There are a few things which some people like to say that I've always found annoying to hear, mainly because of the illogic expressed in what they seemed to find very satisfying to say. Two examples come to mind: "If ain't broke, don't fix it," which I always found odd with its implication that improvement was out of the question. The second is, "Would you rather be right, or happy," which always struck me as containing a false dicotomy. In both cases, these are said with a certain smug expression, suggesting they are unanswerable. Can people really be that dumb?
Steeler, in case you're curious, and even if you're not, it appears that Bert Lance was the origin of the first, annoying expression I mentioned. As for the second, "Would you rather be right, or happy?", it seems no one is willing to claim credit for that little jewel. The first sucks because of its implication that anything that is, cannot be improved. We'd still be riding bareback if that was the standard, much less getting to the automobile, airplane or space shuttle. The second is just a plainly anti-intellectual jab, implying there is no value in being right about anything- when the whole enterprise of human thought, and its application, science, is to separate what is right from what is not right in our understanding of all that is, was, and may yet be.
V, I can appreciate your analytic view of phrases or words. They become a lot more meaningful when you seek to understand their true or intended meaning. As a law student, we have spent a four hour class on one sentence. I cannot tell you how much I still do not know about the english language from taking four semesters in spanish. I had a linguistics professor from Cuba and I now know more about the correct use of the spanish language then I do my own. Can we overanalyze words or events? For SURE~ However, some of us would rather be bothered and find our own truth than allow others words to speak for us.
ok all of your examples are right except..... we would all still be riding bare back!! i tried the saddle thing. its just too plain restricting!!! not to mention you get the feel of what ha ha or who you are riding without the saddle. ive been riding horses for 38 years and i always ride bareback!! just saying!!
I know this is a very old thread but I just came across it as I was looking for an answer to the second of the sayings, "Would you rather be right, or happy" after hearing it mentioned in passing on TV last night. I know this saying, “Would you rather be right than happy?”. from a book called A Course in Miracles (ACIM). What I understand it as meaning is that you cannot possibly know, at the deeper level, all the reasons for, and meanings of situations, events & interactions that seem to happen to you - but your ego thinks it can know - and it is this judgement of situations, events & interactions as being either 'good' or 'bad', and our insistence that these judgements are right, that causes unhappiness. If we let go of our ego's need to always be right about things, then that would automatically guide us to perceiving situations, events & interactions in a less judgemental (i.e. more neutral) and therefore happier light. I don't know if there is an earlier reference to the saying before 1976, when the book was published, but I hope this helps anyone who has a similar query in the future.
The problem with it, as a slogan, is that it seems to assume you have to make a choice, and you cannot be both "right" (exercise correct judgment), and happy, at the same time. But, I would go further and say you can be both wrong (exercise incorrect judgment) and be happy, at the same time. This is why I would say it's a false dichotomy- something catchy to say, perhaps, but containing a false choice, as I see it. Perhaps none of that matters if all that is intended by the writer of the book is to help people find greater happiness, as your comment seems to suggest it was. However, the expression has come to be used- out of context I suppose- by those who wish to put an end to some reflection or discussion. In that way, they are signalling that they are either out of ideas, or weary of the discussion. The same can be said of the saying, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it", yet another way of signalling a reluctance to explore something further. I've never heard truly thoughtful people use either of these, in any context.
