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“A balm for the soul”
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GOOD PEOPLE Book
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best advice

A wise woman shares her thoughts on "perfection."

As the ancient proverb says, “Brevity is the soul of wit,” but communicating big, essential ideas clearly and concisely is also a great indicator of wisdom. In a world awash with information, the ability to take a complex idea and turn it into simple, understandable statements is a true gift.

Succinct, bite-size pieces of wisdom are also a way to help people remember what’s truly important. As theologian François Fénelon once said, “The more you say, the less people remember."

The ability to communicate big ideas simply, reveals the level of understanding one has on a subject. Albert Einstein once said, “If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

In an attempt to collect some of the pithiest bits of wisdom known to humankind, a Reddit user named Upset-Document-8399 posed a big question to the AskReddit forum: “Wise people of Reddit, what's a one-liner pearl of wisdom you know?”


The Redditors shared a lot of real wisdom on everything from infatuation to tattoos. So we took 22 of the most profound (and short) pearls and listed them by topic.


1. Safe driving

"Better to lose a second of your life than lose your life in a second." — Ballsack2025

"A drivers ed teacher said, 'It doesn't matter who's right, if you're dead.' Goes beyond driving, but definitely applies to driving." — xwhy

"It’s better to be late in this life, than early in the next." — Hughdapu

2. Advice

"Don't discount good advice just because it comes from an unexpected source." — Ambitious Angel

3. Perfection

"Only fake flowers are flawless." — komor3bii

4. Difficulty

"Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same." — VellichorVisum

"Why are difficult decisions difficult? Because you know that taking the easy option is the wrong thing to do.” — Consult-SR88


8. Life is...

"Life is like a camera – focus on what's important, capture the good times, develop from the negatives and if things don't work out, take another shot." — RubyPerry

9. Tattoos

"My dad always said never get a tattoo where a judge can see it." — ttw81

“Know what you call a visible tattoo? A salary cap.” — Bluto58

10. Infatuation

"Infatuation is holding on for all you're worth. Love is being afraid and letting go anyway." — JamesCDiamond

"Infatuation is Love, minus Information." — milescowperthwaite

11. Intelligence

"You’ve got to learn to spot those who claim common sense but are really just shallow thinkers." — Audiate

"People who think they are smart are usually the least. They're usually the most vocal as well." — Karmagod13000

12. Reason

"You cannot reason someone out of a belief they didn't reason themselves into." — HarrargnNarg

"Ideology: The clean and well-lit prison of one idea." — defdac

13. Opinions

"You always have the option of having no opinion." — flew1337

"Whatever your opinion may be on any given topic, you aren’t obligated to share it with anyone." — WeirdCoolWilson