Platitudes

[blas87]

I suppose you guys are correct. I will try stuff, but if I'm not that great at it and it doesn't seem like something I want to persue, I stop.

[muses_nightmare]

See my point is not to be a jerk and tell people they can't do something, but I'm not going to reinforce the fact that if they aren't capable of something, and they know it that "they can do it!"

Quotes really don't mean much, aside from sounding good. If that's all that encourages you, you are bound to be disappointed when you find out they are ideals and not reality.

I think some people are getting my message confused, I'm not saying don't try, I'm saying try and sometimes you are going to fail. I'm against the whole idea that when someone fails at something, that they should be told to try over and over again even if they fail every time. Sure give it another shot, but after awhile one has to realize that some dreams just don't come true. It happens, and telling people it doesn't isn't helpful in the slightest.

See and the thing is, there are times when someone wants to do something, but they simply can't. There are several factors that get in the way. That's life. And sure people are capable of more than they think, but not all the time. Sometimes we just aren't able, we aren't strong enough, we aren't smart enough, these things do happen. And that's my point, I'm not going to go around telling people they're weak or stupid or what have you, but I'm not going to assume someone should be able to do something just because of some quote or the fact that someone else says they can.

[gremcint]

hard work never killed anyone.


yeah right tell that to John Henry.

[Dreamstalker]

I agree with you completely, muses_nightmare. It seems to me to be just an extension of the no-failing-grades idea that some schools have in place because "low grades damage a child's self-esteem" (guess what, I came home with F's...some undeserved, some deserved because I was slacking off bigtime and it only hit me when those grades came in).

What bothers me about most platitudes is the air of superiority that some people seem to get when spouting them. Add that to the fact that most are way overused...take a look at the "Glurge Gallery" on Snopes for examples.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I suppose you guys are correct. I will try stuff, but if I'm not that great at it and it doesn't seem like something I want to persue, I stop.

"You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try."

XD Is that a better quote than the one being discussed?

[Hobbs]

"You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try."

XD Is that a better quote than the one being discussed?

"Try not you will. Do, or do not; there is no try."

[Fryk]

To me, the problem with sayings like this is that it's like saying, "You tried something and didn't succeed? Well then. it must be because YOU DIDN'T TRY OR WANT IT BAD ENOUGH YOU LAZY PATHETIC KSADJFGKSGFKSJDGFKSJDGKFSJGCVISHVBSK,!!!!"

There is nothing wrong with trying but if you don't succeed it's not always because you didn't wish hard enough.

[RavenStarr]

If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving isn't for you.

[Wingates_Hellsing]

Of all the 'if at firsts' out there, my personal favorite is: "If at first you don't succeed, excessive force is probably the answer."

In other news, people should really analyze the saying they use the same as any other sentence or phrase... oh, wait... they don't do that either.

[jackfaire]

The other thing that gets me is that the platitudes are uttered by people who usually haven't even tried to do the thing they are assuring you everyone can do.