I've had these pearls of wisdom staring me down every time I've reached for my breakfast cereal in the last few months, and have inevitably started to ponder a few. Surely the people who have said them are all greats, but how well have their soundbites held up over time? Are they truly Kellogg's worthy? Let's discuss.

1. "Opinions cannot survive if one has no chance to fight for them." -Thomas Mann

Finding it sort of hard to wrap my head around this one. What is this implying? That a forum should always be made available for people to express their unpopular opinions? Or that it's pointless to hold an opinion that has no chance of being properly heard? Too confusing and not very insightful. 4.2

2. "Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length." -Robert Frost

Probably truer for some than for others, but still a point worth making, and one which cleverly reflects an entire sort of life philosophy within it. Nothing earth shattering, but I like it. 7.7

3. "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate." - John F. Kennedy

This is the sort of phrase presidents should be coining more often. Tough without being arrogant, and firm while remaining reflexible. Much better than the overrated and similarly transitive-property-of-equality inflected "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." 8.9

4. "Your success and happiness lie in you...Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties." - Hellen Keller

I suppose there are possible applications of this rather naive and decidedly non-psychoanalytic philosophy, but this speaks to me as being too reliant on repression and artifice to work as a long-term mantra. That said, there is probably at least some truth in this, since happiness must be at least somewhat controllable. And I guess someone like Hellen Keller would know. 6.2

5. "Cherish all your happy moments: they make a fine cushion for old age." - Booth Tarkington

Far too non-specific. The word "cherish" is a fairly useless one--just what is that supposed to entail, anyway? Everyone likes their happy moments, but are they supposed to dwell on them so much that they start to neglect the present? Doesn't this speak so much to retro nostalgia that Tarkington is essentially suggesting we spend our whole lives looking in the rear-view mirror? Not that we all aren't guilty of that at some point (especially myself), but as life guidance, I don't know how much of a comfort that's really going to be in our old age. 4.4

6. "Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else." - Will Rodgers

Probably true but a mite too obvious to be Raisin Bran-worthy. Might've been more revolutionary a concept before reality TV, I suppose. 5.5

7. "Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty." - Coco Chanel

This sounds less like a life philosophy than an open endorsement for cosmetic enhancement. It could be read, I suppose, to mean that if you want to look good at 50, you have to treat your face better--eating right, no sun, whatever--but even that smacks of superficiality amongst these other "great" quotes, especially when considering the speaker. 3.5

8. "When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." - George Washington Carver

This is a winner. A simple observation, but one that has held true for centuries and will most likely continue to do so far into the future. And non-specific in a way that doesn't imply a lack of commitment, but which makes the philosophy applicable to all sorts of people in all walks of life. 9.0

9. "But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?" -Albert Camus

Booooooooo. Is this quote really saying much of anything at all? If it is, I'm not feeling it. "Happiness is leading a good life?" Robert Smith would be disappointed. 2.2

10. "Oh, what a tangled web do parents weave when they think their children are naive." - Ogden Nash

Fairly insightful, I suppose. I don't think it's too outlandish to think that each generation continues to surprise their parents with their relative lack of innocence. I think I was pretty naive as a kid (still am, probably) but there are still some things I did or realized as a kid that might have surprised my parents, and that goes triple for my brother. And hey, the quote rhymes. Automatic leg up. 7.3

I use to have roommate who covered the bathroom walls with quotes like this. He used a paint pen and it just looked a mess. Most of them were the kind of thing a grandmother has framed in the kitchen somewhere. I repainted the bathroom as soon as he moved out. Fucking annoying it was. Too much random verbage to try to process while I was taking a dump.

I would interpret this as a variation on "to thine own self be true."

Is that really saying anything more, though? Being "true to yourself" could mean any number of things, it's an extremely vague truism that supposedly great quote-coiners have rested upon for too long.

1. "Opinions cannot survive if one has no chance to fight for them." -Thomas Mann

i dunno about this one. it'd be much better if "has no chance to" is replaced by "does not." even then it's not too insightful

2. "Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length." -Robert Frost

i like the sentiment. the drudgery of life is worth living for those fleeting moments. but height and length are the same damn thing in the physical universe, so this quote doesn't quite work

3. "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate." - John F. Kennedy

the phrase "negotiate out of fear" is confusing. it should be "negotiate due to fear." and why would anyone fear to negotiate?

4. "Your success and happiness lie in you...Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties." - Hellen Keller

blah, blah, blah. don't worry, be happy

5. "Cherish all your happy moments: they make a fine cushion for old age." - Booth Tarkington

guh?

6. "Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else." - Will Rodgers

child molestation?

7. "Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty." - Coco Chanel

excellent

8. "When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." - George Washington Carver

umm...excellent

9. "But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?" -Albert Camus

this is an eloquent way of saying that contentment = happiness (long-term happiness, that is)

10. "Oh, what a tangled web do parents weave when they think their children are naive." - Ogden Nash

*rolls eyes*

Actually the Camus quote seems best to me...though I prefer anything and everything quotable by Ralph Waldo Emerson...sadly...he's not represented.

Probably made more sense when it was said, when I imagine Cold War tensions were high and a lot of grandstanding was being done. I take the word "negotiate" in more of the metaphoric sense anyway--let us not buckle out of fear, but let us not be afraid to give in a little when necessary.

Isn't this obvious though? What is happiness if not contentment?

employ yourself.

boarding is my business.

and business is good.

I'll just take this opportunity to drop some of those gems that are Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes.....

A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us.

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.

Beauty without expression is boring.

Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.


Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.

Every man I meet is in some way my superior.


Life consists in what a man is thinking of all day.

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

...and so is the plumbing, with all of that bran...

i think the word happiness is generally considered to be closer to euphoria than mere contentment, especially in today's 'feel good now' society. i think that in a way camus is saying that the state of contentment is underappreciated

Got this in the mail today, so it must be an sign to post it.







What makes Hellen Keller a bad driver?

















Wait for it....




















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She's a woman!






Ya, I know, bad sexist humor.