Words/sayings that had a profound effect on you.

"Don't look back as it's not the direction you are going"

"Choose your battles carefully" - I think of this when I am about to act on impulse e.g. a kneejerk email. I invariably hang fire and have rarely, if ever, regretted it.

"Nothing worth having comes easy"

"And don't spend your time lookin' around
For something you want that can't be found
When you find out you can live without it
And go along not thinkin' about it
I'll tell you something true
The bare necessities of life will come to you"

'Destiny doesn't pay house-calls'

'I don't chase; I attract'

'Buy cheap, buy twice'

Those are my favourites. Great thread.

i might not remember what you said to me but i''ll always remember how you made me feel

"Your back's broad enough". - words from a person. (You do not need to get in a state about any impatience from the driver behind you. All you've done is stall a car.) The words have stood me in stead for other times in my life.

"Feelings are like rainstorms. They have a beginning and an end." -from a book. (You won't always be upset like this. It will pass.)

Haven’t read them all, but two stuck out.

My dad when DC1 was a couple of days old:“You’ll just muddle through” - made me realize everyone is winging it and there’s no perfect way of parenting. He died 3.5 years ago, I miss him so much.

A friends DM on being a grandparent: “You have to remember you’re a parent first and grandparent second” - made me realise that my narc DM definitely didn’t think the same way, but has stuck with me and will be something I carry through for when I’m a GP.

Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction

Kill them with kindness

No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent

Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much

Inspiring thread OP x

Don't listen to the opinion of someone you wouldn't go to for advice.

Don't compare how you feel on the inside with how others appear on the outside.

Done is better than perfect.

"What's for you won't go past you" is one of my favourites.

Another I used when I was young and fairly successful in my career, still call on but from the perspective of now being pretty old in my chosen field ... "If you're good enough you're the perfect age"

I think of it when people start harping on about anything to try and justify their behaviour (like racism, smacking children whatever) we know better so we do better.

"Success is not the same thing as excellence."

Not a saying as such, but when you tell yourself you cannot do something, try replacing the word cannot with will not and see if you you are really being honest with yourself.

"Your job is to take a look at what you have said that you can't do and evaluate it - is it true that you can't do it, or is it that you won't do it. If you can't, then no one will ever be able to help you. If you won't, then that is a choice, and that can be addressed." www.psychologytoday.com/ie/blog/dont-try-harder-try-different/201103/cant-versus-wont

This one annoys me because it is true and I can't hide behind the logic.

"What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does."

Hagrid

The line from Mary Oliver's poem which Cheryl Strayed quoted in Wild - 'Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?'.

“What other people think about you is none of your business” - has helped me many a time when I’m worrying how others think of me

You get what you settle for , from Thelma and Louise

Everything is a phase (said to me when I had a baby).

If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always had (said to me by a financial advisor).

Not a phrase, but my dad always advised me to buy as much as I could as young as I could (relating to property).

"Doing nothing is doing something" or "Inaction is an action". Always good to remember when being too indecisive.

" I was much too far out all my life

And not waving but drowning"
From the poem by Stevie Smith. A reminder that people put on fronts and can need help even when it may not be obvious.

And "Put on your own lifejacket before saving others, or you'll both drown"

"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and it annoys the pig".

This thread has picked me up from a really dark, horrible place today. Thank you.

I've nominated it for classics.

"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm"
"Dont compare yourself to how others are today, but to how you were yesterday"
"Isnt it funny how you can miss something but not want it back "
Found comfort and strength in these after many a set back

"Don't let perfect be the enemy of good"

I love the Dr Seuss quote on this thread about having brains in your head and feet in your shoes so you can steer yourself in any way you choose.
I heard one similar but can’t remember it exactly - something like: You were put here on this Earth. Now go see what you can see.

Folks I’m telling you
Birthing is hard and dying is mean
So get yourself a little loving in between

• Langston Hughes