I don’t know that I have one quote I live by. I have more of a rotating collection, depending on what kind of foolishness the day has decided to bring me.
There’s the practical one:
“He who aims at nothing is likely to hit it.”
That one reminds me that drifting is still a direction. If you don’t set a goal, make a plan or at least point yourself toward something worthwhile, you probably shouldn’t be shocked when you end up nowhere in particular.
There’s the teacher/writer one:
“A text out of context is a pretext.”
That one comes up a lot, especially when people cherry-pick a line from Scripture, literature, history or even somebody’s Facebook post and then twist it into something it was never meant to say. Context matters. It always has.
Then there’s the faith one:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
That doesn’t mean I can dunk a basketball, win the lottery or suddenly become organized enough to clear my desk. It means that when life gets hard, I don’t have to rely only on my own strength. And that’s a good thing, because my own strength sometimes taps out somewhere around fourth period.
But I also have a couple of quotes for dealing with difficult people.
“Don’t get into a kicking contest with a jackass. He kicks harder than you do, and he has hooves.”
And its close cousin:
“Don’t roll in the mud with a pig. You’ll only get dirty, and the pig enjoys it.”
Those are not exactly elegant. They probably won’t be embroidered on a church banner anytime soon. But they are useful.
Some arguments are not worth entering. Some people are not looking for truth, peace or understanding. They’re looking for a fight. And if you give them one, they’ll drag you into a place where they have the home-field advantage.
So maybe the quote I live by depends on the moment.
Aim at something.
Keep things in context.
Trust Christ for strength.
And when necessary, avoid jackasses and pigs.
That’s not a bad life philosophy.
