Question Two: Words to Live by
Originally published on June 25, 2026
What is a saying, phrase, motto, quote, or idea you like to live by?
Rachel’s Response from 2023
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
- The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost
The first time I read Robert Frost was in elementary school. I recall reading this poem, and I started imagining an ideal forest with trees covered with autumn leaves and a dirt path that split into a fork. Seeing that image, I tried to imagine which side of the fork I would take: the left or the right. Well, right sounds right…right? Shouldn’t we always go the right way? However, what if everybody thinks like that, and so I really should go left? If you haven’t caught onto it, I am an overthinker to my core. An overthinker and perhaps a bit of a rebel? I’ve always been compelled by the idea of making choices that differ from the status quo. Granted, we should not make decisions solely out of wanting to be different from others because while it may lead us down the road less traveled, it won’t get us to where we necessarily should go. In fact, I think Frost’s road of choice has to do with making the right choice for ourselves regardless of how many have walked a similar path to us.
Ultimately, Frost’s poem taught me about the significance of the choices we make, no matter how big or small they might seem at the time. The choices we make can have a huge impact on our lives, and decision making should not be done frivolously. Perhaps the road less traveled has nothing to do with the status quo, or the physical trajectory our steps will take, but about making the right choice even when it is hard. How often do people choose to do what is comfortable or temporarily satisfying over what is right? Who doesn’t want to be comfortable? Who doesn’t find temporary satisfaction tempting because of how easy it is? Doing the right thing, making the right choice can be really hard and even a bit scary. Don’t let fear of the unknown stop you from taking the road less traveled. Frost was spot on when he said it makes all the difference. It does. I have to continually remind myself of that truth when my heart and mind tell me one thing, but my gut says something else. Sometimes taking the road less traveled might bring you temporary dissatisfaction, but doing the right thing will always be rewarding in some way, even if you do not see it for a while.
I wonder what that road less traveled looked like for Robert Frost? I heard a podcast once that when Frost wrote The Road Not Taken that he was writing literally, not metaphorically. Apparently, he really was on a nature walk and was deciding which path to take in order to carry on his walk. Hearing this crushed me a bit, and I am still deciding whether or not to believe it. Regardless of what Frost actually meant when he wrote The Road Not Taken, it is still fascinating to think of what his woods looked like. What kind of things did he think about while in the woods? What were the choices he was pondering, and would he choose to take the road less traveled? I like to think so.
If you haven’t read the whole poem before, it's a classic and I highly recommend it.
Community Responses
“Everything will come to you at the perfect time. This quote is so inspiring to me, in all areas of my life. It has taken me 59 years to find true love, but most importantly, I found myself.” ~ Female, 63.
“I think I’ve always relied on the saying don’t ever let anyone dull your sparkle or never lose your sparkle. I remember relying on that a lot when a high school relationship broke off. Plus, I’ve always loved glitter and sparkly things, so that makes it even better.” ~ Female, 27.
“I am the Warrior Child — meaning simply that I am strong enough to get through life tackling my battles and fears and not being afraid to feel the pain! This allows me to expand and grow intellectually and spiritually.”~ Female, 65.
“I don't remember writing anyone by accident. If they are themselves, they are themselves on purpose -Neil Gaiman. He said this in response to a question about some characters maybe being autistic-coded accidentally, and I like to think this is how God feels about me. I'm a freak, unabashedly gender-funky, autistic, bisexual weirdo, and I'm meant to be this way.”~ Genderfluid, 18.
“We are all just walking each other home.” ~ Female, 42.
"Do the right thing. My eyes were definitely opened when I made the commitment to follow Jesus and received the Holy Spirit. No rules or laws. I try to always ask the Holy Spirit what the right thing to do would be when making decisions (not that I always succeed). Some ask, What would Jesus do?” ~ Female, 78.
“Sorry, but I can't choose only one, so I am sharing 2: When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. The other one is, Happiness is like a butterfly. If you chase it, it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.” ~ Female, 60.
"Hope and optimism are different. Optimism tends to be based on the notion that there's enough evidence out there to believe things are gonna be better, much more rational, deeply secular, whereas hope looks at the evidence and says, ‘It doesn't look good at all. Doesn't look good at all. Gonna go beyond the evidence to create new possibilities based on visions that become contagious to allow people to engage in heroic actions always against the odds, no guarantee whatsoever.’ That's hope. I'm a prisoner of hope, though. Gonna die a prisoner of hope. This quote is from Cornell West and I have been using it in classes for several years. ~ Male, 42.
“Go on adventures and Love God.” ~ Female, 47.
“One idea I like to live by is the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Everyone is at a different place in life. We all have our stories. The day to day is filled with ups and downs, and we never really know what someone is going through. I think the Golden Rule is something to consider when we interact with other people. Treat others with kindness and respect, in the way we want to be treated. Kindness and empathy may turn someone’s day around for the better and create a domino effect on other people.” ~ Female, 24.
“Love yourself. Don’t give anyone else the power to control your mood, your feelings, what you think of yourself, and determine your worth. This was something I learned as an adult in my late 30’s. I started to care less about what others thought and started to care and love myself more. This relieved me from the burden of what others thought. With the help of God and the Holy Spirit, I had freedom. I realized I only have control over myself and nobody else, people will think what they want no matter what you do. I’m 40 now and I am finally understanding when people say, as you get older you stop caring what people think of you. I’m a good person and I don’t need to prove that to anyone. ❤️” ~ Female, 40.
“Harm none, do what you will.”~ Female, 19.
“Just keep swimming — Dory, Finding Nemo. This quote often reminds me to never give up, even if I am unsure of the direction that I am heading in.” ~ Female, 21.
“Do all the good that you can, by all the means that you can, in all the ways that you can, in all the places that you can, at all the times that you can, to all the people that you can, as long as you ever can. — John Wesley” ~ Nonbinary, 20.
“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. This quote by writer Joseph Campbell came into my life via a Youtube Hot Ones interview with Viola Davis. Of course, only Viola could provide this gem of knowledge while eating progressively spicier hot sauce. Highly recommend checking out her whole interview. Search for Viola Davis Gives a Master Class While Eating Spicy Wings on youtube (Motto mentioned at the 22:03 time mark)”~ Anonymous.
“Quote from Mahatma Gandhi — A man with a grain of faith in God never loses hope, because he ever believes in the ultimate triumph of Truth. This quote helps me to be at peace during these times of social and political turmoil.”~ Female, 63.
“Love is never wasted — this is a motto I created for myself after 3 years of therapy and working on developing a stronger sense of self worth and self love. We live in a world of constant comparisons and depreciations that it can be easy to declare something or someone as not worth our love and all that entails. But as a believer that God loves the entire world. To me, that means that includes you, me, and anything else that exists.”~ Female, 26.
“The motto I'm going with is "what you do in a day I can do in 24 hours". It's just a random saying I heard that I thought was a bit funny, but when I thought about it, it reminded me that we all have the same amount of time. How you use that time is what gets you ahead or behind others.”~ Male, 27.
“Mustn’t have fun until duties are done was a saying I would tell my younger sister a lot when we were young. It was mostly a joke, and we would poke fun and say that to each other when they didn’t want to do something. It feels like something a grandma would have cross stitched on a pillow or what Mary Ingalls would say to Laura in the Little House on the Prairie books. It is a funny saying, but it does help me have a laugh as I am trying not to procrastinate on things.”~ Female, 26.
“Dare to Love for to live is Christ!” ~ Female, 52.
“Undoubtedly there are other sayings, phrases, proverbs or mottoes that I find myself using and which guide me or provide comfort or a way to gain perspective on situations or circumstances, but this one that Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote in a canto of his In Memoriam elegy to a beloved friend is perhaps the most profound one that speaks to profound and sacred loss, offering solace and instilling courage.Solace for the breaking heart, because where love is great, grief is great and the incalculable, priceless treasure of love is never outweighed by grief, as deep and encompassing as it may be. True grief is sacred, as is true love. Both enrich our lives and selves, though we only ask or wish for one and beg to be spared the other. Courage, because the depth of grief can frighten us to our core. The incredible energy and force of grief wreaks havoc on body, spirit, and mind and destroys us; grief can kill in the literal physical sense, and in the sense of forcing tremendous change on us. A world ends, our identity and role as someone loving and being loved is radically altered. This creates an opportunity, as undesired as it may be, for birthing a new way of being in the world-at-large, of finding new ways to honor and memorialize the Beloved. Grief can propel us toward self-less and good acts to transform tremendous loss. This takes courage, among other things. It also takes courage to love again, once one knows the price one may end up paying. Tennyson's pronouncement validates the meaning and value of love over and against the pain of loss that is the price.”~ Female, 55+.
“KISS- Keep It Simple Stupid” ~ Female, 45.
"Continue until you fail" I find that often when I am presented with a potential opportunity, the fear of failure will often prevent me from even pursuing that opportunity. Recently I have reflected on all my accomplishments that seemed so far fetched at first but it ended up doing just fine. I find that often the biggest block in life is myself so I have decided that I am no longer going to turn opportunities down until I first give them a chance. ~Male, 26.