Distilling Wisdom in Five Words

[jesse_the_k]

In the shower last week she carefully wielded her razor. She commented: Either shave it or braid it!

In the locker room today, she was telling of visiting a large store on a busy day. Well, she sighed Play hard or get out.

A crude admonition against workplace harassment is Don’t shit where you eat.

sasha_feather reminds me of a lesson learned in the lab: Hot glass is still clear

I’m seeing a pattern here. A message squeezed so tightly is easier to remember.

Got any to add?

Comments

[luzula]

As to hot glass, I can add: No water on hot glass.

I learned this the hard way, by having a glass form hot from the oven shatter in a million pieces when I poured water on it to wash it.

[jesse_the_k]

Ow! I hope you were wearing your lab-approved saftey glasses (Benton always does).

Lesson learned the hard way is another one.

[littlebutfierce]

My favorite is: shit or get off the pot!

[jesse_the_k]

Succinct. And somehow Cook or get off the stove doesn't carry the same urgency.

[neolithicsheep]

Being of Southern extraction, my family did not go in for such terseness. My grandmother always said "You go to hell for lying same as you do for stealing."

[jesse_the_k]

That is lovely. I think it's almost the inverse of phrase taught me by a Texan: Best to pray forgiveness than ask permission.

[libskrat]

Brevity, the soul of wit.

[jesse_the_k]

Ahhh.

(the sweet whisper of wisdom hitting its slot.)

[sonia]

Not quite along the same lines, but one of my talismans: No one ever deserves abuse.

[jesse_the_k]

It's five and it's wise and it's true, so it belongs twice!

[sonia]

Thanks! I realized why it feels like it doesn't fit, though - it's not a command like the first few.

[sasha_feather]

This is brilliant. The only one that I've got is a diamond in the rough.

[jesse_the_k]

Definitely true, but sonia pinpointed a necessary element: the imperative. And here's an example that lacks one, but still fits Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition