What is something someone said that forever changed your way of thinking?

[abnegation]

People are intricate, they can say things that change your perspective on almost anything. Use this thread to discuss things people have said to you that have changed the way you look at life.

"Would you rather wake up in twenty years wondering what you missed or wake up in twenty years knowing exactly what you missed?"

"Next year, you'll wish you had started today."

 

[Poki]

"Misery loves company."

"I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."

& most quotes by Kurt Cobain.


Also, a lot of things said in songs by my favourite artists; same with films/anime/books.

 

[Alexander Nicholi]

"In life, you have a few winners, and a whole lot of losers." —George Carlin

People in my life have told me how young I am, and how much time I have to do things. They tell me not to be in such a hurry to grow up, but I know better. If you wait around in your prime you'll regret it as an elder. You'll wish you hadn't waited.

A quote from Gielinorian mythology, which roots itself in the old MMORPG RuneScape:
"Balance is key." —Guthix

In time I've learned that most everything in our lives are balanced, and it's the slightest quakes and tremors that severely upset things. Those who see a lack of balance, or think in a Western thought about balance are doomed to upset it.

We don't know either how powerful or how powerless we are as humans.

 

[│Medic│]

"Freedom, is something that you need to actively acquire. It's not something that's given with no strings attached. To be free means to take responsibility, and to prepare yourself for what's to come."​

-- Charles Beams​

first css attempt pls dont hate meh​

 

[Oryx]

These all seem to be celebrities or something not directed at people but the most life-changing thing ever said to me was by my mom. "You'll never see these people again."

It took a long time to sink in. She would use it whenever I was embarrassed to do something, to remind me that the absolute worst case scenario is that people would think I was weird and then never see me again. Today I use it as shorthand to assess the worst possible outcome of situations; I'm nervous to say something, but the worst case scenario is that the person tells me it's none of my business. I'm nervous to make a call, but the worst case scenario is that that particular employee thinks I'm weird for 10 minutes and then forgets me. Etc., etc. It's a really freeing way to think about it.

 

[Her]

'another woman's beauty is not the absence of your own'

i'm not sure of the source of the quote, i'm not sure if it can be attributed to anyone or if its just a word of mouth thing that got passed around from an undeterminable source
but it holds a lot of meaning for me

as a woman who has had severe self esteem issues for a long period of her life, i constantly find myself comparing my body to other people, to other women in particular. it's kind of a reflex at this point. not to mention that once i start hormone treatment and start physically embodying the woman i see myself as in my mind, i'm only going to do this more. but i've slowly been able to reconcile with this matter, slowly coming to terms with that another woman's more... easily achieved beauty does not erase any of my own. i'll always have self esteem problems, but i look great right now. and i will only get better once i'm able to be the person i've envisioned myself as for so long.

 

[Magic Christmas Lights]

"Be kind to yourself."

Something my old therapist said to me. Following that advice was really hard for me, and sometimes still is, but it's very meaningful.

 

[Bellsprout]

okay i read this on tumblr guys

"think about what your dog would say to you if he knew how much you hated yourself"

I have a really close connection with my dog and I've always felt pretty bad about myself so when I read that it just made me feel really weird. Like seeing something in a new light and since then I've worked to be much more positive!!

 

[Alexander Nicholi]

These all seem to be celebrities or something not directed at people but the most life-changing thing ever said to me was by my mom. "You'll never see these people again."

It took a long time to sink in. She would use it whenever I was embarrassed to do something, to remind me that the absolute worst case scenario is that people would think I was weird and then never see me again. Today I use it as shorthand to assess the worst possible outcome of situations; I'm nervous to say something, but the worst case scenario is that the person tells me it's none of my business. I'm nervous to make a call, but the worst case scenario is that that particular employee thinks I'm weird for 10 minutes and then forgets me. Etc., etc. It's a really freeing way to think about it.

I can see where you're coming from with that, though two of the five things I mentioned were quotes from others, the other three being my own. I tried to dig deeper to better understand what Abnegation was getting at, but even then I dug up general wisdom instead of what you got. I think you might have gotten closer to what he was saying, but for me I had a hard time thinking of others' words and how they had an effect on me, because... a lot of times they don't. Eh... I don't listen very much. Still, I put an effort into not globbing onto celebrity sayings...... right?

 

[Altairis]

I don't know about forever changed my way of thinking, but I think this is an interesting way to think about life:
"I am trying to see things in perspective. My dog wants a bite of my peanut butter chocolate chip bagel. I know she cannot have this, because chocolate makes dogs very sick. My dog does not understand this. She pouts and wraps herself around my leg like a scarf and purrs and tries to convince me to give her just a tiny bit. When I do not give in, she eventually gives up and lays in the corner, under the piano, drooping and sad. I hope the universe has my best interest in mind like I have my dog's. When I want something with my whole being, and the universe withholds it from me, I hope the universe thinks to herself: "Silly girl. She thinks this is what she wants, but she does not understand how it will hurt."

I don't know where this is from because my friend sent it to me but I'll try to find it later!

 

[CoffeeDrink]

"Life's not fair. It's not fair that I'm paid less for doing twice as much work. It's not fair I have to watch my caloric intake. It's not fair I have to pay for someone else's bad habits. Life's not fair when the bank took my home when I came back. Life's not fair that I have no legs. And life's sure not fair for the dead bastards that took 'em."

In this life, you have to scrap what you can off the sides of the barrel and hope you can make it to the end of your life without ramming head long into a brick wall at high speeds. Enjoy life, and be thankful for what you have right now and not what you might never get.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

From my ex. These aren't exact quotes but yeah, he had a pretty major effect on my life.

• [after explaining that I wanted to commit suicide, in the roundabout way of saying that I wanted to hallucinate for the rest of my life] "Well, we're all going to reach that point at some time, there's no real way to escape it. But there's so much that you can do in the meantime. Why are you so impatient? We'll all reach there in the end."
• "People complain about Jesus being white, being black, well I'm blind, and I ask, what the hell does it matter anyways? Why do people care so much about someone's skin colour after he's been dead for over 2000 years?"
• "You're wonderful the way you are. You're different but that's what makes you special."

He also talked a lot about how the world always tries to pretend to have sympathies but when you see someone as a person and not as a [whatever] person, you learn who they truly are.

And while he never just said a single quote, he made me realize that my problems did matter, and that a hierarchy of problems only serves to hurt others. He faced so many problems in his every day life due to how others treated him and he never once told me that my issues didn't matter. We helped each other when the other tripped, it didn't matter who was falling the more often. Friends stick up for each other no matter what problems they have, thick and thin.

He also taught me the power of peace. I'm not perfect but I learned so much from him.

It is not an understatement to say that he changed my life permanently.

He meant a lot to me. I never had someone say the kinds of things he said to me. He left for the most stupid of reasons but I hope one day we can make amends.

edit: I know some people liked this post so I'd like to say that we did make amends.

 

[Alfieri]

This guy right here opened my eyes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r-e2NDSTuE
Along with teachings at school of science, viewing the news with my own eyes, and formulating my own opinion. His words started my view and made me realize that all those things I learn at school and all the things I watch on the news really make more sense to me. I won't go into further detail because people are very sensitive and it's best if I keep a filter than to cause a storm.

 

[Astraea]

Don't count how many friends you have, make sure those number of friends can count on youyou

That's the best quote I ever heard and it changed life

 

[Alexander Nicholi]

[Talking to her about relations with others, problem-venting]
"It's just daft"
"What is daft? What does that mean?"
"It means silly, silly. :3"

She showed me I cared too much about inconsequentialities. It doesn't matter, it's silly... it's daft. And those things really were.

 

[pkmin3033]

"It's about time you grew up."

I expect a lot of people have had that said to them at one point or another - I still get it said to me every now and then, actually - but it kinda hit me quite hard when I was younger. My closest friend lost patience with me one time and told me that after I'd been ranting for about an hour about something I've long since forgotten, and because it was coming from HER, it really got me to thinking about my life, and what affected me, and how I acted, and...well, everything else, I guess. I started to mellow out a bit after that, became a lot more reserved, and stopped letting every little thing other people did get to me. I had a very narrow and rigid view of what being an adult was back then, but I did start looking at my attitude and addressed what were obviously issues that I hadn't even thought of before then.

"Their marks aren't going to get you a job." is another one that impacted my way of thinking when I was younger. I used to be very competitive, and if I didn't get the highest marks out of all my friends, it drove me mad. I HATED losing. But after that was pointed out to me, I eventually stopped caring and started paying a little more attention to my own marks. I still berated myself for not getting higher marks, but it was because I was convinced I could do better, and not in comparison to anyone else. I also took a little more pride in my achievements. Just a little.

 

[Rogue planet]

"At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want." - Lao-Tzu

Also

"You'll never see these people again."

This. Can't remember who said it though.

My best friend's mum is a bank of wisdom. There's nothing specifically groundbreaking, but her words equate to gospel for us both.