Redditors Answer the Question ‘What Is Something Someone Said That Forever Changed Your Way of Thinking?’

Via (cc) Flickr user GotCredit

The great Oscar Wilde once said, “I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.” But every once in a while, through some fluke of nature, people actually take the advice of others to heart. Here, Redditors dispensed some life-changing advice they’ve been giving after being asked to respond to the question “What is something someone said that forever changed your way of thinking?”

“My mom was dying. A friend told me, ‘You have your whole life to freak out about this—don’t do it in front of her.’ It really helped me to understand that my feelings are not always what's important. It IS possible to delay a freakout, and that skill has served me innumerable times.” —DiffidentDissident

“Next year, you’ll wish you had started today.” —TryTryagainn

“You know you’re an adult when you can be right without proving the other person wrong.” —Ocktick

“You are not required to set yourself on fire to keep other people warm.” —MaeEast

“Any decision you make in this household, you make three times. Once when you make it, once when your brother makes the same decision after watching you do it, and once when your sister makes the same decision after watching you and your brother do it. How you treat your brother will tell him how he can treat your sister; and how you treat your sister tells her how she will expect to be treated for the rest of her life, even as far as her future boyfriends.” —Mutericator

“Don’t tell me your priorities. Show me your bank statement, and I’ll tell you your priorities.” —Dontspamjay

“People won’t remember the words you say, but how it made them feel.” —Tinkletyme

“If you’re scared of doing it because you’re afraid that people will judge you, trust me they won’t even remember it after a year.” —Fafafee

“It’s only embarrassing if you’re embarrassed.” —eyecebrakr

“I was having a bad day one time and being all ‘Why me?’ when a coworker said, ‘Why not you?’ I had never thought about it before, but it was a good point. So I shut up and got over it.” —SirRogers

“I was a pretty religious kid. In eighth grade a girl said, ‘I’m so glad I was born into a family with the right religion.’ It made me question my whole belief system and led me to becoming agnostic.” —Diegojones4

“The person that you will spend the most time with in your life is yourself, so try to make yourself as interesting as possible.” —PM_ME-WALLPAPERS

“When I was 38, I contemplated beginning a two-year Associates Degree in Radiography. I was talking to a friend and had almost talked myself out of doing it. I said, ‘I’m too old to start that. I’ll be 40 when I get my degree.’ My friend said, ‘If you don’t do it, you'’ll still be 40, but without the degree.’ I’m nearly 60 now, and that degree has been the difference between making a decent living, and struggling to get by.” —Luckyhenry

“I’m not afraid of death. It's the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life.” —Andromeda321

“I learned to give ... not because I have too much. But because I know how it feels to have nothing.” —Yours_Duly

(H/T Reddit)