Favorite quotes/sayings?

[Kwiz]

I've got a few which often come to mind. Pile on with your own, but please, give a little explanation. There are plenty of impersonal quote collections out there.




5.) "Remember that, no matter how drab or boring they may seem on the exterior, each person has within him hundreds of worlds... maybe even thousands." (rough approximation by recall, can't remember where I read it and it's bugging me)

I often have a hard time seeing the truth behind this. Then I force myself to admit that I'm yet another one of those boring, seemingly unremarkable people when met face-to-face.


4.) "The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be." - Douglas Adams

A characteristic of Douglas Adams quotes is that they're hard to summarize or add to. But this one's humbling - in a good way; whenever I come back to it, I'm reminded of how downright stupid it is to quietly assume "oh, everyone should see it the way I do."


3.) "Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real." - Iris Murdoch

I've got this sigged for a reason. Evil, as one of the sideline actors in Nuremberg quite appropriately said, seems to be defined as a lack of empathy.


2.) "We're just victims of what's available." (no attribution)

It's quite a harsh criticism when you consider it. What's available to you? Chances are, if you're reading this on a computer, a hell of a lot. Something in this six-word lesson demands that we look beyond what's twenty feet in front of our faces or a week ahead in the calendar. There's plenty of time to get distracted. What about those looming, long-term projects which require some real focus? Those which probably won't even be completed within our lifetimes?


1.) "So it goes." - Kurt Vonnegut

I've begun to realize, only recently, what an absolutely awesome line this is. It can be uttered after a mellow or happy sigh in almost every conceivable situation. It's important to keep this kind of middle-of-the-road good humor, methinks.

[SlickWilly440]

I made up one the other day:

"If a picture is worth a thousand words. Than is a picture of a thousand pictures worth a million words?"

"I came, I cummed, I cummquered."

"A hand shuffle a day, keeps the wet dreams away."

[Random]

See signature.
Just down a bit.
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[Annoying MSN Person]

Go to bed. (or variant, gtb).

Started years ago through various exchanges between my family on the internets, seeing as everyone lived far apart and in different time zones. Generally a term of love, but with the sinister overtones that big brother, was infact, watching. (goddamned Colin always spying on me) One of the things I remember my dad telling me the last night I saw him.

[Jay]

"Live in hope, die in despair." - My old mate from where I used to live.

My mate and I were on the weed and talking shit and he just busted out with that and I thought... ya know what? He's right. So it stuck with me over the years and now it's my saying.

[MNJetter]

Random, I don't have sigs turned on. What does your say?

3) The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing
Einstein. Genius. 'Nuff said.

2) If we're going to be damned, let us be damned for who we really are.
This rings of an old and established quote, but the only place I've heard it is on Star Trek, so I'll credit it to the show for now. I think it's a good statement about doing your best and staying true to your heart.

1) Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
My life's philosophy. I heard it in passing in middle school, and it just spoke to me in so many ways. I try to live by it, but I'm afraid I've become a bit too inured. I'll do everything in my power to help, but if I can't do anything about a situation, I don't get worked up about it, even if it inconveniences me or others. I think it makes me seem insensitive sometimes. But I still think it's a good philosophy.

[Shishio]

"Man is cruel by nature, and there is no truer hell than the world we live in."

- Shishio Makoto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shishio_Makoto), a fictional character from Rurouni Kenshin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurouni_Kenshin).

"The flesh of the weak is the food of the strong."

- Shishio again.

"Any idiot can be organized, but it takes a true genius to master chaos."

- I don't remember who said it; it was in a book of quotations I had that had some really great stuff. Anyways, I like it because I'm so messy and disorganized.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

- Theodore Roosevelt

That's all I have for now.

[Neon Pink Shoehorn]

"It is better to be pissed off than pissed on."

I dunno where I heard that one, but... it's kinda stuck with me.

[Enders Shadow]

"You should wear a hat... Don't take that the wrong way, you're just not an attractive guy."
"Catholics believe in molesting children. That's why I'm Catholic, for the benifits."
-my former History professor

"I hated going to weddings. All the grandmas would poke me saying 'You're next'. They stopped that when I started doing it to them at funerals."
"The only really happy folk are married women and single men."
-unknown

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That is his."
Oscar Wilde



"Don't be sorry, just don't do it again."
-my former English teacher

"I won't let you beat me unfairly - I'll be you unfairly first."
-Ender's Game

"It comforts us to think that crazy actions are done by crazy people. Think of the World Trade Center and if that were rational..."
-the same History professor

[amg]

You haven't lived until you've had your meat pre-chewed by a robot
-Stephen Colbert

[MNJetter]

"Man is cruel by nature, and there is no truer hell than the world we live in."
- Shishio Makoto, a fictional character from Rurouni Kenshin.
"The flesh of the weak is the food of the strong."
- Shishio again.
Your favorite quotes are from a fictional failure? He lost, you know...


"It is better to be pissed off than pissed on."
I dunno where I heard that one, but... it's kinda stuck with me.
I first heard the concept on Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Sheriff of Rottingham (after being humiliated and tied to the bottom of his horse by Robin): "Now I'm really pissed off!!!"
Achoo: "'Pissed off?' If I was that close to a horse's weiner, I'd be more worried about getting pissed on!"

[羽之助]

My favourite quotes are from fictional characters. Hmm.

1. "If I should die, think only this of me - I'll be back to getcha." -Captain Edmund Blackadder, Blackadder Goes Forth

2. "I've got better things to do tonight than die." - Springer, Transformers: The Movie

3. "But here and now, we are alive!" - Brutha, Small Gods.

[Jetsetlemming]

The two in my sig are pretty good. For the benefit of those without signatures turned on...
Decadence is freedom with a smile - Penn Jillette.

Anyone who has new or valuable ideas to offer stands outside the intellectual status quo. But the status quo is not a stream, let alone a 'mainstream'. It is a stagnant swamp. It is the innovators who carry mankind forward. - Ayn Rand

[Shishio]

I can't believe I forgot these two:

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable man persists in adapting the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

- George Bernard Shaw

"Even the mightiest oak tree was once just a nut that stood its ground."

- I don't know who said this.

[Druid]

It's strange, I think. If you dig deep enough into any particular subject, it becomes redundant. You inevitably end up seeing the same things over and over again. An elaboration on MNJ's Post...

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity. Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Don't ever hold up a piñata for little kids to hit when your testicles are seriously swollen. That will just lead to trouble every time-The Popo

A signature always reveals a man's character - and sometimes even his name.

"Well, technically you're not surrendering. This is what we call in the military a total ass kicking. Oh, and also we're taking your car."

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit.- Mitch Hedberg

Home is where you can find a decent graveyard and strangers can disappear without awkward questions. - Braids

"The saddest thing is if at the end of your life you say 'I wish I did' or 'Why didn't I?'. You have to go after it with full gusto in life, whatever it is, go after the stupidest whim, because you pass by once."

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever~ Napolean

Laughter is the best medicine... unless you have asthma.

Tomorrow sees undone, what happens not today, indecision brings delay, days lost lamenting lost days. -Ryoga Hibiki

If I had to describe this situation using a potentially offensive historical analogy, and I do, let's just say that camera is Jewish and my laptop is a large German oven from 1943.

Lionel Hutz: Well, he's kind of had it in for me ever since I accidentally ran over his dog. Actually, replace "accidentally" with "repeatedly," and replace "dog" with "son."

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men."

~Jules Winfield, "Pulp Fiction"

Andreyasn: You're being paranoid.
Tagon: Paranoid people are harder to kill than normal people.
Andreyasn: Oh, I don't know about that. You can just wait until they are checking under their bed for assassins, and then jump out of the closet and shoot them.

"You understand so little. A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

"War is simply a continuation of politics by other means"

Betray your Family & Friends, Fabulous Prizes to be Won"

"We have more nuts than you can possibly believe"

Crime does not pay...as well as politics."

If violence isn't fixing it, you're not using enough."

And even more. "But do we have any room," I ask, "any room?"

[Fizban]

1) Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

I've only heard that starting with "God", as if it was some sort of prayer. Between my dislike of all things religious, and the fact that I've heard it most often from drug/alcohol rehab people (particularly in my family), it generally ticks me off. It's not that it's a bad idea, it's just that the people I've heard say it really don't follow or believe in it, they're just hiding behind it because they can't accept that they need to change. Ironic, because that's exactly what the quote says to do.

I'll throw in a vote for "So it goes", and raise it with "Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt". My lit class was especially fond of these two this year.

For those who don't know, the phrase "so it goes" was uttered in the book Slaughterhouse Five whenever somebody died, and later whenever something died symbolically. If I remember correctly, "everything was beautiful and nothing hurt" was what the main character had engraved on his tombstone. The main character experienced his life jumping about through different points, and when he died he just jumped to a different point. He knew everything that was going to happen and couldn't change it, but it was an okay life, so he was fine with it.

Another good one (paraphrased):
"Your best? Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen." -Sean Connery in The Rock, may have originated elsewhere.
I don't really agree with the idea, but I don't usually say I'll do my best either. It makes for a great motivational quote, if the target can take an indirect insult.

"Don't be an ass"
Simple enough you can't coin it, but it's my own "philosophy". Better stated as do unto others... Essentially, don't do shit that you would call other people an ass for.

[stsparky]

"If I had the power that the New Testament narrative say that Jesus had, I would not cure one person of blindness, I would make blindness impossible; I would not cure one person of leprosy, I would abolish leprosy." -
Joseph Lewis (1889-1968)

[Fred]

Quote #1 - From Richard III

LADY ANNE
No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity.

GLOUCESTER
But I know none, and therefore am no beast.

I remember this quote when I reflect upon the darker deeds of humanity.

Quote # 2 – Fred

“There is an exception to everything…with one exception”

I like the internal logic of it – I also like it because it seems deep, but it isn’t

Quote #3 – Anonymous

“Todai motto Kurashii” – It’s always darkest before the lighthouse

It means that people tend to be more familiar with things far away then with things near them. I like it because it reminds me to look for the treasures right in front of me.

Quote #4 – Fred

“Happy wife, happy life”

I started saying this after my baby was born. Like a lot of my sayings, it has an element of self-amusement and an element of truth. When my wife is severely sleep-deprived and/or has spent too long with a crying baby, she is (understandably) not so pleasant to be around. If I can do things to help her sleep longer or make her smile, then I tend to enjoy her company much more. Also, it is the counter to a saying I used to hear a lot in Japan around people who were planning to get married. The saying was “Jinsei Hakaba”. “Jinsei” means “life” and “hakaba” means “grave”, so it was like saying your life will be over when you get married.

Quote #5 – Fred

“Sometimes it is better to be confident than correct”

I use this in situations where it is important to make a decision, but there is no means of determining what the correct decision is.

Quote # 6 – Fred

“Never let the evidence get in the way of a good theory”

Like quote #4, I say this mostly because it amuses me, but also because I see this behavior frequently and sometimes even find myself doing it.

Quote # 7 – My friend Nobu

“Everything Yes”

Although Nobu does not speak English, he wanted to summarize his life’s philosophy in English. What he came up with was “Everything Yes”. I liked the spirit on adventure implied in that expression, and I think that a willingness to participate is one of the key factors to having an enjoyable life.

[Zugzwang]

"Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all of which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, even if religion vanished; but religious superstition dismounts all these and erects an absolute monarchy in the minds of men." - Francis Bacon

"Metal Gear?!?!?lololollllllololoorofllollol" - Solid Snake (Aka. David, rofl)

[MNJetter]

I've only heard that starting with "God", as if it was some sort of prayer. Between my dislike of all things religious, and the fact that I've heard it most often from drug/alcohol rehab people (particularly in my family), it generally ticks me off. It's not that it's a bad idea, it's just that the people I've heard say it really don't follow or believe in it, they're just hiding behind it because they can't accept that they need to change. Ironic, because that's exactly what the quote says to do.
Yeah, I first heard it when I was a Christian. And it technically is a prayer. It's the beginning an old poem titled "Serenity Prayer." Though I believe its original version begins with "Lord" and not "God." But even after giving up organized religions, I still thought it was a sentiment worth keeping, and so I lopped off the first word, and now it's my life's philosophy. Or at least part of it.

I follow it to the best of my ability. I won't claim that I follow the spirit of the quote perfectly, but even if I don't, I don't think it should be blamed on the quote itself. It's not the quote that should tick you off, it's the people who misinterpret it and should be taught differently.

[Fizban]

It's not the quote that should tick you off, it's the people who misinterpret it and should be taught differently.
Well of course, but it's inextricably linked in my mind to those people, so whenever I hear it I think of them and get mad, which then transfers to the quote itself. I'm not a perfect person, otherwise I could untangle it.