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Another_Road t1_j0td5q4 wrote

That sounds line loser talk to me.

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PelicansAreGods t1_j0tgn39 wrote

I read Slaughterhouse 5 last month. Well worth a read.

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yeehah t1_j0urave wrote

I've always said that if you want to appreciate poetry, make a sincere effort to write the best poem you can. Your poem probably won't be very good, but you'll forever gain a new respect for any well-written poetry you see.

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glootech t1_j0v3q0r wrote

This has been attributed to Vonnegut but it's almost certainly not Vonnegut. Nevertheless, still a great point and I agree with it 100%.

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pale_blue_dots OP t1_j0v4rtd wrote

Replying to glootech (#972,476)

Do you have some more information on this?

Edit: looks like it is NOT actually a real K.V. quote. See glootech's post history for a removed post linking to the books subreddit.

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danielv123 t1_j0v84yc wrote

Replying to Another_Road (#968,537)

Sortof agree, it's a fair opinion to hold. My personal philosophy has always been that doing something i am not the best at is a waste of time. That is why I dedicate a lot of time to my craft and learning to do it better and faster.

One must also recognize that wasting time is also important though.

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coyote-1 t1_j0vyjyl wrote

I recently read a blurb about not having to do things well, and I agree that you do not have to be competitive for the activity to be worthwhile. That said, one should also endeavor to do things as well as possible when doing them - and if you are going to do something again and again, to strive to improve.

Imagine baking cakes every week, and doing it so poorly each time that neither you nor anyone else wants to eat them. Imagine being OK with that outcome, five years and zero improvement later.

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dangelem t1_j0w1gbf wrote

I just saw an old coach post a quote “there’s no such thing as second or third place. There’s winning and not winning” and just thought….. how toxic. I was so over invested in my sport and it did nothing for me. Even if I became Olympic champion, I’ve met Olympic champs and they got like $10K and a pat on the back. Sure maybe I was in the wrong sport but… the point is that winning is fleeting. The moment, no matter how glorious, always passes. All you’re left with is your memories. Did you have fun or did you just give yourself PTSD?? Winning culture is so toxic

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Mollybrinks t1_j0xrm3z wrote

I love this. Growing up, I had two older brothers who were kinda savant in their own fields - one in music, one in math. In retrospect, I think if I'd have grown up in any other household, I'd have been confident in my abilities. I mean, I was always a straight-A student, excelled in various interests and abilities, etc etc but it always paled in comparison to how my brothers were breaking local barriers in their specific fields. Fast forward 20 years and neither uses their talents and have varying success. One thing one brother (the math one, funny enough) was amazing at was piano. We were both competitive but I think his math brain made him much more precise musically and he routinely won 1st at competition. I occasionally got first, but was not as good as he was. That said, I'm the one who pulled strings and sacrificed to get myself a piano after college and still play to this day. I'm playing things he never dreamed of playing when we were young. If he'd stuck with it, I have no doubt that he'd be better than I am now, but he didn't. He never loved it, so never progressed. I honestly wish he had because he'd be amazing but I'm also happy to be able to play without having to compare myself to him.

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