Your favorite/memorable mustachian quotes from the MMM forum (or other)

[Sayonara925]

Post a favorite quote you've saved (or framed, or have as your screensaver, or whatever) that inspires you or has affected your mustachian walk.  I went back and dug one up that I recall made me stop and ponder my situation at the time.


A post in response to the question of who would ever want to be mediocre at work...

Who wants to be mediocre?

I think I do.

I've been struggling with this a lot recently.  At 44, I'm no longer an eager young go-getter.  When I was in high school or college, I often felt I'd do something amazing with my life, and I had a great sense of expectation.  Through my twenties I made many productive contributions to my company and, though not the stuff of Google, they are accomplishments of which I'm still pretty proud. 

But now, what I mostly feel is tired.  Tired of meetings and paperwork, of course - that's a given in any corporate environment.  But also tired of my work.  I no longer feel like I'm going to make great leaps in my abilities, and I'm no longer driven to do so, either.  I'm tired of going to the same office, sitting in the same gray cube, nine hours a day.  I'm tired of writing code.  If I was saving lives or improving the human condition, then I might feel differently.  But I'm not.  I'm one of millions of people - billions around the world - who is doing something that will continue if I'm not there with hardly a perceptible skip.

I also don't feel like I am driven to take on a new career.  Right now, my desires are pretty simple.  I want to hike.  I want to sleep when I'm tired, wake when I'm rested, eat when I'm hungry.  I want to spend time with people I love, and people who love me.  I want to enjoy the years I have left, whether it be forty, or twenty.  Or just one.

What I'm trying to do now is to convince myself I'm okay with this.  More, that it is okay to want this.  That this isn't a moral failing.  Because right now the thought of living my life like this makes me feel guilty.  It's not what my parents or society thinks I should be doing.  It's not what I think I should be doing.  It's a waste.  It's settling for mediocrity; and worse, sloth.  Hedonism.  Lots of words for it - the only one with positive connotations I can find is leisure.  I want to be a man of leisure.

I've got plenty of time to sort this out, though.  I'm ten years from FI.  So for the next ten years, my goal is to be mediocre.  I'm getting the job done, and letting the stress slide off.  I don't need a promotion.  I don't need a raise.  I want to help my coworkers do well, and I want the money, so I'm doing my part.  But I'm finding that lots of the work I've always thought was mandatory, is in fact extra credit.  And I'm done with extra credit.

[Lyngi]

 From May 20th 2015  "It hits you like a pack of wild butterflies every morning when you wake up. Holy shit, here comes another great day!"    I had to stop reading the blog and go tell my kids this.   I'm still working, so I try to change my mindset to making each day great.  While I was at work, mostly having a great day, my daughter drew me some butterflies.   

[arebelspy]

Sol posted this years ago, probably in 2012, and I saved it, and have quoted it in various threads several times:

Personally, I consider myself "in the red" because I don't yet have enough assets to support my current lifestyle without working.  I'm living on borrowed time, because my current consumption obligates me to continue working and saving to grow my stash.  I won't think of myself as "out of debt" until I'm financially independent, because until then I'm borrowing from my own future.

[RyanAtTanagra]

Nice, thanks arebelspy/sol for that one.  That puts into words how I've been feeling since I decided FIRE was a goal.

One I always think of was in a thread about not expecting FIRE to being all rainbows and unicorns all the time.  This succinctly describes how I do picture FIRE:

No, for us it is not always Rainbows and Fairies.  But it is always Saturday.  And THAT is friggin sweet.

[Cookie78]

Nice, thanks arebelspy/sol for that one.  That puts into words how I've been feeling since I decided FIRE was a goal.

One I always think of was in a thread about not expecting FIRE to being all rainbows and unicorns all the time.  This succinctly describes how I do picture FIRE:

No, for us it is not always Rainbows and Fairies.  But it is always Saturday.  And THAT is friggin sweet.

I love this one too! Thanks for sharing.

[oinkette]

I read something on the Early Retirement forums that goes something like (in response to being bored in retirement):

I've been bored before, but I never thought of work as a solution to that.

[immocardo]

I have a few on a tack board at my apartment, most of them are MMM himself, will edit this post with them when I get home!

[oinkette]

Sol posted this years ago, probably in 2012, and I saved it, and have quoted it in various threads several times:

Personally, I consider myself "in the red" because I don't yet have enough assets to support my current lifestyle without working.  I'm living on borrowed time, because my current consumption obligates me to continue working and saving to grow my stash.  I won't think of myself as "out of debt" until I'm financially independent, because until then I'm borrowing from my own future.

This is actually quite motivational, especially as I have just finished paying off my student loans and was feeling rather satisfied with myself. Nope, not quite done yet! lol

[Kris]

I read something on the Early Retirement forums that goes something like (in response to being bored in retirement):

I've been bored before, but I never thought of work as a solution to that.

Genius.

[Sayonara925]

I have a few on a tack board at my apartment, most of them are MMM himself, will edit this post with them when I get home!

uh oh...wonder if he ever made it home

[sheepstache]

Despite having read plenty of articulate, pithy stuff on here I'm sorry to say I don't have any jotted down. Except for this bit and I'm not sure who wrote it:

I used to have a house between two subdivisions, and people thought the edge of the yard was a path between one division and the other. They used to walk across it, and it bothered me. I sold the house - people are, I'm sure, still walking across that yard, but now it doesn't bother me at all.

[StockBeard]

A very recent one, but it made me laugh. About social security (by forum member Boxcat):

I'm not expecting nations to even exist with any meaningful power by that point. I'm betting it'll likely be corporate fiefdoms in gated communities that are heavily armed and guarded, perhaps harvesting the outsiders for food, and sex, hunting them for sport.

Beyond the joke is something that I think many mustachians can relate to: do not count on the government to bail you out. Save early, become financially independent. Relying on the government is not better than relying on your company's paycheck.

[brooklynguy]

Here's another one from sol's oeuvre, which I think is great to keep in mind as an antidote to OMY syndrome (I think he may have put out better ones, but this was the best I could find after some searching):

I think maybe we're going about this all wrong.  Many of us should already be retired, yet continue to work out of fear that we'll have to actually utilize our safety margins.  You must not hate your job that much, if your'e willing to volunteer for definitely suffering through more years of working in order to avoid the possibility of maybe suffering through cutting back your expenses in the future.

[Potterquilter]

What I posted on another forum when someone complained how hard it was to reduce their food bill by eating home, go without cable etc. when they were actually spending more than they made.

" there is no retirement fairy"

[Dicey]

This one got me across the FIRE line:

"Retiring too early is a mistake that can be recovered from. Too late and there is no recovery."

[Dicey]

No, for us it is not always Rainbows and Fairies.  But it is always Saturday*.  And THAT is friggin sweet.

*Or Sunday, a three day weekend, a holiday, a comp day, the first day of summer vacation, or all of the above at the same time.

[Gone Fishing]

soccerluvof4's great signature line:

"In life you don't get what you deserve you get what you negotiate"

[LLCoolDave]

From another forum, "if you can't hack filling your own time then have a boss do it for you."

[Bracken_Joy]

“A person's success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” -Tim Ferriss, from the 4HWW. Interestingly, I find this much more useful for motivating me with interpersonal relationships than necessarily professional ones.

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you bought for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to the job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car, and the house you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it" -Ellen Goodman

[forummm]

Not inspiring, but just made me laugh:

Bob, I respect you, but this is some seriously stupid fucking shit.

[Daisy]

A few for me:

- My first one was reading a Jon_Snow story where he mentions all of the little things we miss in life because we are stuck at work. He used an example of an orca almost capsizing his kayak and the great effect it had on him. There's all of this cool stuff going on around us and many of us are stuck indoors in a cubicle during daylight hours and missing it all.

- Spartana creating the TGIM cocktail hour.

- Someone mentioning "not my circus, not my monkeys" as a quote to say while at work, close to FIRE, and not giving a sh**.

[Elderwood17]

From another forum, "if you can't hack filling your own time then have a boss do it for you."

Love it!

[iluvzbeach]

Post a favorite quote you've saved (or framed, or have as your screensaver, or whatever) that inspires you or has affected your mustachian walk.  I went back and dug one up that I recall made me stop and ponder my situation at the time.


A post in response to the question of who would ever want to be mediocre at work...

Who wants to be mediocre?

I think I do.

I've been struggling with this a lot recently.  At 44, I'm no longer an eager young go-getter.  When I was in high school or college, I often felt I'd do something amazing with my life, and I had a great sense of expectation.  Through my twenties I made many productive contributions to my company and, though not the stuff of Google, they are accomplishments of which I'm still pretty proud. 

But now, what I mostly feel is tired.  Tired of meetings and paperwork, of course - that's a given in any corporate environment.  But also tired of my work.  I no longer feel like I'm going to make great leaps in my abilities, and I'm no longer driven to do so, either.  I'm tired of going to the same office, sitting in the same gray cube, nine hours a day.  I'm tired of writing code.  If I was saving lives or improving the human condition, then I might feel differently.  But I'm not.  I'm one of millions of people - billions around the world - who is doing something that will continue if I'm not there with hardly a perceptible skip.

I also don't feel like I am driven to take on a new career.  Right now, my desires are pretty simple.  I want to hike.  I want to sleep when I'm tired, wake when I'm rested, eat when I'm hungry.  I want to spend time with people I love, and people who love me.  I want to enjoy the years I have left, whether it be forty, or twenty.  Or just one.

What I'm trying to do now is to convince myself I'm okay with this.  More, that it is okay to want this.  That this isn't a moral failing.  Because right now the thought of living my life like this makes me feel guilty.  It's not what my parents or society thinks I should be doing.  It's not what I think I should be doing.  It's a waste.  It's settling for mediocrity; and worse, sloth.  Hedonism.  Lots of words for it - the only one with positive connotations I can find is leisure.  I want to be a man of leisure.

I've got plenty of time to sort this out, though.  I'm ten years from FI.  So for the next ten years, my goal is to be mediocre.  I'm getting the job done, and letting the stress slide off.  I don't need a promotion.  I don't need a raise.  I want to help my coworkers do well, and I want the money, so I'm doing my part.  But I'm finding that lots of the work I've always thought was mandatory, is in fact extra credit.  And I'm done with extra credit.

This quote from fuzzy buttons is awesome. I am the same age and feel exactly like what he/she articulated.

[FrugalShrew]

This collection of quotes is great!

I still get a kick out of thinking of debt as having my "hair on fire" and of every dollar as a "little green employee."

And this is not from MMM nor any forum, but it is my favorite mustachian quote:

"Money is in some respects like fire; it is a very excellent servant but a terrible master." - PT Barnum

[forummm]

Gotta mention:
Clown Car
Complainypants
Motorized Climate-Controlled Throne
And many other gems that aren't coming to mind immediately.

[Norrie]

...And it's the breakfast cocktail hour which begins...whenever.... Dress code is PJs, and entertainment is watching the Monday morning commute traffic report while sipping mimosas.

This is one of the most wonderful things that I've ever read. It pleases me so much to know that someone out there in the world is doing that.

[Daisy]

...And it's the breakfast cocktail hour which begins...whenever.... Dress code is PJs, and entertainment is watching the Monday morning commute traffic report while sipping mimosas.

This is one of the most wonderful things that I've ever read. It pleases me so much to know that someone out there in the world is doing that.

I have been taking some Mondays off this summer using up my ample vacation time. It is nice to turn on the (work supplied and paid for) smartphone, start up the traffic app, see all highways turn red (slow traffic), and then roll over and sleep another hour. Ahhh...the simple pleasures.

I found taking Mondays off were much better than Fridays. I am loving my three day weekends and four day workweeks.

[Bob W]

Not inspiring, but just made me laugh:

Bob, I respect you, but this is some seriously stupid fucking shit.

yeah,  I was laughing too!   The audacity of some people!

[FIRE me]

  “There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”
  ― Bill Watterson

[Kriegsspiel]

I'm pretty sure that if I got fired, I'd promptly retire.  We'd have to sell the house and move somewhere cheaper, but we'd be fine.

I think of it like this:  If Bill Gates walked into your living room and said he wanted to pay you to stay at home, how much would he have to offer you to convince you to quit your job?  Would you voluntarily give up cubicle life for $10k/year?  $20k?  More?  For me, the threshhold beyond which I'd be happy to let someone pay my bills while I did absolutely anything I wanted in life is pretty low, so I'd retire and adjust my lifestyle down with even minimal retirement savings.

[Spork]

I really wish I had squirrelled away a variety of witticisms that I've seen here, but I haven't.   I am blatantly posting nothing of interest for you here just so I can follow...

[brooklynguy]

And I had an awesome one from Sol (I think) that I can't find.....

Sol is probably the most quotable poster in the forum.  No less than four of the quotes in this thread so far can be attributed to him.  He is the Yogi Berra of Mustachianism.

[arebelspy]

And I had an awesome one from Sol (I think) that I can't find.....

Sol is probably the most quotable poster in the forum.  No less than four of the quotes in this thread so far can be attributed to him.  He is the Yogi Berra of Mustachianism.

And he also really didn't say everything he said.

[Dicey]

And I had an awesome one from Sol (I think) that I can't find.....

Sol is probably the most quotable poster in the forum.  No less than four of the quotes in this thread so far can be attributed to him.  He is the Yogi Berra of Mustachianism.

And he also really didn't say everything he said.

But then he came to a fork in the road and took it. It was the last one. Now there are no more forks.

[sol]

Yogi Berra was quotable because he was pithy.  Witty and brief.

I tend to talk too much, by contrast.  If you blather on long enough, you're bound to say something interesting eventually.

[brooklynguy]

Yogi Berra was quotable because he was pithy.  Witty and brief.

I tend to talk too much, by contrast.  If you blather on long enough, you're bound to say something interesting eventually.

And with this post, you just disproved your own point.

But, fine, if you insist, you are instead the Winston Churchill of Mustachianism.  Was he loquacious enough for you?

[Spork]

Yogi Berra was quotable because he was pithy.  Witty and brief.

I tend to talk too much, by contrast.  If you blather on long enough, you're bound to say something interesting eventually.

And with this post, you just disproved your own point.

But, fine, if you insist, you are instead the Winston Churchill of Mustachianism.  Was he loquacious enough for you?

I actually thought "If you blather on long enough, you're bound to say something interesting eventually" was pretty quotable in and of itself.

[brooklynguy]

I actually thought "If you blather on long enough, you're bound to say something interesting eventually" was pretty quotable in and of itself.

Yeah, me too, and that was my point - sol disclaimed being pithy and quotable in a pithy and quotable response, hence disproving his own point.

Guess he just can't help himself.  The rest of us should just be grateful he likes to hear himself type, and encourage him to keep doing so by thickly laying on the flattery (like I'm doing right now).

[mozar]

I can't remember who said it, but it was in response to annoying co-workers who say "thank god it's friday." The quote:

Yes, but we're two days closer to Friday Monday

I tried it on my co-worker today. It blew his mind.

[Eric]

I can't remember who said it, but it was in response to annoying co-workers who say "thank god it's friday." The quote:

Yes, but we're two days closer to Friday

I tried it on my co-worker today. It blew his mind.

2 days closer to Monday?

[Sayonara925]

BTW, the Fuzzy Buttons quote in the OP (about being mediocre) was in response to a post by...guess who:

I think this oft-reported feeling of freedom is only present in people with a pretty adversarial relationship with their employer.  In my case the financial freedom is just hurting my morale because it's always there, quietly whispering, offering to free me from the pressure to succeed.  It says "don't bother to get that report out on time" and "you can probably skip that conference call" and "go ahead and let someone else pick up the slack on this project" and "what are they going to do, fire you?"  Far from making my work more enjoyable, it's a constant negative influence on my motivation, pushing me toward mediocrity.  Who wants to be mediocre?

[forummm]

I can't remember who said it, but it was in response to annoying co-workers who say "thank god it's friday." The quote:

Yes, but we're two days closer to Friday

I tried it on my co-worker today. It blew his mind.

2 days closer to Monday?

2 days between us and Monday?

Glad someone else couldn't figure it out either.

[wintersun]

I will play.  I saved this quote from Sol on my computer to reread:

Think about how awesome your life is.  You have hot and cold running water any time of day or night.  Your local grocery store contains a bounty far greater than any King or Pharaoh could ever muster.  You can fly between continents in great magical machines, and you have access to the sum of all human knowledge at your fingertips and/or in your pocket.  Your life is better than that of 99.9% of humans who have ever lived.  You are immeasurably blessed.

[Mr Dumpster Stache]

Not a quote, but in the Early Retirement Extreme book, Jacob makes a comment that the more a product or service is advertised, the less different it must be from its competition. This goes through my mind every time I have to listen to a "clever" insurance commercial on the radio.

The fact that Tesla doesn't advertise their cars would seem to bear out this principal.

[mozar]

Yes, but we're two days closer to Monday

Fixed it.

Tells you how much I think about work (hint: not much)

[Dicey]

Bill Watterson (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) said,

                                            “There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”

 Thanks to ARS for the link that contained this gem.

[forummm]

Yes, but we're two days closer to Monday

Fixed it.

Tells you how much I think about work (hint: not much)

Two days closer than when?

[Sayonara925]

Yes, but we're two days closer to Monday

Fixed it.

Tells you how much I think about work (hint: not much)

Two days closer than when?

Two days closer than the prior Wednesday.  Come on, it's simple math.

[arebelspy]

Yes, but we're two days closer to Monday

Fixed it.

Tells you how much I think about work (hint: not much)

Two days closer than when?

Than Wednesday?

Yeah, I didn't get the quote at first.  I still don't, either. :)

[trailrated]

"realize that happiness comes from accomplishment and personal growth, rather than from luxury products."

Also this has nothing to do with mustachianism but it made me laugh
"Instead of getting married I'm just going to find a woman I hate and buy her a house."