Personal Philosophy

[davywavy]

Chatting last night to rosamicula got me thinking about personal philosophies; those self-defining beliefs or statements which go so far to defining our self image and our actions.
For example; the statement "I wonder what happens if I do this?" could be said to be a personal philosophy of mine as it has had a great effect on my actions (usually when presented with large red buttons marked "Do not press", or scantily clad womenfolk who are at least nominally attached to close personal friends) and has got me into a good deal of trouble in my time. It summarises curiousity and action, and I like to think that I let those things define a lot of my actions.
It's just a shame about the consequences, really.

So that's the question I'm putting to you, gentle reader. Pick one sentence which exemplifies your personal philosophy, and explain why you chose it.

Comments

[aiwendel.livejournal.com]

"i can do anything".
Don't have to be a sheep, think for self, go do own thing, world is oyster etc... The freedom to choose and to go my own way, and have faith that i can do it, or at least have a go and its not the end of the world if it doesn't happen as there are so many new things to try...
dreams... only come true if you chase em... and all that :)
When you have nothing left to lose you can do anything you want.

xxxxxx

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Also a good one, and one which I personally subscribe to.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

"Be nice, feel good, don't f*ck with friends."

Is about as much as I can squeeze it down to from my world view and suchlike.

The purpose of life is to fight maturity.
-Dick Werthimer

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

"Be excellent to each other"

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Party on dude.

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

"It seemed like a good idea at the time..."

*grins*

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

That's rather similar to mine, but post-hoc, isn't it?

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

*nod* Something like; it does mean I can get away with less apparent forethought... :)

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Then again, mine is the antithesis of forethought.

[ex-boog351.livejournal.com]

"I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir."

I came up with this one, after I couldn't decide between these too

"Never mind the consequences"

Applicable to parts of my life, it is indicative of my short-term mind set and my need to self-destruct.

"Look before you leap"

In other areas of my life I often prevaricate and don't go for what I want

[ukmonty.livejournal.com]

"Dont Get caught"

and as truism's go, I have always been rather fond of Radix malorium est cupitadas - both for its sentiment and its origin!

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Well, if you're egtting all classical on me, I have to say I prefer Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis as a summation of my personal views.

[dmwcarol.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't matter what crap life throws your way, it's always your own decision how to react to it"

Which sums up my lack of patience with people who want to play the martyr all the time, gives me the motiviation to not let other people get me down and goes some way to covering the ideals of personal responsibility that I find important.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Also a good one. Thanks!

[hiromasaki.livejournal.com]

Having a hard time picking between:

"Live and Let Live"

and

"Oooooo!!! Shiny!"

My favourite mantras include:

[rosamicula.livejournal.com]

Guilt is pointless, at least from an evolutionary point of view.

In a dog-eat-dog world the rottweiler is king.

Never let your happiness be dependent on a particular person or a particular place.

A miserable childhood is no excuse.

Get your vengeance in first.

There is nothing I can't cope with or live through ('this too will pass').

The worst is over.

But if I have a personal philosophy at all it is to consider the inevitable. One day I am going to be slouched in a wheelchair, incontinent and dribbling, in the cheapest, nastiest kind of care home, probably being systematically abused by the illiterate goons that staff the place. By that stage I will be reliant on my memories, so I had better make sure they are good. I guess you could boil it down to 'carpe noctem'.

I remember being very young and my mother crying to the episode of that documentary 'The World at War' that focused on the Holocaust. There was footage of people, hundreds of them, trudging in a long file into the camps, into the gas chambers. Footage like that always freaked her out because it is where most of her mother's family ended up. I remember thinking something at the time that gradually formulated itself into 'I am never going to be in one of those queues of people. I am never going to be an identifiable member of anyone's untermensch'. I'm not being particularly clear, but I suppose you could summarise it as a refusal to be identified as part of any particular group or tribe, anything more specific than 'English'.

And please note: 'gentle reader' is my phrase and you've nicked it. And you really wore me out last night.

Re: My favourite mantras include:

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

'Gentle Reader' is yours? Gosh, I didn't realise you started writing before Jane Austen. You're showing your age.

Idioms to describe the soul

[arralethe.livejournal.com]

Here are a few of mine, they vary a little from day to day:

"My karma ran over my dogma" - pin badge given to me as a gift
"Time is an illusion, lunchtime (and holidays) doubly so" - Douglas Adams
"What goes around comes around - some times with a note from me attached"
"Everything tends towards entropy." - 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
"The only person who can make you happy, change your life or tell you what to do is yourself."

I think they're all self explanatory, especially if you've ever spent any time around me.

[wandra.livejournal.com]

Mine's not so much a statement as a concept: "enjy-benjy", which is a fairly close relative of yours, I think, perhaps with a bit less emphasis on action. As in the statement "I went into the charity shop on the way home, just for enjy-benjy."

I've still not been able to determine whether enjy-benjy is something my family say or whether it has wider currency. (It appears to now be the name of a children's tv program, but we've been saying it for decades.) I've always had to translate for people. Roughly, it involves curiosity, and being open to whatever might be of interest, without any particular goal in mind. Looking for the sake of looking, just for the enjoyment of it, whatever the outcome.

Hi, by the way. I followed a link from the_maenad.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of it before (and I haven't watched kids TV in a while, either...), but the concept sounds very familar:

"I'm going to Seattle for the weekend"
"For the weekend?? Why?"
"I kinda feel like it."

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Oh, nice to meet you, btw.

[student-heaven.livejournal.com]

"Fall seven times; stand up eight"

ie. no matter how hard it gets, you just gotta grit your teeth and keep on going, and not let anything beat you.

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

"Life sucks. One day, it'll stop for breath & I want to be there to point & laugh."

Well, it keeps me going.