“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Airman’s Odyssey

That makes it sound like I live a much more minimalistic life than I do. But when I write code (and writing code is a big part of my life), I apply the fuck out of that quote.

Mine are:

“you don’t have to talk about what you know, but you have to know what you’re talking about.”

And

“don’t have a wish bone where a back bone should be.”

Don’t let the bastards grind you down.

I just try to follow the messages Picard laid down. The two “The Drumhead” speeches are my favourites though.

“The first time any man’s freedom is trodden on, we’re all damaged.”

“Vigilance, Mr. Worf. That is the price we have to continually pay.”

“Dont cheap out between you and the ground”

I think I got this from my grandfather and it means, dont cheap out on shoes, mattresses, shoes, etc. I feel it has done me well so far

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“You are not obligated to complete the task but you cannot desist from it.”

I grew up in Catholic household but never really believed in anything after death and started to get anxious about wasting time and not accomplishing everything I want.

I talked to a Jewish friend and he mentioned how they don’t believe in heaven and told me that quote.

It helped a fair amount. Basically do your best and if in the end things don’t work out that’s fine

Strive to become a man of value, not success.

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” — Dalai Lama XIV

“If you do something right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all”

This quote from God in Futurama kind of clicked for me at a good time in my life, following some advice from a high school band teacher as well. Some people look for extrinsic rewards (monetary, fame, whatever) but we should learn to be happy for intrinsic rewards (knowing we did our best, being happy you helped someone, etc.)