Random Quotes

I frequently note interesting words of life, truth, humor, motivation, inspiration,
cringe, self development, novel ideas, the pursuit of happiness.

Words I’ve recorded over the years, in no particular order. A bit of a time capsule, perhaps a snapshot of my state of mind or glimpse into my psyche.

Periodically updated, so check back. Randomly, nonetheless.

While some quotes list the original author or source, the quote source will typically list the source at the moment of inspiration.

“The foundation stones of financial success are:
Integrity - Being honest with all people
Discipline - Applying self control
Social Skills - Getting along with people
A supportive spouse
Hard Work - More than most people”
— Unknown
“Curiosity killed the cat,
but satisfaction brought it back.”
— Proverb, first appearing in print in 1912
Fun Fact: Ben Jonson is attributed to the first half of this phrase, which goes, "Helter skelter, hang sorrow, care'll kill a cat,up-tails all, and a louse for the hangman."
“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”
— William Shakespeare
“There are three simple rules in life:
If you do not go after what you want, you’ll never have it.
If you do not ask, the answer will almost always be no.
If you do not step forward, you will always be in the same place. ”
— Unknown
“My words aren’t the only way
my tongue can blow your mind.”
— Hugh Cofty
“If it’s the truth, it’s not.”
— Unknown
“I won’t drink,
but I’ll eat ice cream.”
— Carolyn Tran
“I told him that every time we hang out, it’s a huge blur.
But that’s okay, because
I just remember it being fun
and that’s all that matters anyways.”
— Annie Tran
“She looks used and abused,
but I wanna use her one more time. ”
— Huy
“Always be yourself.
Express yourself.
Have faith in yourself.
Do not go out and look for
a successful personality
and duplicate it.”
— Bruce Lee
“I dream of painting,
then, I paint my dreams”
— Vincent Van Gogh
“Friendship takes you to places you could never go alone. ”
— Hello Kitty iPhone Case
“I can’t think if I can’t smoke.”
— Lana Del Ray,
Coachella 2014
“Drinking weed and smoking beer.”
— Dan Vu
“When you’re having fun, don’t you wanna drink?”
— Anna Vo
“It’s like water putting out a flame.
Once you run out of water (aka money),
then the fire starts again. ”
— Steve Tran
“If it tastes like shit, it’s gonna fuck you up! ”
— Steve Tran
“Nothing is permanent in this wicked world.
Not even our problems.”
— Charlie Chaplin
“You have balls
when you’ve got nothing to lose.”
— Steve Tran
“I’m tired but I’m in party mode rn.”
— Tammy Ho
“Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.
Screw the past, don’t let it screw you.”
— Unknown
“If you want things you’ve never had,
you must do things you’ve never done.”
— Thomas Jefferson
“If you need inspiring words,
don’t do it.”
— Elon Musk
“Lots of meaningful relationships begin with a simple introduction.”
— Huy Tran
“My dream is to make people happy because I’m happy.”
— Zhang Junhao,
3 years old
“My mother says that laughing is happiness.”
— Zhang Junhao,
3 years old
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
“Haters are admirers in disguise.”
— Kim Vu
“Sucks in the beginning,
but it gets better.”
— Kim Vu
“As long as I’m skinny,
I don’t care.”
— Kim Vu
“iPhones are forever.”
— Kim Vu
“Trust is like an eraser.
It gets smaller and smaller
with every mistake.”
— Kim Vu
“Something’s wrong.
You should make a right.”
— Kim Vu
“All relationships are difficult.”
— Kim Vu
“Freedom isn’t free.”
— Kim Vu
“This is the best thing I have ever eaten in my life.”
— Kim Vu,
regarding first Oyster Bar Combo Pan Roast experience
“Just know you won’t starve to death.”
— Kim Vu,
regarding meal planning for cabin trip
“If it’s free, I’ll take it.”
— Kim Vu
“Money don’t make you.
You make money.”
— Emmie Tran
“I hate good food.”
— Emmie Tran
“We didn’t really have a lot of conversations about bad or evil, actually, when we were shooting it. It was more what do you think the difference is between being bad and being right? Thinking they’re right is almost more evil. A group of people who have decided they’re morally justified in behaving a certain way.”
— Adam Driver,
on being Kylo Ren
“Nothing is impossible.
The word itself says, ‘I’m possible!’”
— Audrey Hepburn
“Style takes sacrifice.”

Some years later: “The sacrifice always pays off in the end.”
— Don Nguyen
“The meaning of life is to find your gift.
The purpose of life is to give it away.”
— Pablo Picasso
“Have more than you show.
Speak less than you know”
— Unknown
“Believe none of what you hear,
half of what you see.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
— Sun Tzu,
The Art of War
“If you don’t know where you’re going,
any road will take you there.”
— Unknown
This oft-cited quote takes inspiration from
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
A conversation between Alice and the Cheshire Cat goes:
Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where —
Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.
Alice: … so long as I get somewhere.
Cheshire Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if you only walk long enough.
“Those who chase two hares end up with none.”
— Proverb
“Sometimes we expect more from others because we would be willing to do that much for them.”
— Unknown
“High expectations
are the key to everything”
— Sam Walton
“Turtles have taught me this: Do all you can, and don’t worry about the odds against you. Wield the miracle of life’s energy, concerned only that whether we fail or succeed, we do so with all our might. That’s all we need to know to make our efforts worth our while on Earth.”
— Carl Safina,
from his 2008 essay "Baja Hope'"
“A garden is a way of showing
that you believe in tomorrow.”
— Beth Wiseman
“Forget the money because,
if you say that getting money is the most important thing,
you will spend your life completely wasting your time.
You’ll be doing things you don’t like doing in order to go on living -
that is, to go on doing things you don’t like doing.
Which is stupid.
Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing
than a long life spent in a miserable way.”
— Alan Watts
“Every problem
is an opportunity in disguise.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“Sometimes, I grab my boobs, because, well, I can.”
— Trini T.
“The greatest danger for most is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”
— Michelangelo
“You face your fears because your goal demands it. That is the warrior spirit.”
— Alex Honnold
“If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”
— Unknown
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
— George Bernard Shaw
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything; they make the best of everything.”
— Elliot Pham
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
— Quote Source
“Your work should be your signature.”
— Unknown
“Fools multiply when wise men are silent.”
— Nelson Mandela
“It’s always easier to get forgiveness than to get permission.”
— Banksy,
in a letter to children at Bristol School who had named a house after him
“‘Someday’ is a dangerous word. It’s really just a code for ‘never.’”
— Roy Miller,
played by Tom Cruise in Knight and Day
“You have to play the hand you’re dealt.”
— Jung Chung,
played by Hwang Jung-min in New World
“Go big, or go home. Or,
go big, then go home.
In an ambulance.”
— Eric Vo
“If you don’t live for something,
you’ll die for nothing.”
— Unknown,
a tattoo I saw somewhere