Suck it up, Buttercup.
Life’s a b _ _ ch and then you die.
Life’s not fair. Get used to it.
Actions speak louder than words.
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Similar one from my work which required me and my coworkers to drive many hours:
The driver picks the station.
Not because they were in charge, but because it wasn’t fun to drive so much so the driver got the reward of picking the music.
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Life is in the attempt.
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Disappointment is the gap between expectation and reality.
Corollary: If you don’t communicate your expectation, don’t be surprised when you’re disappointed.
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The other corollary: If your expectations are low enough you’ll never be disappointed.
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Said mostly in jest by my wife “I could agree you with but then we’d both be wrong” 
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Good point!
These two “favorites” came from a time when my sister came and got upset at me - she said, “I thought” and “I expected…” It dawned on me that, gee, sis, if you had TOLD me that, I would have done things differently! Now this is advice I give young couples. If you don’t communicate your expectations to your partner, it’s not fair to get upset at them. They can’t read your mind.
I’ve told DH to have low expectations for our trip to Europe next month. I have the feeling everything is going to be crowded. We just have to go with the flow and we’ll have a good time. 
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I had a variation on that one that I heard in college. It was “he who expects nothing is never disappointed”. But my favorite which still drives many decisions I now make, was said by my son when we were on a family trip about 5 years ago. I was trying to decide if I had time to take one more ski run with him before we had to check out of the condo. He said “Don’t live with regret”. I love that.
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If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
If you drive like hell, you’re going to get there.
You can’t control what happens, you can only control how you respond.
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From my Dad: “Don’t drive too slow.” That was the way he lived his life, not just the way he drove.
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Another one of my favorites: “Run like hell and get the agony over with.”
My German grandmother had one she used when she thought her teenage/young adult grandkids were overly concerned with their appearance and spending too much effort on looking fancy when going out for an evening. I have yet to find an English equivalent.
In die Nacht sind alle Katzen grau.
Translation:
At nighttime all cats are gray.
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That’s a famous quote from Benjamin Franklin. Here’s the portion of his letter where the quote appears:
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According to google, " The phrase appeared (at least published for the first time) as “when all candles be out, all cats be gray” in John Heywood’s “Book Of Proverbs” published in 1547. I think it’s pretty common in all languages.
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Very intriguing! I am guessing my grandmother did not get it from Ben Franklin as she barely spoke or read English. But she was quite well educated for her generation, so perhaps came across a German translation.
Edited to add. Thanks @mathmom!
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I’m familiar with this from previous German generations as well - definitely not in any circle, or educational level, to have been influenced by anything published abroad. As @mathmom said, it might have long been used in many languages.
@cinnamon1212, for all we know, he picked it up in Europe. 
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I totally defer to your superior scholarship 
Fascinating that it is from such a long time ago.
Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining.
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A favorite of my grandmother’s (mom’s side) was “For the love of Pete” – kind of another way to say “For Pete’s sake”.
She used them interchangeably.
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Suck it up, Buttercup.
Life isn’t fair.
We don’t know what another person is going through; everyone has their struggles.
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.
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