The Quotes Thread

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Flippy the Squirrel

EGO Zealot
Joined
Mar 10, 2008
Messages
1,960
So, one of my deep dark secrets is that I collect quotes. I'm fascinated and often struck dumb by the beauty of the turn of a phrase or the way a particular thought is framed. So, I'm taking the plunge here and guessing that there may be a few other people on here who have a favorite quote or two. Let's share with the group, shall we?

I'll start:

"Fear prophets and those prepared to die for the truth, for as a rule they make many others die with them, often before them, at times instead of them." - Umberto Eco

"The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else. " - Umberto Eco

"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words." - Philip K Dick

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it." - Salvador Dali
 
Cowards die many times before their death; The valiant never taste of death but once. - Julius Caesar
 
i collect them also..i forget to use them when i need them the most though...
"Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings."

"Men are like parking spots, the good ones are taken and the free ones are handicapped."

"Failure is not an option -- it comes bundled with Windows. "

"It takes 46 muscles to frown but only 4 to flip 'em the bird. "

"Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers." - Homer Simpson

well thats all i can think of... hope i got some of the words right...
 
Flippy, do you have a gmail account? if so, are you familiar with igoogle? If you've not, it's worth it. They've got gadgets that you can add to your homepage for lots of things, including quotes. Here's mine (with email blocked to protect the not-so-innocent!)

igoogle.jpg


oh... and one of my favorite quotes: "Your job isn't to die for your country, your job is to make that other poor b*****d die for his!" I think it's by Patton.
 
Some of my faves:

"He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which." -Douglas Adams

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." -Douglas Adams

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." -Oscar Wilde

"Your Mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" - Monty Python (best insult ever!)
 
Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god.
Jean Rostand

Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer. - Mark Twain
 
Yes NinjaFluff, I have the quotes applet on my iGoogle page, showing the maximum number every day.

Now a few George Bernard Shaw quotes. He was one talented guy.

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh."

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them."
 
I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it.
Voltaire

A witty saying proves nothing.
Voltaire
 
"I disapprove with what you say, but defend to the death your right to say it." -Beatrice Hall

NinjaFluff, this one's for you. :)
"No b*****d ever won a war by dying for his country.
He won it by making the other poor dumb b*****d die for his country." -George S. Patton

"Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to." -Samuel Clemens

"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. " -Winston Churchill
 
Gah... I sure messed that one up :-)

okay, how about this:

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. -Bertrand Russell
 
In memory of a visionary man, some Arthur C. Clarke quotes:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

"I'm sure we would not have had men on the Moon if it had not been for Wells and Verne and the people who write about this and made people think about it. I'm rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books."

"A hundred years ago, the electric telegraph made possible - indeed, inevitable - the United States of America. The communications satellite will make equally inevitable a United Nations of Earth; let us hope that the transition period will not be equally bloody."

"Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories."
 
I did a quick look up on Scottish quotes when I was researching the one for my sig.

"It's sin and not poverty that makes men miserable."-Amen

"Better bend than break."

"Money is flat and was meant to be piled up."

"To marry is to halve your rights and double your duties."

And this was the one I used for my sig, just adjusted for TF2

"Never draw your dirk when a blow will do it."
 
Ok, i'll throw in a few of my favourites, ive seen some really good ones so far in this thread.

"War would end if the dead could return." - Stanley Baldwin

"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished, unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." - Voltaire

"To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." - Sun Tzu
 
Here's one right up the =(eGO)= alley! My dad drilled this into me and my brothers growing up....

"Profanity is the attempt of a lazy and feeble mind to express itself forcefully." -Papa Deegs?

It's priceless when I hear him curse and blam him with it!

Then my all-time personal favorite:
"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 them 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 short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in 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 know neither victory nor defeat." -FDR

I don't think anyone can read that one without getting pumped...
 
Personally I think the best proverbs are from the Word. This passage reminds me of who I am and what Jesus did for me:

Luk 23:39 And one of the malefactors that were hanged railed on him, saying, Art not thou the Christ? save thyself and us.
Luk 23:40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, Dost thou not even fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
Luk 23:41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
Luk 23:42 And he said, Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom.
Luk 23:43 And he said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.

Not trying to turn this religious, but this quote is important to more people than just me.
 
I admire your ability to post that, MrQ. :) I, personally, think that book's filled with all sorts of good stuff, cover to cover. ;)

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
 
“Even if we were enslaved in the galaxy's cycle of rebirth,
The feelings that were left behind will open the door
Even if the infinite universe were to go against us,
Our burning blood will cut through fate!
Breaking through the heavens and dimensions,
We'll show you our path through force
WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!”

"Don't believe in yourself, believe in me who believes in you!"

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

"When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one smiling and everyone around you is crying."
 
OK I have this after my sig on my work email.

If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.

Albert Einstein, Observer, Jan. 15, 1950
 
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