About Life...Bob Ong Quotes translated (Part 3)

This set of quotes is a tough one to translate. I try to really make decent translations out of Bob Ong's sardonic yet funny takes on life in general. Pardon the photo thumbs, I need to make my life easier. But you'll soon notice that at the very last entries I kind of lost it (hirap! nosebleed!). so here goes, part 3 and probably the last (for now) of the Bob Ong quotes, translated...


BUHAY - LIFE
(In general)

"Kumain ka na ng siopao na may palamang pusa o maglakad sa bubog nang nakayapak, pero wag na wag kang susubok mag-drugs. Kung hindi mo kayang umiwas, humingi ka ng tulong sa mga magulang mo dahil alam nila kung saan ang mga murang supplier at hindi ka nila iisahan."

You can eat steamed bun laced with cat meat or walk on glass shards barefooted, but don't ever try drugs. If you can't stay away from it, then ask your parents' help because they know where the cheap suppliers are and they will not fool you."
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"Mangarap ka at abutin mo. Wag mong sisihin ang sira mong pamilya, palpak mong syota, pilay mong tuta, o mga lumilipad na ipis. Kung may pagkukulang sa'yo mga magulang mo, pwde kang manisi at maging rebelde. Tumigil ka sa pag-aaral, mag-asawa ka, mag-drugs ka, magpakulay ka ng buhok sa kili-kili. Sa banding huli, ikaw din ang biktima. Rebeldeng walang napatunayan at bait sa sarili."

Dream and try to reach it. Don't put the blame on your broken family, your failure of a fiancee, your disabled puppy or flying cockroaches. If there ever were lapses done to you by your parents, you can blame them and become a rebel. Stop going to school, marry, do drugs, dye your armpit hair. In the end, you become the victim. A rebel who proved nothing and has never been good to himself.
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"Tuparin ang mga pangarap. Obligasyon mo yan sa sarili mo. Kung gusto mo mang kumain ng balde-baldeng lupa para malagay ka sa Guinness Book of World Records at maipagmalaki ng bansa natin, sige lang. Nosi balasi. wag mong pansinin ang sasabihin ng mga taong susubok humarang sa'yo. Kung hindi nagsumikap ang mga scientist noon, hindi pa rin tayo dapat nakatira sa jupiter ngayon. Pero hindi pa rin naman talaga tayo nakatira sa jupiter dahil nga hindi nagsumikap ang mga scientist noon. Kita mo yung moral lesson?"

Realize your aspirations. This is your obligation to yourself. If you need to devour buckets of soil so you can get into the Guinness Book of World Records and exalted by our country, do it. The f#@! with people who would just want to talk you out of it. If scientists of yore didn't persevere, we wouldn't be living in Jupiter now. Though, we still do not live in Jupiter because these scientists didn't really persevere during their time. Can you see the moral lesson? (Huh? what the...)
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"Nalaman kong habang lumalaki ka, maraming beses kang madadapa. Bumangon ka man ulit o hindi, magpapatuloy ang buhay, iikot ang mundo, at mauubos ang oras."

I realized that while you are growing up, you fall down a lot of times. You either stand up again or not, life goes on, earth will continue to rotate and time will be spent.
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HALO-HALO - MIXED/MISCELLANEOUS

Wag magmadali sa pag-aasawa. Tatlo, lima, sampung taon sa hinaharap, mag-iiba pa ang pamantayan mo at maiisip mong di pala tamang pumili ng kapareha dahil lang sa kaboses niya si Debbie Gibson o magaling mag-breakdance. Totoong mas importante ang kalooban ng tao higit anuman. Sa paglipas ng panahon, maging ang mga crush ng bayan sa eskwelahan e nagmumukha ring pandesal. Maniwala ka."

Don't rush yourself into marriage. Three, five, ten years from now, your standards will change and you will soon realize that it's wrong to choose a partner only because she sings like Debbie Gibson or he is great at breakdancing. The truth is, what's inside a person is more important. Years will pass, even the heartthrobs in your school will eventually look like (pandesal). Believe me.
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"ayokong nasasanay sa mga bagay na pwede namang wala sa buhay ko."

I don't want to get used to things that you can live without.
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"hinahanap mo nga ba ako o ang kawalan ko?"

Are you really looking for me or are you looking for what I don't have?
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"hindi dahil sa hindi mo naiintindihan ang isang bagay ay kasinungalingan na ito. at hindi lahat ng kaya mong intindihin ay katotohanan. "

It isn't because you don't understand a certain thing that makes it a lie. And not everything you understand are truths.
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"Sabi nila, sa kahit ano raw problema, isang tao lang ang makakatulong sa'yo – ang sarili mo. Tama sila. Isinuplong ako ng sarili ko. Kaya siguro namigay ng konsyensya ang Diyos, alam niyang hindi sa lahat ng oras e gumagana ang utak ng tao."

They say that whatever kind of problem, there is only one person who can help you - yourself. They're right. I testified against myself. Maybe when God gave us conscience, he knew people's brains are not working all the time.
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Obligasyon kong maglayag, karapatan kong pumunta sa kung saan ko gusto, responsibilidad ko ang buhay ko."

It is my obligation to travel, my right to go places where I wanna go, my life is my responsibility.
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"Masama akong tao, tulad mo, sa parehong paraan na mabuti kang tao, tulad ko."

I'm a bad person, like you, in the same way that you're a good person, like me.
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"Mas mabuting mabigo sa paggawa ng isang bagay kesa magtagumpay sa paggawa ng wala."

It is better to fail at doing something than achieve in doing nothing.
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"iba ang walang ginagawa sa gumagawa ng wala."

Doing nothing is different from nothing being done. (wha? this is difficult to translate...)
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"iba ang informal gramar sa mali!"

Informal grammar is different from wrong grammar (this one courtesy of wackyista)
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"Para san ba ang cellphone na may camera? Kung kailangan sa buhay un, dapat matagal na kong patay."

For what purpose is a cellphone with a camera? If that is really needed in life, I probably have been dead a long time ago.
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Next: Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 6-b / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10
In Review: Part 1 / Part 2

Note to readers: If you want to copy Bob Ong quotes in English as meme in your blogs or websites, please acknowledge Pin(k)oy as your source by posting a link directed to this site. Pin(k)oy took pains and a lot of nosebleeds to translate these quotes from Tagalog to English so please...give the cat a break. Thank you.