8 creatively combined life philosophies for the heart, soul, and mind

March 31st, 2008 by Jonathan

I updated this post after a Reddit user left me a great comment. He gave the pessimists response to these philosophies, and I got a great laugh out of it. So I decided to add his comments into the post. Anything to share? Drop me a comment with your thoughts…

I love reading great philosophies on living life to the fullest, enjoying each sip from the nectar of life. I have combined some of my favorites for your reading pleasure. My personal philosophy in life comes from the last line in my favorite poem Ulysses: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not the yield”. My interpretation is to strive for love, seek knowledge, find happiness, and yield not to fear.

Dance like no one is watching, Love like you have never been hurt, Spend like you didn’t earn the money, and don’t take life too seriously: No one gets out alive, anyways.

Fear nothing, never quit, never give up, never surrender, and always speak your mind even when your voice trembles. A life lived in fear is a life half lived; because man should never fear death but man should fear never having lived.

The Pessimists Response:

Fear nothing can get you killed, quitting, while you’re ahead or before you get into massive debt are both good ideas. Surrendering when you’re wrong is prudent. Man shouldn’t fear death, but all these people keep talking about how they hope there is an afterlife.

Live this day as if it will be your last. Remember that you will only find “tomorrow” on the calendars of fools. Forget yesterday’s defeats and ignore the problems of tomorrow: This is it. Doomsday, All you have.

The Pessimists Response:

If you forget all the defeats, you’ll never learn. If you ignore all the problems, you’ll never get anything done. Today isn’t doomsday, sorry.

Nothing happens by chance, so don’t chance anything; make it happen now. Don’t wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it.

The Pessimists Response:

Quantum mechanics disagrees, chance and randomness is an integral part of the fabric of reality. Roll a die, tell me if you think the side that comes up is a result of chance or not.

Circumstance don’t make a hero, they just reveal him. Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creatures of men.

The Pessimists Response:

Circumstances aren’t creatures.

Laugh at yourself, life, and everything around you. Laugh as a remedy and a miracle drug that will ease your pain, cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective seemingly terrible defeats and worries in life.

The Pessimists Response:

This sounds like a legitimate neurosis. If you do this often, you’re probably legally insane.

It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting. Remember that you have only one life to live so make the best of it. Be whoever and whatever you’d like to be. Pursue your passions and your dreams.

The Pessimists Response:

I’d like to be Michael Jordan, should I try and be Michael Jordan even though I can’t? That seems rather silly.

Don’t waste time suffering. It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.

The Pessimists Response:

Wait, so you say not to waste time suffering, then you tell people that failure can be better than success? This seems contradictory. Also, a constant string of failures will end up putting you on welfare. Succeeding in imitation is often the precursor to success in originality.

Throw caution to the wind in pursuit of pleasure, because if it hurts, then it’s probably worth it.

The Pessimists Response:

It’s probably a good idea to remain semi-cautious, lest you become severely injured. And that time I got stabbed, it was worth it? Or the time my grandfather died, it was worth it?

Always lie to cops… Just kidding…

I guess he agreed with this one…