Top 11 Pieces of Advice from Fictional Characters

By CJ Tiernan

Adages, Idioms, Axioms and Proverbs. These are phrases that we use, some almost daily, to convey our thoughts and our meanings. They're often things we've heard from others over and over again and they serve as a shortcut (our brain is always down to clown with a shortcut) to deliver our message or an opportunity to avoid answering the truly daunting questions like "How are you" and "How have you been?" I am always positively smitten when I encounter a character in movies, books, or TV that has some wisdom to impart to another character in the story, a wisdom that feels like they are talking directly to me. In that instance, I will often jot them down in the Notes App in my phone (hooray for smartphones!). Below is a list of the Top 11 Pieces of Advice I have ever noted from a Fictional Character (though maybe I have failed to heed their advice).

1. "Be Excellent to Each Other" - William S. Preston Esq. a.k.a. Bill

Movie: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

I consider this 5-word phrase (my spelling is terrible so I originally referred to this as a 4-word phrase because I thought "each other" was one word) to be my life mantra. My true north. My guiding light. As human beings in this world, all we have is our fellow man. People are what make our lives worth living. People are the first thing you think about when your doctor diagnoses you with a day or a month or a year to live. They are precious and irreplaceable. Be kind to your fellow man. Treat them better than you feel you deserve to be treated. Spread love, not hate. Be the change you want to see in the world.

2. "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary" - John Keating

Movie: Dead Poets Society (1989)

When you're in High School, you hit this certain point where you've learned enough stuff that you feel like you understand the world. You have knowledge, but you don't yet know all the things you don't know. In that, there are two divergent paths. One, you can take life for granted and live recklessly. Two, you wait. You see that there is time and you operate with patience, waiting for a path to choose you. I love the urgency in this quote. Robin Williams' character implores his students to grab the bull by the horns and take what it is they want from life. To choose their path and chase their dreams. Regardless of age, tomorrow isn't guaranteed. Go for the things you want most in life.

3. "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it" - Ferris Bueller

Movie: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

André Koehne, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Ferris is encouraging us all to "shake it up, baby, now!" with this message. He breaks the 4th wall and talks directly to us. He wants us to live life. Few characters have ever lived it up to the extent that Ferris does in this movie (over the course of just a single school day), but we can probably all stand to ratchet up our efforts a little. Live life to the fullest. Don't allow yourself to fall so deeply in a routine that you fail to mix it up and do something fun, something different, something unexpected, something exciting. Be you, not what others want you to be.

4. "It's in the past, it doesn't matter" - Rafiki

Movie: The Lion King (1994)

This line has stayed with me since I saw this movie in theaters as a child. Unless you are friends with Bill & Ted or Doc Brown, you cannot change the past. No matter how much you feel you wish you could or how, with your current knowledge, you would be able to change your actions for the better. You simply can't. Lingering on the past doesn't help the future. I am a sentimental person and I like to collect souvenirs from places I go, but I know that every action I have ever taken is unchangeable. All I can do with that knowledge is mend fences and bridges for mistakes I've made, and endeavor to learn from those mistakes to make my next action better than my last. Time doesn't heal all wounds, it gives us a chance to heal them ourselves.

5. "It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live" - Albus Dumbledore

Book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (1997)

We can get caught up in an image or a path for our lives (The famous line by Allen Saunders: "life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" springs to mind). If we start to stray, we may effort so hard to get back to that path, not realizing a new one has emerged beneath our feet. The important message here is, much like the message of Rafiki, we cannot change the past and yearning for that is a waste of our time. Move on, push forward, and make the next action the best action with the data set you have available. You can cling to your dreams, but if they impede your ability to see what's in front of you, they may be doing more harm than good. Live in the moment!

6. "Believe in yourselves. Dream. Try. Do good. - Mr. Feeny

TV Show: Boy Meets World (1993-2000)

Ahh, Mr. Feeny. There is an entire generation of people that grew up absorbing the sage advice of neighbors like dear Mr. Feeny and Wilson from "Home Improvement." In this poignant moment he is talking to his classroom full of the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed kids he had been educating through the entire series. He offers this advice in the series finale. So much of everything we accomplish in our lives comes from inside. Sure, when you're a kid this no shortage of external cajoling but ultimately, it's on us to try. It's on us to believe in ourselves. A perfect message to end the show and to send a group of human beings out into the real world.

7. "To be a good friend, you have to risk losing a good friend" - Uncle Phil

TV Show: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996)

The intimidating presence of the 6'5" actor James Avery created an intense dynamic whenever Uncle Phil had to have a serious discussion with Will. In this particular moment, he was seated, having a thoughtful discussion with the titular Fresh Prince. The sentiment is clear: sometimes people need to hear something, even if they don't want to hear something. Do you want to be a "yes man," or truly champion your friend to take the best course of action for them. It can be difficult to make that call. It reminds be of the end of "The Dark Knight": "...He's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now..." Also the quote from "Rounders" comes to mind: "You can't lose what you don't put in the middle, but you can't win much either." Friendship requires roots in honesty to stand the test of time.

8. "Don't let anyone, ever, make you feel like you don't deserve what you want. Go for it" - Patrick

Movie: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

How about this. I'm quoting a movie based on Shakespeare and I'm not pulling Shakespeare's dialogue. "To thine own self be true" There, we got one of the guy with ruff collar in here. This movie is great and the part that is most quoted is obviously the moving portion at the very end wherein Julia Stiles relays through tears the titular reasons of hatred (Spoiler Alert: the hate melts to love by the end). However, this particular quote is delivered from Heath Ledger to Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It is a wonderful moment. It is encouragement to chase your dreams. Being given the okay to go after something or someone you want is a beautiful gesture of friendship.

9. "It is our choices... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities" - Albus Dumbledore

Book: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)

Actions speak louder than words. Doing what you believe to be right, especially in the face adversity, is such an obvious thing as a 3rd party observer and so much more difficult in the moment. Whether you were born on 3rd base with a silver spoon betwixt your incisors or came from nothing, how you play the hand you're dealt dictates how your legacy will be written. Do good. Be good. Choose good. When I was a kid, I had a teacher tell me, "no one can make you do anything you don't want to do." My parents disproved that every Sunday when I had to go to church but there is some truth there. "Make every decision like your parents will read about it in the paper the next morning" was another one I heard in school (man, that's an old reference. How do we update that for the digital world? Text? Facebook?). Anyway, make good choices.

10. "Never give up, and good luck will find you" - Falkor

Movie: The Neverending Story (1984)

As Dwight said in the office, "I make my own luck. - Billy Zane, Titanic." This is another way to give agency to luck. Luck is, by definition, random, but not exclusively so. Those who make an effort have a leg up on those that don't. Adopting a marathon mentality, or the idea of mind over matter, can help you achieve more. This quote runs counter to Yoda's famous line: "do or do not. There is no try." Trying is the first step to success. If you never try, you will never make it. "You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky - Michael Scott.

11. "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun" - Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

I believe it was the great philosophers Blink-182 that once sang, "work sucks, I know." Nobody wants to do work that is hard or menial. It is varying degrees of grinding, exhausting, or soul-crushing. Your job is to find the fun. Turn cleaning into a game or a competition. Flip your attitude from concentrating on the part that grinds your proverbial gears and focus instead on the joy you gain from working with others. If you have a job that helps people, focus on their smile and their gratitude. If you have a job with flexible hours, focus on how your job allows you to be there for the friends and family in your life. Work will never be all fun, even people who play games as their profession have trials and tribulations. The expectation is that you find the part that keeps you coming back and wear it as a badge. Flourish it. Trust Mary Poppins, she knows what she's talking about. She is, after all, practically perfect in every way.

Final Thoughts

There are a near-infinite number of quotes from fictional characters from multimedia and literature sources. It was impossible for me to sift through and absorb it all so I may have left one of your favorites off my list. These are quotes that drive me and inform my personality. I can't wait to see yours in the comments. Thanks and Be Excellent to Each Other!