Favourite Quotes

[Louanne Learning]

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”

― Nikola Tesla

 

[Iain Aschendale]

"I chose the Civil War period to write about because I was raised on it. As a child, I heard everything about it except that the Confederacy lost."

-Margaret Mitchell. author of Gone With the Wind.

 

[Rad Scribbler]

'Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I'm possible'.
~ Audrey Hepburn

 

[Rath Darkblade]

"A sheep in sheep's clothing."
(Winston Churchill, describing Clement Attlee)

 

[Iain Aschendale]

“He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening mine.”

-Benjamin Franklin

 

[Louanne Learning]

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”

― Dom Helder Camara, Dom Helder Camara: Essential Writings

 

[Also]

Also from Vonnegut's Mother Night, indirectly.

"We must be careful what we pretend to be, for in the end, we ARE what we pretend to be." That's from the introduction.

Then in the film, there was a line not in the book. Howard Campbell's friend turns out to be a Russian agent, and says,

"I'm sorry. This is not who I am, it's just the way things are."

And Rezi, around the same time, says, "if you do not believe someone can live for love, then I will show you someone who can die for love. "

 

[Rath Darkblade]

“It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true; it's called Life.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Continent

 

[Louanne Learning]

“I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.”

― Emily Dickinson

 

[Pik]

I recently had to get new (faster) internet and with it I got few TV channels even though I don't watch much TV except online. In one of the channels there was a documentary on Frida Kahlo. Long time ago I had art history class and tried painting but I'm probably better at photography. Still a beginner though and never had photography classes, did have introduction to directing.
One of the quotes in the documentary was:

"They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality."

 

[JLT]

Robert Claiborne's description of English politics of the 17th century comes to mind as the most succinct historical analysis I've ever read:

"In one dizzying half century, England had swung from near-absolutism to parliamentary moderation to parliamentary dictatorship to military dictatorship to cautious monarchy to incautious monarchy to limited, constitutional monarchy. Those who valued money or social prestige found political agility essential. As early as 167i, the sardonic Samuel Butler would write:

What makes all doctrines plain and clear?
About two hundred pound a year.
And that which was proved true before
Proved false again? Two hundred more.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Robert Claiborne's description of English politics of the 17th century comes to mind as the most succinct historical analysis I've ever read:

"In one dizzying half century, England had swung from near-absolutism to parliamentary moderation to parliamentary dictatorship to military dictatorship to cautious monarchy to incautious monarchy to limited, constitutional monarchy. Those who valued money or social prestige found political agility essential. As early as 167i, the sardonic Samuel Butler would write:

What makes all doctrines plain and clear?
About two hundred pound a year.
And that which was proved true before
Proved false again? Two hundred more.

I'm wondering what Claiborne was referring to? (I'm not English, but I studied its history for years). Hopefully I can work this out:

Near-absolutism = England under Charles I (though he always struck me as fully absolutist)
Parliamentary moderation = Parliament tries to moderate Charles
Parliamentary dictatorship = England during the war?
Military dictatorship = England under Cromwell
Cautious monarchy = England under Charles II (cautious in his dealings with Parliament, but a party animal everywhere else)
Incautious monarchy = England under James II
Limited, constitutional monarchy = England under William-n-Mary

Does that sound right? *crosses fingers*

 

[Rad Scribbler]

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
~ Oscar Wilde

 

[JLT]

Does that sound right? *crosses fingers*

I think so. Claiborne might have been referring to James I as his "near-absolutist" since he totally subscribed to the notion of the divine right of kings. But you should really read that whole chapter of Our Marvelous Native Tongue to get the whole sweep of history and its effects on our language at that time.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
~ Oscar Wilde

"I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious threat to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square."
~ Lady Bracknell, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde

(Seriously, the entire play is hilarious. If you haven't seen or heard it, there are many fine recordings of past performances on YouTube).

 

[Seven Crowns]

"I wish I could play little league now. I'd be way better than before."
— Mitch Hedberg

 

[Iain Aschendale]

"I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious threat to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square."
~ Lady Bracknell, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde

(Seriously, the entire play is hilarious. If you haven't seen or heard it, there are many fine recordings of past performances on YouTube).

It reminds me of this, in spirit:

“God created war so that Americans would learn geography.”
― Mark Twain

 

[Pik]

A local (actually regional) song saying sth like: Oh where are you night queens, do you wonder through the town somewhere?

It's lyrics like any other but reminds me of how much I liked the night life and afterparties in my twenties even though I was very introverted, probably due to my extroverted friends who always had the best contacts and knew the best events. Longterm I felt like that kind of lifestyle wasn't for me, and thirties seem to be much more peaceful.

 

[Louanne Learning]

The first stanza of the First Canto of The Lady of the Lake (1883) written by Sir Walter Scott.

Harp of the North! that mouldering long hast hung
On the witch-elm that shades Saint Fillan's spring
And down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung,
Till envious ivy did around thee cling,
Muffling with verdant ringlet every string,—
O Minstrel Harp, still must thine accents sleep?
Mid rustling leaves and fountains murmuring,
Still must thy sweeter sounds their silence keep,
Nor bid a warrior smile, nor teach a maid to weep?

 

[JLT]

It reminds me of this, in spirit:

“God created war so that Americans would learn geography.”
― Mark Twain

But Twain was a champion of education but not of "schooling" as it was practiced in his day. He wrote: 'Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned" and "Education is what you must acquire without any interference from your schooling."

But he did realize the value of schooling. He wrote: "When I was a boy on the Mississippi River there was a proposition in a township there to discontinue public schools because they were too expensive. An old farmer spoke up and said if they stopped the schools they would not save anything, because every time a school was closed a jail had to be built."