Favourite Quotes

[Rath Darkblade]

"Love is like war, easy to start and difficult to stop."

This reminds me so very much of a quote from Jingo (yes, by Terry Pratchett):

"The problem with mercenaries is that they need to be paid to start fighting, and unless you are very lucky, you end up paying them even more to stop."

And also:

Stopping a battle is much harder than starting it. Starting it only requires you to shout ‘Attack!’ but when you want to stop it, everyone is busy. (Monstrous Regiment)

Oh, what the heck - one more:

'Putting up a statue to someone who tried to stop a war is not very, um, statuesque. Of course, if you had butchered five hundred of your own men out of arrogant carelessness, we’d be melting the bronze already.'
(Jingo)

I'm sorry. But Terry is endlessly quotable.

 

[GrahamLewis]

"The essence of this incarnation is to see it through." Graham Lewis

 

[Louanne Learning]

"The essence of this incarnation is to see it through." Graham Lewis

Keep on truckin'

 

[GrahamLewis]

Keep on truckin'

"Do not hang on to anything -- even the realization that there's nothing solid to hang onto." Pema Chodron. Always Maintain a Joyful Mind, p. 9,

 

[Naomasa298]

Who is Round, and to what does he object?
-- Sir Humphrey Appleby, Yes, Prime Minister

 

[JLT]

I'm sorry. But Terry is endlessly quotable.

So is Kurt Vonnegut. Both are wise men, whose insights continue to startle.

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.”

“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — “God dang it, you’ve got to be kind.”

And I could go on and on.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

So is Kurt Vonnegut. Both are wise men, whose insights continue to startle.

Yes. "There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation."

I'm simply more familiar with (and laugh a lot more with) Terry's work, that's all.

 

[Homer Potvin]

I've deleted the last few posts regarding immigration and immigration policy. Take it to social media or one of the many news outlet comment sections. I've let it go for awhile, but there have been too posts of a political nature cloaked in "Favorite Quotes," "The Philosophy Thread," and a few other places. Kindly take it elsewhere.

 

[GrahamLewis]

I've deleted the last few posts regarding immigration and immigration policy. Take it to social media or one of the many news outlet comment sections. I've let it go for awhile, but there have been too posts of a political nature cloaked in "Favorite Quotes," "The Philosophy Thread," and a few other places. Kindly take it elsewhere.

Damn. You're on to me. Sorry about that, Homer.

 

[Donnie]

"The jealous are a mere annoyance to others,
but they are a torment to themselves."
William Penn

 

[JLT]

I've deleted the last few posts regarding immigration and immigration policy. Take it to social media or one of the many news outlet comment sections. I've let it go for awhile, but there have been too posts of a political nature cloaked in "Favorite Quotes," "The Philosophy Thread," and a few other places. Kindly take it elsewhere.

Mea culpa. My only excuse is that I try not to make such posts accusatory, but only reflect the world as I see it. The world is indeed too much with us, late and soon, and it sloshes over into our everyday perceptions. I'll be more careful in the future.

And it occurs to me that forum members who are not from the US may find those dialogs as irrelevant. They have their own concerns which might be only a distraction to me.

I do appreciate your concern about political posts and how they can derail a forum's mission. I've seen it happen too many times to simply brush it off. Keep up the good work, Homer.

And feel free to drop me a private message and dope-slap me if you feel I need it.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”​

― Dorothy Parker

 

[Louanne Learning]

Is it true, prince, that you once declared that ‘beauty would save the world’? Great Heaven! The prince says that beauty saves the world! And I declare that he only has such playful ideas because he’s in love! Gentlemen, the prince is in love. I guessed it the moment he came in. Don’t blush, prince; you make me sorry for you. What beauty saves the world?”

~ Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot

 

[Homer Potvin]

"A girl walks by, you wish you could sex her, but you're standing against the wall like you were Poindexter."

--Young MC

 

[Heartlet Happer]

Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot

I am unfortunate to have not this book included in program back when I was in school. It seems that program was to include one masterpiece per each prominent writer. For Dostoyevsky it was his terrible other piece.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

I am unfortunate to have not this book included in program back when I was in school. It seems that program was to include one masterpiece per each prominent writer. For Dostoyevsky it was his terrible other piece.

Which one -- Crime and Punishment?

I tried reading that several times, but I could never make it past page 200 or so before giving up. I found it turgid and uninteresting.

 

[defaux]

Which one -- Crime and Punishment?

I tried reading that several times, but I could never make it past page 200 or so before giving up. I found it turgid and uninteresting.

Hmm... That one is on my reading list...

 

[Heartlet Happer]

Which one -- Crime and Punishment?

I tried reading that several times, but I could never make it past page 200 or so before giving up. I found it turgid and uninteresting.

Yes. That one. I can only guess that soviet system used this book as an example of how terrible life was in the capital city for lower class people. And it is known in the West only for its Christian payload.

For me it shows that story of Christ brought unnecessary requirements for all consequent literature to include the darkness, pain, guilt, death and so on, or else the reader's attention will be lost. So, Dostoyevsky overdid it.

 

[JLT]

Which one -- Crime and Punishment?

I tried reading that several times, but I could never make it past page 200 or so before giving up. I found it turgid and uninteresting.

I've often wondered if it was the fault of the translators. I've read a few translations that varied greatly in their readability. The translators used the English of their time, which is not the English we have today. In those days, turgid was the default.

Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf and John Ciardi's translation of the Divine Comedy were eye-openers.

Now there's a new translation of the Iliad by a woman that's supposed to put the book into a whole new light. I'm keen to get my hands on it.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Her name is Emily Wilson. It's on my list of books to read this winter. I only read about it recently, but it was published in 2023.

Iliad/Emily Wilson