I recently read a story that had a lot of quotes as the heading of the chapters. Also I've noticed a number of quotes coming with a review. What are your favorite quotes?
Some of mine:
"I know G_d created the Heaven and Earth. I'm just trying to find out how." A. Einstein
"The reason I can see so far is that I'm standing on the shoulders of giants." E. Hailley
"Only Nixion could go to China." ST character, Spock
"In this galaxy there are millions of planets and millions of people on those planets. Don't lose the one called Kirk." ST character McCoy
"Why is this night different than all other nights?" Hagada, can be very sarcastic when used out of context
"It takes a village to raise a child." H. Clinton quoting an African proverb
"He dost protest too much!" W Shakespere from both Romeo and Juliet and one of the Henry's
"In other words, choose life!" Deut 30:15
shalimar
Comments
Oh Boy!
One of my favorite things to read! Here are some I found the other day, both attributed and unattributed.
Sex between a man and a woman can be wonderful, provided you
get between the right man and the right woman... - Woody Allen
Women libbers are ok. I just wouldn't want my sister to marry one. - unknown
Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. - Eric Hoffer
New York...when civilization falls apart, remember, we were way ahead of you. - David Letterman
Inbreeding is how we get championship horses. - Carl Gunter, Lousiana state representative, explaining why he was fighting a proposed bill that allowed abortion in cases of incest.
I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me. -- Hunter S. Thompson
Is the glass half empty, half full, or twice as large as it needs to be? - unknown
"My mother made me a homosexual!"
"If I send her the yarn, can she make me one too?" - unknown
Wanted, Dead or Alive: Schrodinger's Cat. - unknown
And finally:
There are two major products to come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX.
We don't believe this to be a coincidence. - unknown
Karen J.
"Never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity." Anonymous
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
Quotes
A few of my favorites:
Robert A. Heinlein:
Being right too soon is socially unacceptable.
Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is not sinful - just stupid).
The difference between science and the fuzzy subjects is that science requires reasoning while those other subjects merely require scholarship.
Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once.
Aristotle:
Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.
The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.
This is the reason why mothers are more devoted to their children than fathers: it is that they suffer more in giving them birth and are more certain that they are their own.
Aristophanes:
Open your mouth and shut your eyes and see what Zeus will send you.
Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever.
Under every stone lurks a politician.
These impossible women! How they do get around us! The poet was right: Can't live with them, or without them.
Plato:
He was a wise man who invented beer.
Aardvark
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
" !"
A manuscript, like a fetus, is never improved by showing it to someone before it is completed.
Every journalist has a novel in him, which is an excellent place for it.
Why do writers write? Because it isn't there.
Never let a domestic quarrel ruin a day's writing. If you can't start the next day fresh, get rid of your wife. Mario Puzo
Every novel has a beginning, a muddle, and an end.
Boy meets girl; girl gets boy into pickle; boy gets pickle into girl.
Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.
I can write faster than anybody who can write better, and I can write better than anyone who can write faster.
Carney's Law: There's at least a 50-50 chance someone will print the name craney incorrectly.
Bad spellers of the world, untie.
Dr. Livingstone I Presume = the full name of Dr. Presume.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Einstein
My favorite Einstein quote is good, all by itself... but it's even better with the story of why he said it
Albert Einstein was to hold a press conference in New York City. One journalist there was fairly young, and hadn't read any of the Professor's papers or anything really about him, figuring he could "wing it"
When he was called on to ask a question, his question was, "Mister Einstein, what can you tell us about your theory of relatives?"
To which, always fast on his feet Einstein replied, "There's something to be said about relatives... it has to be said because it's unprintable!"
Einstein story
Nick "The Greek" Dandoulos, a famous gambler of the last century, had some unusual frienships -- one of them being with Albert Einstein. According to one version of the story I heard years ago, Nick helped Einstein escape from the Trasury bodyguards surrounding him at the orders of President Eisenhower and took him on a trip to Las Vegas. Two mathematicians on the town. :) (Nick had no degrees as far as I know but had studied math in some high-falutin' places, like Oxford.)
Anyway, Einstein did not want to be recognized so Nick stuffed the famous hair into a baseball cap and introduced the professor to his Las Vegas gaming chums as "Little Al from Princeton -- has a piece of all the big numbers action around Jersey." :)
Snopes lists a version of the story as an unconfirmed legend and has a different version of the quote. :)
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Shoulders of Giants
I am afraid I am unacquainted with E. Hailley although I am sure he is/was a worthy and honourable gentleman.
My own recollection was that it was Isaac Newton who, way back in the 1670's, said "If I have seen further it is by standing on ye shoulders of Giants."
However on checking I find I was wrong.
Bernard of Chartres said in c. 1128 "Nanus gigantium humeris incidentes." which translates as "Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants."
I would be surprised if Mr. Hailley pre-dates this.
On a personal note, if I am allowed an epitaph in lieu of a quotation, I have a fondness for "Was That It?" Sadly I have forgotten the originator
Hugs,
Fleurie
Sir Edmond Hailey & additional quotes
That's the guy the comet is named after.
Other quotes:
"Children are usually heard and not seen." me
"Nobody remebers the Armenians." attrib. A Hitler
"Am I my keeper's brother?" a gorilla reading Darwin in New Yorker magazine comic strip c 1968
FWIW...
The name was HALLEY -- pronounced like the word "Hall" with a long E after it. Or so his English descendents tell us.
(If I recall correctly, there's also an American branch of the family which pronounces the name with a short A, which is the usual pronunication of the comet on this side of the Atlantic. But the only authority for the long A version that I'm aware of was musician Bill Haley.)
Eric
Shoulders of Giants
It's usually attributed to Newton, in a letter to Robert Hooke dated Feb 5, 1675.
It's been traced back quite far:
http://www.warble.com/jherbert/giants.html
for a quick summary - see the comments for several references.
What I wonder is what the giants thought of someone standing on their shoulders? And did the giant shrug?
Xaltatun
Mistaken Idenity & Shrugging
I stand (or sit) corrected as to the author.
And only Atlas shrugged.
Shelly
New Quote
I've been discussing a story via email with the author, and as a result of that discussion I came up with a new quote (as far as I know, anyway). Quoting me:
Not only is the road to Hell paved with good intentions, there's an HOV lane!
Big Grin!
Karen J.
"Never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity." Anonymous
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
A Few More...
I remember there was some TG story I read that brought to mind Sheryl Crow's line "...we can't be certain who the villains are because everyone's so pretty..." (from "There Goes the Neighborhood").
Always liked Asimov's "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent", though I'm not sure "A Smith & Wesson beats four aces" (couldn't find a credit for it on Google, and it's not in my Bartlett's) isn't more appropriate these days.
I recall using Sherlock Holmes's "There is nothing so deceptive as an obvious fact" as a disclaimer on something I wrote in high school.
And I wrote one down years ago out of an old Philo Vance mystery that I've never quite found a use for: "A duck, never having had the advantages of human civilization, is a straightforward and eminently honest bird." (Actually, since I occasionally walk along shorelines for exercise, it'd probably make a good t-shirt slogan.)
This may actually be a reasonable spot for one of mine, given the gamers here. While a few of us were setting up a concept for a dice baseball league, I noted:
"People who ask questions are OK - except for those who can't understand the answers."
Eric
Not Understanding.
I don't see a problem with not understanding the answers, provided they ask more questions about what they don't understand. If they can retain things as they trickle down, it makes things a lot of fun, actually.
Signal Quotations
"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." Edmund Burke
"In Germany, first they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Socialists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came for me---and by that time there was nobody left to speak up.
Rev. Martin Niemoller
Burke's Quote...
...according to my 1968 edition of Bartlett's, was "People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors." (1790, in an essay titled Reflections on the Revolution in France.)
Your quote (actually, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it") is by George Santayana. (The Life of Reason, 1905-06).
That's also the source for another famous quote, "Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim." (Animator Chuck Jones considered that the essential point of the Coyote-Road Runner series.)
Bartlett's better
Eric:
I did a cursory Google search and came upon the The Burke reference at Thinkexist.com. Bartlett's is, of course, a standard reference and is by far the best.
This is what happens when you do half-assed research.
Thanks for the correction.
k
Remembering the Past
As far as "Those who cannot remember the past are condemed to repeat it" there is a corollary: "History repeats itself."
"When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?" - song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" which is quoting, "And Quiet Flows the Don"
Sometimes history...
Joseph Campbell said: "History does not always repeat itself. Sometimes it just yells, 'Can't you remember anything I told you?' and lets fly with a club."
He also said, "If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else." But that has noting to do with history, just the future.
And he said lots of things that I've condensed into:
Find Joy;
Jan
Joseph Campbell
. . . also told us that by understanding our mythos, we can understand ourselves.
Not to belabor the point, Jan, but I think that to know what joy is and---especially---how to experience it, you also have to know history. But to know history, you also have to understand your mythos.
When people try to claim the right to make moral judgements about the stories on BC, they are trying to control the mythos. They can't, of course. The mythos will tell its story whether they like it or not. That's why censorship always fails.
k
Note to all: Please pardon my occasional spelling lapses. In a community of writers that's aken to walking out of the bathroom with a trail of toilet paper stuck to one's shoe.
Well Stated
I agree, except for the disparagement of a tissue train.
I was once slated to testify at a senate hearing. I got several steps from the bathroom toward the hearing room before I realized I had picked-up a two-foot tissue trailer cuaght on my pinstripe cuffs.
Had that hearing gone differently, had I suffered the embarassment -- many other subsequential events would not have occurred, events which cost me dearly. If only I hadn't noticed and everyone had enjoyed a good laugh at my expense.
Sometimes embarrassment can be the best things for us.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Not Exactly Words To Live By, But...
Very likely my favorite obscure song lyric:
"Things will get better, then they'll get worse:
Everybody knows the chorus follows the verse."
The song's called (Sing)"A Sad Song With a Happy Soul", and it was recorded by the "Buchanan Brothers" (actually, the only slightly less obscure Cashman, Pistilli and West) in 1969. No writer credit for the song on the reissue CD, annoyingly, or via Google.
Eric
Ooo Quotes!
Okay, so I'm not pulling nuggets out of famous mouths here but I have two... one of which is a story I was told by a friend.
First:
"Joy or Sorrow, it's better if it's shared."
(So I'll take me down to Callahan's and do my drinking there!)
-Spider Robinson Filk-song in 'Callahan Touch'
And now, the story, which comes from a role-player (GURPS game if I remember)
Jeremy (I'll call him that since it seems to fit) was a first-class game nerd cut from the mold of the song 'Pretty Fly for a White Guy' In other words, he wanted to be good at it and he pretended to be good at role-play and even talked like he knew what he was doing... but it just didn't work out.
So Jeremy is playing this Paladin character he'd spent weeks building up into a decent fighter. For once, he'd been listening to his companions and the game-master and it actually seemed like he was finally learning how to really game. Maybe the GM was giving him too much credit, but he decided to set up a scenario to test Jeremy's powers of observation and developing gaming skill. He'd prepared a series of monsters for the Paladin to face and either confront or evade. He'd carefully explained the scenario to Jeremy and, seeing the potential to increase his Paladin's skill levels, Jeremy had agreed to the game.
So the GM begins describing the playing field with it's various large and small flora, landscape and structures. As an afterthought he also mentions 'Standing before the walls is a white Gazebo.'
Jeremy's ears perk up 'A Gazebo? What's it's skill level?'
GM 'It's a gazebo.'
Jeremy 'Taunts Gazebo.'
GM, rolling his eyes. 'It's a GAZEBO, it doesn't respond.'
Jeremy seems perplexed. 'I throw rocks at the gazebo.'
GM 'Jeremy, there's a band in the gazebo.'
Jeremy 'I must rescue the band from inside the foul beast!'
GM 'It is a ga ze bo.'
Jeremy 'Whatever. I draw my sword and attack gazebo.'
Jeremy 'Well?'
GM 'Nothing.'
Jeremy 'What do you mean nothing?'
GM (and the other players) 'IT IS A GAZEBO.'
Jeremy 'I continue slashing at the gazebo.'
The GM shook his head and proceeded to roll his 'dice of doom', barely glancing at them he looked Jeremy squarely in the eye. 'Very well, last chance. Are you sure you want to be attacking the Gazebo.'
Jeremy 'Yes!'
The game-master flipped open a book and chart, ran his finger down the page, read for a moment, closed the book and looked across the table. With the typical 'voice of doom' that GM's affect he spoke.
"You have angered the Gazebo. It eats you."
When you don't know, ask. Never assume lest the gazebo eat you.
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