The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

My dad always used to say this when I was growing up and I never had a clue what he was talking about until he explained it to me.

Basically, it means that you should get started today and stop putting things off if you want to get them off the ground and rolling.

And I think those are words to live by!

What quote forever changed the way you look at things?

Here’s what folks on AskReddit had to say.

1. Words of wisdom.

“I had a professor in college he called it the 10/90 rule.

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.

Changed my life.”

2. Kindness.

“Honesty without kindness is brutality.

Kindness without honesty is manipulation.”

3. Can’t please everyone.

“You might be the sweetest peach on the tree, but some people just don’t like peaches.”

This helped me get over my lifelong desire to be liked by everyone, and allowed me to focus on becoming someone I actually liked.”

4. Don’t worry about it.

“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life. Most of which never happened.” – Mark Twain.

Found it on a workbook for anxiety disorders.”

5. I’ll entertain it.

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

Aristotle.

And yes it isn’t the real quote but elementary school aged me internalized that thought and I have applied it to everything ever since then.”

6. Helped out.

“If you look for the light, you will often find it, but if you look for the dark, it is all you will ever see” – Uncle Iroh, Legend of Korra.

Has helped me through some dark times in the past, just looking for that small bit of good in a heap of bad.”

7. Nobody’s perfect.

“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”

–John Steinbeck, East of Eden.”

8. Let it go.

““Let go or be dragged”.

An old Zen proverb I heard at a meditation class.

Really changed the way I let myself worry about things.”

9. You’re always with you.

“My grandfather once told me, “no matter where you go, there you are”.”

We refer to that a geographical cure — which doesn’t always solve things — so sometimes you have to work on yourself so you don’t repeat your mistakes.”

10. Take care of #1.

“Don’t set yourself on fire to keep others warm.”

This helped a lot with my guilt and burgeoning martyr complex.”

11. From Carl Sagan.

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us.

It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

Carl Sagan.”

12. We’re all replaceable.

“Graveyards are full of irreplaceable people”.

That quote helped me stop going down the path of working myself to death because “my job needs me”.”

13. Courage.

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” -Maryann Radmacher

I came across this a long time ago, at a point in life that I really needed this lesson. It’s okay if I feel sad and resigned, if my depression beat me for today and I wasn’t able to function. I didn’t fail, I’m not weak, I will try again tomorrow.”

14. Change your language.

“If you’re trying to break a habit, don’t say ‘this is the last time I’m doing it’ to yourself. Instead, say ‘this is the first time I’m not doing it’.”

15. Good one.

“When people show you who they are, believe them.”

– Maya Angelou.”

16. It helps.

“That mountain you’ve been carrying, you were only suppose to climb.’

Really helped me overcome a lot of traumatic experiences and difficult chapters in my life.

I hope it helps someone else out there.”

17. Just do it.

“Dear Abby’s response to a writer thinking of going back to school but worried that she will be 40 by the time she got her degree –

“How old will you be in four years if you don’t get your degree? You are going to be 40 anyway with or without your degree.“

It reminded me that letting age stop me from my plans was just silly. Also, working at a community college and seeing so many people going back to school in their 30s, 40s, 50s and thriving, the quote really spoke to me.”

18. Live it up.

“Some people d** at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.”

– Ben Franklin”

19. Be kind.

“The axe forgets; the tree remembers.” —Zimbabwean proverb.

People don’t forget how they were treated; that’s why it’s so important to be kind.”

20. I wish you well.

“Just because you lost me as a friend doesn’t mean you gained me as an enemy.

I still want to see you eat, just not at my table.”

21. Get through it.

“Your kid isn’t giving you a hard time, they’re having a hard time.

The only way out is through.”

22. Some good ones.

“Don’t let a wishbone grow where a backbone should be.”

“It’s no use wasting time worrying what other people think about you. No one is thinking about you.”

and

“Remember to take care of yourself. You can’t pour from an empty cup.”

Been living up to those ideals recently and I feel I have just started living.”

23. You got this.

“I understand there’s a guy inside me who wants to lay in bed, smoke weed all day, and watch cartoons and old movies. My whole life is a series of stratagems to avoid and outwit that guy.”

– Anthony Bourdain.”

24. The writing life.

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” – Terry Pratchett

I’m not sure why this quote struck me so hard, but it completely changed the way I approach writing. Just get your ideas down in run-on sentences and asides to yourself and loads of [???] at parts you haven’t figured out yet.

It took me more than 30 years to realize that a first draft isn’t just a rough version of the final draft. It’s a map for yourself, and no one else.”

25. Love.

“You cannot convince people to love you. This is an absolute rule. No one will ever give you love because you want him or her to give it. Real love moves freely in both directions. Don’t waste your time on anything else.”

– Cheryl Strayed.”

26. Stupid is as stupid does.

“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity” – Hanlon’s Razor.

Not everyone’s out to get you, there are a lot of stupid people in the world.”

27. Always do your best.

“I visited Pearl Harbor this week and the one that struck me was: “There were many acts of heroism that day, not all of them recorded.”

It reminds me that even when nobody is watching, it’s still important to put forward your best.”

28. The deal.

“The pain I feel now is the happiness I had before. That’s the deal.”

C.S. Lewis”

29. Still think about it.

“Honey, I hope it’s the worst thing that ever happens to you.”

From my dad when I was complaining about something. He probably didn’t intend for it to be deep or anything but it puts things in perspective. I think of it all the time.”

30. Get out there and explore.

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

John Shedd”

What quote do you think changed your life?

Talk to us in the comments and let us know.

Thanks a lot!