"I Didn't Expect 'Barbarian' to Show Me This": People Are Revealing The "Life Pro-Tips" That Are Secretly Hidden In Movies

While it's nice to watch TV shows and movies as a form of escapism, sometimes a solid piece of life advice pops off the screen and becomes part of our daily routine. So when Reddit user epaga asked: "What life pro tips are hidden in movies that were actually helpful?" I thought I would share their very helpful answers below:

1. "Van Wilder said, 'Worrying is like a rocking chair: It gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere.' Not saying you should never worry, but it usually doesn’t get you anywhere, especially when it’s outside of your control."

—ExtraGloves

2. "Sweet Liberty. Alan Alda taught me that if you take a head of iceberg lettuce, slam it down on a counter so the stem hits the counter first, the stem is easily removed, and you have all the leaves freed."

3. "In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, when Greg needs to remember something in the morning, he’ll chuck a pillow at his door. Then the next day, he’ll see the pillow on the ground and think, 'Why the heck is this pillow here?' and then go, 'Oh yeah! I remember!’ It’s a book and not a movie, but it’s so stupid and funny and works."

—CohlN

"I use this constantly. Just put something where it's not supposed to be and is obviously in the way, and you'll be like, 'Why did I do that? Oh, right.'"

—aka_zkra

4. "'You're not wrong, Walter, you're just an asshole.' Very important lesson."

5. "'You're supposed to be the leading lady of your own life, for god's sake!' — Iris from The Holiday. I was always a people-pleaser and would be the supporter and cheerleader of others. Never looking after myself or trying to succeed."

—pirate_meow_kitty

6. "I’ll never misspell 'beautiful' again thanks to Bruce Almighty. That’s my Life Pro Tip (LPT)."

7. "Not a movie, but the whole scene from The West Wing after Josh finds out he has PTSD from being shot."

"This guy’s walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, ‘Hey, you! Can you help me out?’ The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole, and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up, ‘Father, I’m down in this hole, can you help me out?’ The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole, and moves on. Then a friend walks by. ‘Hey, Joe, it’s me. Can you help me out?’ And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, ‘Are you stupid? Now, we’re both down here.’ The friend says, ‘Yeah, but I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out."

—safadancer

8. "Is it heavy?" "Yeah!" "Then it's expensive, put it back." Jurassic Park.

9. "In WarGames, there’s that moment where he uses a slice of bread to butter corn on the cob. It sounds daft, but it actually works ridiculously well. You just run the corn across the bread, and it coats it evenly without the mess. Been doing it ever since, and it’s weirdly satisfying."

—rhaire

10. "'Progress, not perfection,' by Denzel Washington (The Equalizer). It made me realize that doing something, anything, is better than nothing because you can’t do it perfectly straight away."

11. "I realized pretty young, after watching The Godfather, that people don’t take hotheads seriously. 'But you gotta keep an open mind when we talk. I mean, I hope you're not a hothead like your brother Sonny. You can't talk business with him.'"

—artpayne

"Totally. The same applies to other things, too, like constantly complaining. I read about someone who constantly complained at work, and nothing they complained about changed because they were known as someone who complained about everything. When the company made a big change that everyone was unhappy with, they all complained, and the company took it into account and made further changes/adjustments accordingly. It pays to choose your battles."

—ruellera

12. "Whenever I help do my wife’s laundry, I always think of Hedwig and the Angry Inch: 'You don’t put a bra in a dryer! It WARPS!'”

13. "'Absolute honesty isn't always the most diplomatic nor the safest form of communication with emotional beings.' TARS, from Interstellar (2014)."

—futanari_kaisa

14. "It's silly, but I've always liked Jackie Chan's quote from Rush Hour: "Not being able to speak is not the same as not speaking. You seem as if you like to talk. I like to let people talk who like to talk. It makes it easier to find out how full of sh*t they are.' Funnily enough, because I don't look Chinese, but speak perfect Cantonese, you'd be surprised what people say when they don't think you understand their language."

15. "I didn't expect Barbarian to show me how to change a duvet more efficiently."

—b3gbie

16. "Titanic for sure. When Jack is confused about the number of utensils at the table. Molly Brown's instructions have stayed with me forever: 'Just start from the outside and work your way in.'"

17. "Just Married: 'Some days your mother and me loved each other; other days, we had to work at it. You never see the hard days in a photo album, but those are the ones that get you from one happy snapshot to the next. I'm sorry your honeymoon stunk, but that's what you got dealt. Now, you gotta work through it.' The movie wasn’t great, but this line always stuck with me. My mother had always tried to force toxic positivity that once you were in love, everything was perfect, though she and my dad divorced after 20 years, as they had long since stopped communicating and being partners with each other. This helped me, in my relationship with my now-husband, see that hard moments do exist. There are times that can suck, but you work through them together! Been married 17 years, together for 23 now."

—Thliz325

Are there any other "life lessons" you've taken from movies or TV shows? Let us know the lessons, either in the comments or in the anonymous form below: