I've had a lot of mottos over the years, mostly related to specific things.
For example, in the Army when I was often forced to toil out in the sun and heat of Georgia when I was in an MOS that theoretically required little sweating the motto of my team became "Fuck the sun - long live the beast!". Sure it made little sense but at least we cursed that horrible orb of fire and misery in the process.
Later, when I was assigned as the team leader in charge of an expensive (and tempremental) piece of communications equipment, the regular problems and chewing gum and tape repairs lead to the team motto of "60% of the time it works all the time".
It's difficult to pick a motto by which to live one's life. If I were forced to do so, it would be something along the lines of "Take chances - you never learn anything without failure".
When it comes to personal interaction I generally go with Dogbert's ever useful maxim of "Save time by hating someone in advance". That was more true in the Army that it is outside. These days I go with a kinder and gentler "Ignore everyone until they prove themselves worthy of notice". This isn't as egomanical as it may sound - simply put most people will never be worth getting to know. Since I have limited time availble, I try to reserve my efforts for those who seem as though they have something to offer - be it insightful discussion, amusement or simply who I can trip if being chased by a tiger.
For example, in the Army when I was often forced to toil out in the sun and heat of Georgia when I was in an MOS that theoretically required little sweating the motto of my team became "Fuck the sun - long live the beast!". Sure it made little sense but at least we cursed that horrible orb of fire and misery in the process.
Later, when I was assigned as the team leader in charge of an expensive (and tempremental) piece of communications equipment, the regular problems and chewing gum and tape repairs lead to the team motto of "60% of the time it works all the time".
It's difficult to pick a motto by which to live one's life. If I were forced to do so, it would be something along the lines of "Take chances - you never learn anything without failure".
When it comes to personal interaction I generally go with Dogbert's ever useful maxim of "Save time by hating someone in advance". That was more true in the Army that it is outside. These days I go with a kinder and gentler "Ignore everyone until they prove themselves worthy of notice". This isn't as egomanical as it may sound - simply put most people will never be worth getting to know. Since I have limited time availble, I try to reserve my efforts for those who seem as though they have something to offer - be it insightful discussion, amusement or simply who I can trip if being chased by a tiger.
