Back in my early twenties I was invited to a meeting by a friend of mine. He said ‘It’s a lucrative business opportunity!’ so I figured what the hell…I’ll go and see what this is about.

Turns out it was, yet, another pyramid scheme being peddled by some fake celebrity or a low level ‘high roller’ who’d given up his seven-figure income to pursue this ‘incredible opportunity to become rich and be his own boss.’ We’ve all heard of these at some point in our lives.

The one thing that stuck out to me, aside from the terrible acting and the fake applause from the audience, were all the slogans and acronyms this dude was throwing out every thirty seconds. Every one of them seemed to mind fuck these poor saps and make them excited to throw their money away and make fools out of themselves in front of their family and friends.

The word ‘poor’ was acronymized as ‘Passing Over Opportunities Repeatedly’ as if to say that the reason people were poor was because they didn’t engage in this kind of foolishness on the regular. Even though I wasn’t as hip to the script as I am now, I could still sniff out a hustle from a mile away.

Needless to say I didn’t sign up (my loss right?) but thinking back on this made me realize that there are a number slogans we as people have accepted as gospel truth for no other reason but that we’ve heard them our entire lives.

But if you break them down and really think about them, a lot of them don’t really make much sense and some are even patently false. I’ve thought of the 5 I’ve heard the most over my lifetime that I’ve decided are either straight up bullshit, or don’t warrant giving credence to.

1. “If you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything!”

This is a huge one in the black community. Nobody really knows where this started or what it means but my guess is that someone said it during a conversation and because it makes sense in an inverse poetic way, it stuck.

The fact is that there are a lot of people who don’t really stand for much of anything. They’re selfish people who are only in it for themselves and are always asking ‘What’s in it for me?’ when surveying any particular situation.

Skepticism is a good thing

This particular breed of human is normally financially shrewd, extremely calculated, and only look out for themselves and a small group of people closest to them.  But the characteristic that defines them most is that they impossible to get over on.

You can’t scam these people, they see right through bullshit, and are highly skeptical meaning they don’t fall for anything. Just because something sounds great lyrically when you say it out loud doesn’t mean it’s true and this particular axiom is a prime example.

2. ‘You gotta give respect to get respect!’

False. Respect is earned, not given. Funny thing is 99% of the mouths I’ve heard this come out of are female. And as we all know females these days aren’t good for much of anything outside of sex so it stands to reason they say this all the time knowing full well they don’t possess qualities or characteristics worthy of the respect they demand.

100% bullshit

Something else to consider is that Men who disrespect women seem to get the most respect from them. Crazy how that works right?

So the next time a woman utters this falsehood , ignore her because she probably respects the men who disrespect her the most.

3. ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself!’

To be fair, this isn’t completely false. There are times and situations where people can be much more hard on themselves than they need to be which can be a hindrance on one’s progress. But once again, this is another slogan mostly used by women and the reason for this is that they make terrible decisions and engage in stupid and irresponsible behavior almost daily.

A chick gets fucked and chucked for the 3rd time this week? ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself! Mr. Right is out there somewhere, ya just gotta keep looking!’

A female gets fired for missing too many days? ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself! That job was never right for you anyway!’

A woman’s kid gets kicked out of daycare because of bad behavior? ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself! You’re a great mother!’

While it’s important not to beat yourself up for too long over something, it’s equally important to hold yourself accountable. Being hard on yourself is being honest with yourself. As men we have the ability to say ‘I fucked up because I fucked up and that’s that’ and move on. Females have to hamster whatever they can to sleep at night.

The most successful men in the world are extraordinarily hard on themselves and almost live in a constant state of malcontent. Such is the mindset of a dominant male kicking life’s ass.

4. ‘Blood is thicker than water!’

This is another big one in the black community. ‘Blood is thicker than water’ means that you should always put family first because they are your blood. But anyone over the age of 20 knows that family members fuck you over quicker than people not related to you by blood. I speak from personal experience.

Straight up…

This particular dictum is usually used when one family member is trying to borrow money, keep you around, or any number of things they’ve got up their sleeves. I’m not suggesting it’s used in this way all the time but I’ve seen and heard this too much not to include it on this list.

Yes, blood is thicker than water physically. But it has nothing to do with what it means. Further, just because you’re related to someone by blood does not obligate you to favor them. If a family member has fucked you over multiple times, and one of your best friends has not, you’ll gravitate toward your best friend as a matter of survival and common sense.

Conclusion

There are many aphorisms out there that do make sense. ‘Never bite off more than you can chew’ and ‘Think before you speak’ come to mind. But it would behoove men to stop and take a look at the slogans and mantras we’ve been privy to our entire lives and break them down and decide for ourselves if there is any truth to them.

Just because it’s clever, poetic, makes sense acronymically, or rhymes doesn’t make it true. A man should never believe everything he hears or sees. Leave that to females.

Listen to Donovan’s podcast The Sharpe Reality on soundcloud, YouTube, and iTunes. Be sure to check out his column at Return Of Kings.