When my children were young, I created family mottos for us, mostly to amuse myself. The first one was: “We know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” I borrowed this from Oscar Wilde. Whenever I told anybody this family motto, I received a blank look.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
So I changed to a different family motto: “Fortune favours the bold.” The saying comes from The Aeneid, written by Virgil. The character who says it (Turnus) acts boldly, but as a result he gets a sword shoved through him by Aeneas.
As the children grew up, I turned away from creating family mottos. I now feel ready to create a personal motto as part of self-branding.
By self-branding, I do not mean the insanely painful act of permanently marking oneself with hot metal.
I have in mind creating a brand that helps make me distinct and marketable.
For example, when you think of the expression “Just do it,” what company comes to mind?
The person who created the motto for Nike gave credit for the saying to murderer Gary Gilmore, who used the expression just before he was executed by firing squad.
I want a motto like that: twisted but catchy.
Then another final statement came to me, made by Nathan Hale just before being hanged for rebelling against the British in America: “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”
I rejected that as a motto because I am not brave enough to even think that, much less say it. I did not choose the final words of actor Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.: “I’ve never felt better.”
Instead, I borrowed my new personal motto from the final comment of famed artist Raphael: “Happy.”
I may add it to my business card.
John Malouff