The first one was: “We know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” I borrowed the concept from Oscar Wilde.

Whenever I told a child or adult this family motto, I received back a blank look.

So I changed to a different family motto: “Fortune favours the bold.”

You might think this popular saying was more serious than the first motto. Nah. The saying comes from The Aeneid, written by Virgil. The character who says it (Turnus) acts boldly, alright. 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.

The first idea that came to my mind for my motto was: “Smarter than Einstein.”

I fear though that people might overlook the catchy aspect of the motto and think that just as no one can move faster than light, no one can be smarter than Einstein.

So I turned to the idea of using someone’s final words as my motto.

The only final words I initially could think of were those of Julius Caesar:  “Et tu, Brute?”  That would make a lousy motto  – Latin is not hip.

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.

At that point, I did what any scholar would do in the year 2017: I looked up famous last words on Google. 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”.

This motto has the value of being associated with one of the much-loved Seven Dwarfs. Also, it is associated with the catchy song Happy by Pharrell Williams. I may add it to my business card.

Do you have a personal motto?