19 votes

What is/are your favorite quote/s?

(This is a self-repost, hence the "duplicate question" tag.)


A guy named Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932. He won an election, and 50 million people died as a result of that election in World War II, including six million Jews. So what I learned as a little kid is that politics is, in fact, very important.

-Bernie Sanders

Good satire raises questions about reality.
(IDK the source, but I first heard it here)

The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.
-Antonio Gramsci, 1930

When I was a kid my parents warned me about the mind-numbing effect TV would have on me if I watched too much of it. They were referring to fluff entertainment, which I've consumed plenty of over the years. Meanwhile, my parents used the TV to watch important and meaningful shows like the news. Eventually Fox News. In the end, they were right— but not in the way they expected.

-@balooga, here

If God has made us in his image, we have returned him the favor.

-Voltaire

All tyrannies rule through fraud and force. When fraud is exposed, they must rule exclusively by force.

-George Orwell

If you do not use the person you are, you will lose the person you are and instead become the mask that you wear.
-Greg Guevara/Jreg

What do you need from your parents?

encouragement
-u/DeSteph-DeCurry

This (very long) quote from "They thought they were free"

Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don't want to act, or even talk, alone; you don't want to 'go out of your way to make trouble.' Why not?-Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty. Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, 'everyone' is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Italy there would be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, 'It's not so bad' or 'You're seeing things' or 'You're an alarmist.'

And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can't prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don't know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have....

But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That's the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked-if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in '43 had come immediately after the 'German Firm' stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in '33. But of course this isn't the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying 'Jewish swine,' collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in-your nation, your people-is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves; when everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way."

and this shorter quote from a 1950 report, along with some extras from an article that features it

Back in 1950, when both major parties were broad and moderate with overlapping appeals, many of America’s leading political scientists wrote a report in which they bemoaned this state of affairs.

In a report, “Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System,” they saw two national parties that were but loose confederations of state and local parties, incapable of bringing forward coherent programs to the voters and carrying them out when they got into power.

If the American political parties failed to heed their advice, the authors issued a dire warning:

If the two parties do not develop alternative programs that can be executed, the voter’s frustration and the mounting ambiguities of national policy might also set in motion more extreme tendencies to the political left and the political right. This, again, would represent a condition to which neither our political institutions nor our civic habits are adapted. Once a deep political cleavage develops between opposing groups, each group naturally works to keep it deep. Such groups may gravitate beyond the confines of the American system of government and its democratic institutions.

Assuming a survival of the two-party system in form though not in spirit, even if only one of the diametrically opposite parties comes to flirt with unconstitutional means and ends, the consequences would be serious. For then the constitution-minded electorate would be virtually reduced to a one-party system with no practical alternative to holding to the “safe” party at all cost.

(That being said, this quote does show some age, as we now know that this "constitution-minded electorate" doesn't really exist. And "moderate" is extremely relative)

25 comments

  1. freddy
    Link
    ~ Otto Von Bismarck ~ Vladimir Lenin ~ Aaron Swartz

    Being in power is above the law. I am merely stating a fact

    ~ Otto Von Bismarck

    There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happens.

    ~ Vladimir Lenin

    Sharing isn’t immoral - it’s a moral imperative. Only those blinded by greed would refuse to let a friend make a copy.

    ~ Aaron Swartz

    12 votes
  2. nothis
    Link
    "Luck favors the prepared." Edna Mode (actually, Louis Pasteur) Beautiful way of simultaneously acknowledging and dismissing the role of luck in success.

    "Luck favors the prepared."

    Beautiful way of simultaneously acknowledging and dismissing the role of luck in success.

    12 votes
  3. nacho
    Link
    A couple quotes that makes for happier living: Mary Poppins John Bercow Unknown

    A couple quotes that makes for happier living:

    In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and - SNAP - the job's a game.

    • Mary Poppins

    There's no point in worrying about things you can't influence

    • John Bercow

    Being kind is free, and worth every penny.

    • Unknown
    9 votes
  4. Grzmot
    Link
    I've selected the Pratchett quotes fairly randomly, because frankly all his books are fucking fantastic.

    "It would be funny, if it weren't so sad."
    - GlaDOS, Portal 2

    “It was much better to imagine men in some smokey room somewhere, made mad and cynical by privilege and power, plotting over brandy. You had to cling to this sort of image, because if you didn't then you might have to face the fact that bad things happened because ordinary people, the kind who brushed the dog and told the children bed time stories, were capable of then going out and doing horrible things to other ordinary people. It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was Us, then what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.”
    - Terry Pratchett, Jingo

    “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
    - Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

    Time is a drug. Too much of it kills you.”
    - Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

    “Evil is Evil. Lesser, greater, middling… Makes no difference. The degree is arbitary. The definition’s blurred. If I’m to choose between one evil and another… I’d rather not choose at all.”
    - Andrzej Sapkowski,, The Last Wish

    "“People," Geralt turned his head, "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the Bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live.”
    - Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish

    "Not all those who wander are lost."
    - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Riddle of Strider

    I've selected the Pratchett quotes fairly randomly, because frankly all his books are fucking fantastic.

    8 votes
  5. Cycloneblaze
    Link
    The venerable H.L. Mencken: I leave it to you to decide if that's happened yet

    The venerable H.L. Mencken:

    As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

    I leave it to you to decide if that's happened yet

    7 votes
  6. [2]
    Eabryt
    Link
    Tolkien.

    The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.

    Tolkien.

    6 votes
    1. Erik
      Link Parent
      The famous Tolkien quote: Really is living with me lately given I have a young child during what is obviously a pretty crazy time in U.S. history.

      The famous Tolkien quote:

      “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

      Really is living with me lately given I have a young child during what is obviously a pretty crazy time in U.S. history.

      4 votes
  7. spit-evil-olive-tips
    Link
    Bani Adam (Children of Adam) by the Iranian poet Saadi:

    Bani Adam (Children of Adam) by the Iranian poet Saadi:

    All human beings are members of one frame,
    Since all, at first, from the same essence came.
    When time afflicts a limb with pain
    The other limbs at rest cannot remain.
    If thou feel not for other’s misery
    A human being is no name for thee.

    6 votes
  8. aphoenix
    Link
    There are a few quotes that have informed how I try to live my life; I guess they are my favourites. This is often misquoted as "Be the change you wish to see in the world" and while it has a...

    There are a few quotes that have informed how I try to live my life; I guess they are my favourites.

    If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. We need not wait to see what others do.

    -- Mahatma Gandhi

    This is often misquoted as "Be the change you wish to see in the world" and while it has a certain naïveté, it is also an outlook that I think is important. For me it means a few things; be kind to others, be true in word and deed, admit mistakes, accept complements. There is a lack of kindness, a lack of truth, a lack of accountability, and a lack of grace in the world, and I think it's important to add more of all these things.

    You can always give something, even if it is only kindness.

    -- Anne Frank

    This is another quote that builds on the previous one. When I was younger and poorer I could give only kindness, but that's one of the greatest things to give.

    Being angry all the time is exhausting and corrosive. Not being angry feels morally irresponsible.

    -- Tim Grierson

    This doesn't mesh with the other ones particularly as it is not a quote to live one's life by, but it is a reminder of the constant struggle; the state of the world constantly make me angry (Bruce Banner quote - "That's my secret. I'm always angry." - is relevant here too), and it is exhausting for that to be the case. But if the state of many things aren't making you angry, then you might not be paying as much attention as one should. This loops back around to the quotes about kindness, because what I do with my anger about systems it to try to live my life kindly, which would, if everyone did so, fix these systems.

    A job worth doing is worth doing well.

    -- Proverb

    But also

    A job worth doing is worth doing half-assed.

    -- Unkown (to me)

    These are two guiding principles that seem at odds with each other, but they're the yin and yang of accomplishing anything. The first quote is the one I used to take as an absolute; if you are going to do something, then actually do it well. I still believe this, and for the most part it is something that still permeates all the actions that I take. However, the other quote is also important; it says that you don't have to actually do something perfectly for that to be worthwhile. They're both important things to hold onto, both sides of the same coin. Anything that is worth doing is something you should do, and if it you're able to do it well, then that's great, but if you're not able to do it well that doesn't mean it has no value. Some of the things that I'm worst at are the things that I want to do the most, and some things - like self care - are things that we may never have the capacity to do well, but it's important that we start doing them. I also like these juxtaposed with each other because it's a reminder that the world is far more complex than an aphorism can sum up.

    6 votes
  9. culturedleftfoot
    (edited )
    Link
    Similarly, This one I came across as a motto of an organization I don't recall: A bit different from the rest, but I really love this simple snippet of dialogue above. It encapsulates so much...

    I tremble for my country when I contemplate that God is just.

    -Thomas Jefferson

    The pain of discipline is far better than the pain of regret.

    -Unknown

    Similarly,

    I hated every minute of training, but I said, "Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

    -Muhammad Ali


    There are many things that cause monsters. The first is the glory of God.

    -Ambroise Paré

    Love all, trust few, do wrong to none.

    -William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well

    The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.

    -C.S. Lewis

    Hell is other people.

    -Jean-Paul Sartre

    Put not your trust in princes, bureaucrats, and generals; they will plead expedience while spilling your blood from a safe distance.

    -Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince


    This one I came across as a motto of an organization I don't recall:

    In essential things, unity;
    In non-essential things, liberty;
    In all things, charity.


    I thought you were harmless, but you're all the same. You all think you own the world. That you can take what you want. You eat and fuck and think you're God.

    -Hannah Kahnwald, Dark, S03E03

    A bit different from the rest, but I really love this simple snippet of dialogue above. It encapsulates so much about love, ego, gender relations, and the power dynamics of sex.


    Talented people who know themselves never crave anything. People who don't know themselves are always the ones who struggle hard to win, because they want to prove something.

    -Jou Koizumi, Ping Pong the Animation, E04


    After having loved a parrot, I had to go to bed with a serpent. - Albert Camus, The Fall

    After having struggled, after having used up all my insolent airs, discouraged by the uselessness of my efforts, I made up my mind to leave the society of men. No, no, I didn’t look for a desert island; there are no more. I simply took refuge among women. As you know, they don’t really condemn any weakness; they would be more inclined to try to humiliate or disarm our strength. This is why woman is the reward, not of the warrior, but of the criminal. She is his harbor, his haven; it is in a woman’s bed that he is generally arrested. Is she not all that remains to us of earthly paradise? In distress, I hastened to my natural harbor. But I no longer indulged in pretty speeches. I still gambled a little, out of habit; but invention was lacking. I hesitate to admit it for fear of using a few more naughty words: it seems to me that at that time I felt the need of love. Obscene, isn’t it? In any case, I experienced a secret suffering, a sort of privation that made me emptier and allowed me, partly through obligation and partly out of curiosity, to make a few commitments. Inasmuch as I needed to love and be loved, I thought I was in love. In other words, I acted the fool.

    I often caught myself asking a question which, as a man of experience, I had always previously avoided. I would hear myself asking: “Do you love me?” You know that it is customary to answer in such cases: “And you?” If I answered yes, I found myself committed beyond my real feelings. If I [dared to say no, I ran the risk of ceasing to be loved, and I would suffer therefor. The greater the threat to the feeling in which I had hoped to find calm, the more I demanded that feeling of my partner. Hence I was led to ever more explicit promises and came to expect of my heart an ever more sweeping feeling. Thus I developed a deceptive passion for a charming fool of a woman who had so thoroughly read “true love” stories that she spoke of love with the assurance and conviction of an intellectual announcing the classless society. Such conviction, as you must know, is contagious. I tried myself out at tallying likewise of love and eventually convinced myself. At least until she became my mistress and I realized that the “true love” stories, though they taught how to talk of love, did not teach how to make love. After having loved a parrot, I had to go to bed with a serpent. So I looked elsewhere for the love promised by books, which I had never encountered in life.


    Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. - Max Ehrmann, Desiderata

    Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
    and remember what peace there may be in silence.
    As far as possible without surrender
    be on good terms with all persons.
    Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
    and listen to others,
    even the dull and the ignorant;
    they too have their story.

    Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
    they are vexations to the spirit.
    If you compare yourself with others,
    you may become vain and bitter;
    for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
    Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

    Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
    it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
    Exercise caution in your business affairs;
    for the world is full of trickery.
    But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
    many persons strive for high ideals;
    and everywhere life is full of heroism.

    Be yourself.
    Especially, do not feign affection.
    Neither be cynical about love;
    for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
    it is as perennial as the grass.

    Take kindly the counsel of the years,
    gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
    Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
    But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
    Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
    Beyond a wholesome discipline,
    be gentle with yourself.

    You are a child of the universe,
    no less than the trees and the stars;
    you have a right to be here.
    And whether or not it is clear to you,
    no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

    Therefore be at peace with God,
    whatever you conceive Him to be,
    and whatever your labors and aspirations,
    in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
    it is still a beautiful world.
    Be cheerful.
    Strive to be happy.


    Finally, this excerpt from the Tao Te Ching is probably my life mantra:

    One who speaks does not know,
    one who knows does not speak.

    He
    stopples the openings of his heart,
    closes his doors,
    diffuses the light,
    mingles with the dust,
    files away his sharp points,
    unravels his tangles.

    This is called “mysterious identity.”

    Therefore,

    neither can one attain intimacy with him,
    nor can one remain distant from him;
    neither can one profit from him,
    nor can one be harmed by him;
    neither can one achieve honor through him,
    nor can one be debased by him.

    Therefore,

    he is esteemed by all under heaven.

    6 votes
  10. wcerfgba
    Link
    Quentin Crisp

    There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse.

    Quentin Crisp

    5 votes
  11. Adys
    Link
    I don't remember who said it. But that's probably a sign that it's a good one. Either way, I live by that ethos.

    Your mind is part of your body. Watch the content you consume, just as you watch the food that you eat. It becomes you.

    I don't remember who said it. But that's probably a sign that it's a good one. Either way, I live by that ethos.

    5 votes
  12. drannex
    Link
    One cannot invent the structure of an object. The most we can do is to patiently bring it to the light of day, with humilty.” Alexander Grothendieck - wikpedia “The most exciting phrase to hear in...

    One cannot invent the structure of an object. The most we can do is to patiently bring it to the light of day, with humilty.” Alexander Grothendieck - wikpedia

    “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny…” Isaac Asimov

    "Anybody who wants to make a revolution shouldn’t grab a gun, just go and start working like we do to change the world by using science and technology” Stanford R. Ovshinsky

    “A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.” Isaac Asimov

    “I believe economic growth should translate into the happiness and progress of all. Along with it, there should be development of art and culture, literature and education, science and technology. We have to see how to harness many resources [..] for achieving common good and for inclusive growth.” Pratibha Patil

    “With the observable fact that scientific knowledge makes our lives better when applied with concern for human welfare and environmental protection, there is no question that science and technology can produce abundance so that no one has to go without.” Jacque Fresco

    “We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.” and ““Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing.” Wernher von Braun

    “Science fiction gives us the language so that we can have a conversation about the future”. Brian David Johnson

    “Either one does not dream, or one does so interestingly. One should learn to spend one’s waking life in the same way: not at all, or interestingly.” F. Nietzche

    “You’re under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.” Alan Watts

    “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” Robert A. Heinlein

    “The electric light did not come from the continuous
    improvement of candles” Oren Harari

    “I consider science fiction to be the cultural wing of the scientific project.” Annalee Newitz

    “food is the first necessity of people, agriculture is the foundation of the country” Jin Shanbao

    “This is a cardboard universe and if you lean too long or too heavily against it, you fall through” Phillip K. Dick

    “A blade of grass is a commonplace on Earth; it would be a miracle on Mars. Our descendants on Mars will know the value of a patch of green.” Carl Sagan

    “Electricity is really just organized lightning.” - George Carlin

    “Physiologically, man in the normal use of technology (or his variously extended body) is perpetually modified by it and in turn finds new ways of modifying his technology. Man becomes, as it were, the sex organs of the machine world, as the bee of the plant world, enabling it to fecundate and evolve ever new forms. - Marshall McLuhan

    "The real problem of humanity is the following: we have paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technology." — E.O. Wilson

    5 votes
  13. bkimmel
    Link
    Measure twice, cut once

    Measure twice, cut once

    4 votes
  14. Pistos
    Link
    (popularly attributed to Dr. Seuss, but that is doubtful)

    Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.

    (popularly attributed to Dr. Seuss, but that is doubtful)

    4 votes
  15. mrbig
    (edited )
    Link
    By a friend of mine:

    By a friend of mine:

    I never fall in love. It’s them that make use of the love I always have.

    4 votes
  16. [2]
    Kuromantis
    (edited )
    Link
    I remembered a few more which might be worth a mention as their own comment: (Wonder if this also applies to social things.)

    I remembered a few more which might be worth a mention as their own comment:

    "Social media has made everyone want to be a quote-maker."

    -@goodbetterbestbested

    "Bigotry is intersectional."

    -Innuendo Studios (though unsure if paraphrasing)

    "Every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on."

    -Sinclair Lewis

    “The great strength of the totalitarian state is that it forces those who fear it to imitate it.”

    -Adolf Hitler

    First wish, I wish I had 2 more wishes
    Wish they fixed the door to the matrix, there's mad glitches

    -MF DOOM

    The brain is the only part of the body that named itself.

    -(Idk)

    If our brains were simple enough for us to understand them, we'd be so simple that we couldn't.

    -Ian Stewart

    (Wonder if this also applies to social things.)

    Despite everything, it's still you.

    -Toby Fox, writing the narrator's dialogue when you look into a mirror.

    4 votes
    1. cfabbro
      Link Parent
      Similarly:

      "Every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on."
      -Sinclair Lewis

      Similarly:

      "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
      -Lyndon B. Johnson

      2 votes
  17. tunneljumper
    Link
    -my dad -unknown -John Augustus Shedd

    Money is not an object to those who don't have it

    -my dad

    The true measure of a person is what they do after they know that they've lost

    -unknown

    A ship is safest in harbor but that's not what ships are built for

    -John Augustus Shedd

    4 votes
  18. skeetcha
    Link
    I think my favorite quote has come out of A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green: I've also got some others: (Terry Pratchett) (Inheritance; Christopher Paolini) (Winston Churchill) And...

    I think my favorite quote has come out of A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green:

    You will always struggle with not feeling productive until you accept that your own joy can be something you produce. It is not the only thing you will make, nor should it be, but it is something valuable and beautiful.

    I've also got some others:

    "It's not worth doing something unless someone, somewhere, would much rather you weren't doing it."

    (Terry Pratchett)

    "It's impossible to go through life unscathed. Nor should you want to. By the hurts we accumulate, we measure both our follies and our accomplishments."

    (Inheritance; Christopher Paolini)

    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

    (Winston Churchill)

    And finally, the mood of the current situation of the world:

    “It’s been January for months in both directions.”

    (Kaveh Akbar, “Wild Pear Tree”)

    4 votes
  19. mycketforvirrad
    Link
    Sergeant Frank Drebin, Detective Lieutenant Police Squad (1988)

    It’s the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day.

    Sergeant Frank Drebin, Detective Lieutenant Police Squad (1988)

    3 votes
  20. mat
    Link
    ― Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites -- Arthur C Clarke

    “It is well known that a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you're attempting can't be done. A person ignorant of the possibility of failure can be a half-brick in the path of the bicycle of history.”

    ― Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites

    • When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
    • The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
    • Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

    -- Arthur C Clarke

    3 votes
  21. Arshan
    Link
    Ludwig Feuerbach, Essence of Christianity

    God is pure spirit, clear self-consciousness, moral personality; Nature, on the contrary, is, at least partially, confused, dark, desolate, immoral, or to say no more, unmoral. But it is self-contradictory that the impure should proceed from the pure, darkness from light. How then can we remove these obvious difficulties in the way of assigning a divine origin to Nature? Only by positing this impurity, this darkness in God, by distinguishing in God himself a principle of light and a principle of darkness. In other words, we can only explain the origin of darkness by renouncing the idea of origin, and presupposing darkness as existing from the beginning.

    • Ludwig Feuerbach, Essence of Christianity
    3 votes
  22. culturedleftfoot
    Link
    -Kató Lomb -Argus from Brazil, HUMAN vol. 3 Side note: if you've never watched the HUMAN movie trilogy, please, please do.

    "We should learn languages because language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly."

    -Kató Lomb

    "Life is like carrying a message from the child you were to the old man you will be. You have to make sure that this message isn't lost along the way."

    -Argus from Brazil, HUMAN vol. 3
    Side note: if you've never watched the HUMAN movie trilogy, please, please do.

    3 votes
  23. crdpa
    Link
    Ernest Becker (Denial of Death) Black Phillip from The VVitch

    Man is out of nature and hopelessly in it; he is dual, up in the stars and yet housed in a heart-pumping, breath-gasping body that once belonged to a fish and still carries the gill-marks to prove it. His body is a material fleshy casing that is alien to him in many ways—the strangest and most repugnant way being that it aches and bleeds and will decay and die. Man is literally split in two: he has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness in that he sticks out of nature with atowering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground a few feet in order blindly and dumbly to rot and disappear forever.

    • Ernest Becker (Denial of Death)

    Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?

    • Black Phillip from The VVitch
    3 votes