If at first you don’t succeed, do it like your mother told you.

This quip is a humorous twist on the well-known proverb “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” a maxim popularized in 19th-century English-language moral instruction (often linked to didactic verse and schoolroom sayings). The added clause (“do it like your mother told you”) reframes perseverance as a matter of following practical, familiar guidance rather than merely repeating attempts. It circulates chiefly as an anonymous joke line in modern informal speech, greeting cards, and compilations of humorous aphorisms, where the “mother” figure stands in for common-sense authority and everyday wisdom rather than a specific historical person or event.

The joke suggests that persistence alone is not enough: repeated failure may indicate that the method is wrong, and the solution is to return to basic instruction—“the way you were told.” By invoking “your mother,” the line taps into a cultural stereotype of maternal practicality and no-nonsense correction, implying that success often comes from discipline, attention to detail, and heeding advice rather than stubbornly improvising. The humor also carries a mild rebuke: if you failed, perhaps you ignored simple directions. As an aphorism, it playfully balances self-help optimism with a reminder that technique and guidance matter.