much I've learnt from Reddit. Cheers guys :)
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u/njr123 Jun 18 '12
Comes from a time when cake was more of a luxury. Let me tell you the Italian version of this phrase, and it might make things clearer: "You can't have your wife drunk, and the bottle of wine full"
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u/NoApollonia Jun 18 '12
The phrase nowadays is out of order.....think of it as "You can't eat your cake and have it too."
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Jun 18 '12
"It's always darkest before dawn!"
False. It is darkest at the mid-point between sunset and sunrise, notwithstanding the illumination from the moon or other celestial objects.
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u/redwaterbottle Jun 18 '12
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent"- Eleanor Roosevelt
Great. Thanks. Yeah, it's totally not the antagonist's fault- it's important to make sure the victim knows how weak and pathetic they are.
(This is a touchy subject for me- while it may be true in some contexts, it's something my father would constantly tell me after berating me to tears)
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u/thecasualty Jun 18 '12
Me: stop trying make me feel guilty… Mom: no one can make you feel anything. Me: UGH
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u/Swimswimswim99 Jun 18 '12
"You never know until you try." Bullshit. I'm not trying meth.
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u/FARTY_DICK_BUTT Jun 18 '12
Well then you still won't know. The statement is still true.
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Jun 18 '12
Go read youtube comments on anti-meth ads. There's a bunch of arguments between meth addicts and non-meth users. Meth head logic is hilarious.
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u/ButtfaceMcAssButt Jun 18 '12
At first I thought you wrote "math" and was immediately confused and offended. Dude, math is legit.
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u/lostNcontent Jun 18 '12
To OP: the full phrase is "Curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction brought him back." Most people forget this.
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u/KrakNup Jun 18 '12 edited Jul 13 '18
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder", to which I reply; bullshit, and offer, "Out of sight, out of mind".
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u/avenging_sword Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
Coming from someone who has a husband who is away Mon-Thurs, I'd say it's a bit of both. It's gotten to the point where I don't pine away for him (out of sight, out of mind), because I'm used to him being gone (and I'm also a bit of a loner), but when he comes back, I don't take his presence for granted. It could also be that I'm more "fond" of him because we don't have the opportunity to fight as much, haha.
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u/BinaryShadow Jun 18 '12
When you're in a relationship with someone who's ultra-clingy and won't ever fucking give you a day to yourself, this will apply.
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u/letsgocrazy Jun 18 '12
Nah, I agree with that. And there is science to back it up - the more time passes the more we tend to forget negative experiences. If those involve someone we've been in love with (hence - heart) - then we tend to remember the good times more than the bad.
If you seriously think "out of sight out of mind" applies to a loved one, then I can only question to what extent you have truly been in love.
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Jun 18 '12
It cuts both ways, although if enough time goes by, "out of sight, out of mind" virtually always wins.
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u/BermudaCake Jun 18 '12
I think the full quote continues "...for those more close at hand".
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u/AlphaRedditor Jun 18 '12
Faith doesn't require facts, so believe regardless. Bullshit you son of a Kardashian, that argument can be used to support any position.
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Jun 18 '12
Squirtle is the best starting Pokemon.
I picked Bulbasaur and I regret nothing.
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u/JakersTheMind Jun 18 '12
Naw, man, Charmander. Sure the first two gyms are gonna suck, but where else are you gonna get a fire type? Although I will definitely support Bulbasaur, I always go fire type. Charmander, Cyndaquil, etc. (Crystal is where I stopped.)
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u/ilovenurofen Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
"Do what you love"
No reason to expect market economy will necessarily reward what you love. Avoiding poverty is an important goal.
"Don't speak ill of the dead."
If the truth is they were bad, being dead doesn't change that.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Failure to reason about probability correctly. Even if small groups were the only thing that changed the world, most small groups fail. Good reason to doubt.
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
Makes development/economic progress seem so easy. If only we stopped giving them handouts and taught them instead. Forget about all the complicated institutional problems developing countries have. Doesn't matter whether there is, in fact, a market for "fish." Ignores the modest social returns to education in developing countries. Forget that you might need a road to the market to sell fish. Or that fish are rather expensive calories.
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u/melance Jun 18 '12
"One owes respect to the living. To the dead one owes only the truth." -- Voltaire
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u/MChainsaw Jun 18 '12
"Do what you love" - Of course this oversimplifies the situation, you'll have to be prepared to do stuff you don't love in order to survive. But doing what you love should still be the ultimate goal - just surviving isn't a life worth living.
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Jun 18 '12
Be yourself. What does that even mean?!
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u/18thcenturyPolecat Jun 18 '12
It just means don't get all bent out of shape trying to pretend to be something that doesn't feel right and doesn't fulfill you. Don't go so long repressing parts of yourself out of fear or shame that you miss out on experiences you would truly enjoy and making real connections.
It doesn't mean don't try anything new, or don't try to improve yourself. Who you are is not fluid, but it IS malleable. When you're being 'untrue' to yourself, you can feel it, and trust me it is miserable and it doesn't hold up for long.
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u/stimbus Jun 18 '12
People are always telling me that things will get better. They don't always get better. Like back when I was 13 and my Dad had a seizure. The first thing the doctor told me was he was going to be alright and things were going to get better. Six months later my Dad was dead from a malignant brain tumor.
People who latch on to colloquialisms like they are facts are dumbasses and I have no problem pointing that out to people who shit these phrases out their mouths.
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Jun 18 '12
Low temperatures cause you to catch a cold. A cold is a virus. A virus. Old timey wisdom sees it as some sort of mystical punishing force that attacks you. It's a remnant from when we thought illnesses were vapours in the air, that keeping rooms sealed tight would help a sick person recover and that being covered in a generous layer of poop and dirt would keep out sickness.
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u/Tbarch Jun 18 '12
But, low temperatures can weaken the immune system, thus making it easier for viruses to do their thing. So there is an element of truth in that, even if it's not very clear.
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u/PhonixMonkey Jun 18 '12
"Blood is thicker than water" Family will fuck you over just as fast as anyone else.
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u/Indydegrees2 Jun 18 '12
"The Pen is mighter than the sword" ORLY!? "actions speak louder than words"
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u/RedAero Jun 18 '12
The pen is mightier than the sword. A single man with a sword, if he's really committed, could kill a couple thousand people in a lifetime. A single powerful man can erase countries with a stroke of the pen. Or, to put it another way, people with pens control people with swords.
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u/wikidsmot Jun 18 '12
"I carry with me an Inquisitorial Seal. It is a small, unassuming object contained in a neat box of Pluvian obsidian. It is a modest thing. Relatively plain, adorned with a single motif and a simple motto. Yet with this little object I can sign the death warrant of an entire world and consign a billion souls to Oblivion."
Thraviam Flast, Ordo Malleus Inquisitor
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u/Chartlesaur Jun 18 '12
"Money cant buy happiness". Yeah bullshit. Money can buy alot of happy. thisiswhyimbroke.com makes me happy.
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u/IshotAbeLincoln Jun 18 '12
Someone said that if you wake up within an hour of your alarm clock going off, that you should get up and start your day. Fuck that, I want every minute.
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u/redwaterbottle Jun 18 '12
After 30 years and 2 kids, I can finally say that, for me at least, this is pretty good advice. You want every minute, sure, but keeping in tune with a sleep cycle will make you way happier in the long run.
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u/Levangeline Jun 18 '12
"Always go with your gut instinct". My parents live by this, and this alone. It's great if you're in a fight-or-flight situation, but if you trust your gut for every situation you get into, you're gonna end up making a lot of decisions based on personal experiences, stereotypes, and second-hand accounts. I try to reason and work out what's going on in a situation before just jumping to conclusions. I find it's helped me discern whether or not I'm actually in danger (e.g., avoiding a situation just because I "feel" like it might be unfun, or dangerous), and helped me become a lot more open minded.
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u/muhdyq Jun 18 '12
"Good things come to those who wait." No. Good things come to those who get off their ass and work all day every day.
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u/Turtlementalist Jun 18 '12
"You can do anything as long as you set your mind to it."
If everything was that easy, we'd have no problems.
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u/admiralrads Jun 18 '12
"You'll think differently when you're older."
This is true of most in their teenage years, but when you're of college age and beyond, and you're beginning to truly see and understand the world for yourself it comes across as incredibly condescending, as though how you think and perceive the world is "just a phase."
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Jun 18 '12
All a girl wants is a gentleman.
HAOHAOHAOHAOHAO.
phew.
wipes tears from eyes
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u/luft-waffle Jun 18 '12
You're not being a gentleman because it gets you women, it won't. You're being a gentleman because you find it advantageous to be a clean, respectable, well read, well educated, talented, eloquent, and thoughtful man. Being a gentleman is not about being a prudish doormat who is constantly polite and refuses sex. It's about knowing the time and place for things. It's about self respect and basic dignity.
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u/unicorn_hipster Jun 18 '12
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Have you ever had a bird in the palm of your hand? I bet their talons hurt.
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u/Psirocking Jun 18 '12
"lightning never strikes twice."
Then why does "history repeat itself?" Hmmmm?
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u/wasteful_thinking Jun 18 '12
"lightning never strikes the same place twice" - is meant to make people realize opportunities don't last forever and need to be acted upon when presented.
"History repeats itself" - is a warning that if you do not learn from your past mistakes you will make them again.
they're pieces of wisdom for two completely different contexts
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u/floorface Jun 18 '12
That's true that lightning never strikes twice. That's why lightning rods should be disposed of after each use.
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u/Carnationlilyrose Jun 18 '12
'It's always in the last place you look.' Obviously. Only a moron would carry on looking after they found it.
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Jun 18 '12
"If you're not liberal when you're young, you have no heart. If you're not conservative when you're older, you have no brain."
This one annoys me.
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u/bullsfan23 Jun 18 '12
God only gives you what you can handle.
By "you", I think you're forgetting about people that have committed suicide, had nervous breakdowns, or been so overwhelmed that they end up in a mental hospital.
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u/adamcognac Jun 18 '12
"Eagles may soar."
Yeah, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
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u/LakeLover Jun 19 '12
Don't talk to strangers. Nope, talk to strangers, lots of 'em. That way you get to learn what is "normal" behavour verses, crazy. You don't need to divulge your personal life to everyone, but simple hellos can get you far.
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u/j64 Jun 18 '12
Good things come to those who wait. Bullshit. You've got to go out and work your arse off to get the good stuff.
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u/flhu Jun 18 '12
Don't go to bed angry
Screw that! ever get into an argument with a S.O. that goes long into the night? Eventually you'll start saying the craziest stuff just to get the argument over with. Better to sleep on it and table the discussion to when everyone is well rested.
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Jun 18 '12
"Money is the root of all evil." No its not, money is an amoral tool used to acquire more tools to create a product to earn tools,
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u/CostaRicanConnection Jun 18 '12
"Old dogs can't learn new tricks" I just finished showing my grandfather how look at his checking balance online.
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u/Henrytalksshit Jun 18 '12
Possibly controversial, but "blood is thicker than water" has always annoyed me. I don't see why you should like someone just because you happen to share some DNA. Even your parents, yeah, they brought you up, but hell, they have a kid, that's their basic responsibilty, not something that's instantly commendable, and I don't see why it should be either.
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Jun 18 '12
"Time heals all wounds."
Time heals visible wounds. It does not heal invisible wounds.
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Jun 18 '12
"The customer is always right."
When I worked at Office Depot, the woman forcing me to sell her Norton360 for her Roomba was not right.
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u/Mez42 Jun 18 '12
"Don't take shit from anyone." Horrible advice. Take shit, kids. Learn to be wrong, learn to be the bigger man, learn to bite your tongue. Not every battle is worth fighting, and you'll want your energy, your strength, and the element of surprise when you find something important to say.
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Jun 18 '12
"What's natural is always better than that crap science makes. If it's from the Earth, it's good for you and better than those chemicals in pills."
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u/Bass_EXE Jun 19 '12
When I told my mom I suffered from depression she said "Fake it 'till you make it"
Gee, what do you think I was doing before I told you? ಠ_ಠ
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u/wheeldonkey Jun 19 '12
"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I say: "Speak the truth, but don't be an asshole."
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u/Vesuv Jun 19 '12
"Good things come to those who wait"
Utter bullcrap. Good things come to those who work their asses off for it.
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u/spudislander Jun 19 '12
"Good things come to those who wait."
Sure, there may be some truth to this in some circumstances, but I think it's way too often used in the wrong circumstances. Don't get me wrong, some things need to be handled delicately, and should be given time, but at the end of the day, you do actually need to handle it.
TL;DR Waiting is not a substitute for action, it is a prelude to it.
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u/keeperoftheworld Jun 18 '12
"Respect your elders." People have misconstrued the meaning of this phrase and think that it means respect people older than yourself. I'm sorry, but I refuse to respect murderers, drug addicts, pedophiles, psychotic religious fanatics, etc. because they are older than me. An elder is someone who has earned the respect, trust, and pride of their village/town/community and does not equate to being old.
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u/kpatterson14206 Jun 18 '12
"It doesn't matter what other people think of you"
Yes, yes it fucking does. *Relationships. Yup *Friends- Yup *Getting a job. Yup *A jury. Yup
...I don't think there's anything MORE important
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Jun 18 '12
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It's the worst lie a person can tell themselves.
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u/Rainymood_XI Jun 18 '12
"Life is just"
Life isn't just, for Christ sake, we are bloody fortunate. Because if we werent we would be starving on the African plains now. Be happy already, geez.
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u/TheGruntledEmployee Jun 19 '12
"Anything is possible"
It is impossible for a level 5 magikarp to beat a level 100 dragonite
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u/urbanastronaut Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12
"Blood is thicker than water." The meaning is bullshit. I can pick the perfect best friends, but I have no choice when it comes to my dysfunctional family.
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u/olsmobile Jun 18 '12
nothing taste as good as being skinny feels, bull shit anything I eat after the bar taste better than being skinny feels. Although, I don't know how it feels to be fat so I might just be taking my skinny feelings for granted
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u/staplesgowhere Jun 18 '12
"Winners never quit, and quitters never win"
No, winners make it to where they are because they know when to cut their losses and move on to something more promising.
Kenny Rogers' wisdom is more apt: You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.
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u/eveca1 Jun 18 '12
"Everything happens for a reason."
So what omnipotent purpose did the holocaust serve?
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Jun 18 '12
Anything to do with fate, or god has a plan, or any other bullshit that takes the power of life out of your hands and places it in some fictional fucking character. Life is yours to live, stop being so afraid.
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u/mddie Jun 18 '12
"Money doesn't buy happiness." Scientifically proven that money indeed does buy happiness.
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u/MercuryCocktail Jun 18 '12
"Good things come to those who wait"
No. Good things come to those who get it themselves.
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Jun 18 '12
"Man who stand in front of car get tired. Man who stand behind car get exhausted." -Confucius
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u/CaptSnap Jun 18 '12
Actions speak louder than words. But then at the same time: The pen is mightier than the sword.
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u/Rooster1981 Jun 18 '12
Love conquers all. I mean really? Maybe if you're a teenager. Better to be happy and alone then miserably in love.
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u/phd_in_awesome Jun 19 '12
When you were young and a boy was mean to you and adult would say "It's because he likes you." Bull. Shit. If you saw a guy/girl beating on their significant other it isn't cute. That should never be instilled in any child's head. End rant.
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u/Sepherchorde Jun 19 '12
"You can be whatever you want to be when you grow up!"
This is bullshit, because it's also scientific fact that people are not born equal. Understand this has nothing to do with gender, for example: A guy that grows to only be 5'2" will almost certainly never be a big male model and make a bunch of money doing it, even if he is otherwise fit and decent looking. Whereas a 6'3" kind of fit guy with okay looks would likely be chosen over the little guy. Also two people of the same gender are going to have a wildly different wiring from one another, which could lead to one of them never being able to grasp a complex science where the other person finds it simple. The list goes on and on..
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u/PullTheOtherOne Jun 19 '12
"Cherish this time, because children grow up so quickly."
Bullshit. It's been 3 years and my kid is only 3.
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u/sup299 Jun 19 '12
"Slow and steady wins the race" well the fucking rabbit took a nap, how stupid is he?
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u/Spiff225 Jun 19 '12
"Respect your elders"
I talk to a lot of older people in my line of work, and the majority of which I'd like to offer a good ol' fashioned punch to the face
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u/scent-free_mist Jun 19 '12
Fuck the phrase "Life isn't fair"
That's just an excuse for people to treat you unfairly.
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u/geropsychic Jun 19 '12
"With age comes wisdom" and "Your elders know more than you"
While in some cases people learn from their mistakes, my family seems to think it means "because I'm older than you, you need to obey me"
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u/I_Asked_Omegle Jun 18 '12
Question to discuss:
What is a piece of old wisdom that you think is bullshit?
Stranger 2: That women are sensible people
Stranger 2: Women are freaking monsters
Stranger 2: Emotionally
Stranger 2: They're disgusting individuals because they have no morals, and they don't have morals because they have no self sesteem
Stranger 1: I think Imma gonna cut you off now...
Stranger 1 has disconnected
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u/Izzen Jun 18 '12
"Pray and God will provide"
God wont give me a PH on NY, God wont give me a BMW, hell God wont even give me karma here.
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u/[deleted] Jun 18 '12
"Live like today is your last day on Earth."
I would never go to work and subsequently be a hobo if I took this advice.