Full Version: Notable Quotables
I thought I'd start a thread for everyone to post their favorite quotations, for any subject. I'm kind of a quote hound myself, always trying to have the appropriate one for the situation. I have a decent collection of them and I've coded my website to display them at random when people visit.
Here are a few of my current favorites:
"No one's going to automatically give you respect for just showing up, you have to earn it." Lance Armstrong
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau
"In this world there are only two tragedies-- one is not getting what one wants, the other is getting it." Oscar Wilde
"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues." Abraham Lincoln
"Ernest Hemmingway once wrote: The world is a fine place and worth fighting for. I agree with the second part." Morgan Freeman in Seven
So, what about yours?
Here are a few of my current favorites:
"No one's going to automatically give you respect for just showing up, you have to earn it." Lance Armstrong
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau
"In this world there are only two tragedies-- one is not getting what one wants, the other is getting it." Oscar Wilde
"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues." Abraham Lincoln
"Ernest Hemmingway once wrote: The world is a fine place and worth fighting for. I agree with the second part." Morgan Freeman in Seven
So, what about yours?
Here's one that posters on this forum should try to keep in mind:
Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory.
-Leonardo Da Vinci
Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory.
-Leonardo Da Vinci
I didn't know Da Vinci spoke English 
Obviously the three in my sig are important to me, but some other notables are:
"The most serious threat to democracy is the notion that it has already been achieved."
--Unknown
"Everyone's a pacifist between wars. It's like being a vegetarian between meals."-Colman McCarthy
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history." - Georg Wilhelm Hegel
"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." - George Washington, Speech to both Houses of Congress, Jan. 8, 1790.
"A society that puts equality...ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom."
-Milton Friedman
"Washington is a place where politicians don't know which way is up and taxes don't know which way is down."
Robert Orben
"I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it. " Alexander Woollcott
"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
- Attributed to General George Patton Jr
"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
W. M. Lewis
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
Galileo Galilei
"The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin. "
--Jay Leno
"The mistakes made by Congress wouldn't be so bad if the next Congress didn't keep trying to correct them. "
Cullen Hightower
My Favorite
"Talent does what it can, genius does what it must."
"The most serious threat to democracy is the notion that it has already been achieved."
--Unknown
"Everyone's a pacifist between wars. It's like being a vegetarian between meals."-Colman McCarthy
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history." - Georg Wilhelm Hegel
"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." - George Washington, Speech to both Houses of Congress, Jan. 8, 1790.
"A society that puts equality...ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom."
-Milton Friedman
"Washington is a place where politicians don't know which way is up and taxes don't know which way is down."
Robert Orben
"I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it. " Alexander Woollcott
"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
- Attributed to General George Patton Jr
"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
W. M. Lewis
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
Galileo Galilei
"The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin. "
--Jay Leno
"The mistakes made by Congress wouldn't be so bad if the next Congress didn't keep trying to correct them. "
Cullen Hightower
My Favorite
"Talent does what it can, genius does what it must."
Hmmm...
"There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of
others."
- Nicolo Machiavelli
"Exhilaration is that feeling you get just after a great idea hits you, and just before you realize what's wrong with it."
- Rex Harrison
"We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of Responsibilities."
- Bill Maher
"To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right."
Confucious, Analects...
"There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of
others."
- Nicolo Machiavelli
"Exhilaration is that feeling you get just after a great idea hits you, and just before you realize what's wrong with it."
- Rex Harrison
"We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of Responsibilities."
- Bill Maher
"To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right."
Confucious, Analects...
I rotate quotes (occassionally) in my sig.
"Choice, not Chance, determines Destiny" is a Fortune I got once in a Chinese fortune cookie. Truer words have never been spoken.
"Choice, not Chance, determines Destiny" is a Fortune I got once in a Chinese fortune cookie. Truer words have never been spoken.
I also rotate my quotations as the mood (or the topic) strikes me. Asking me to list my favorite ones would be like trying to list my favorite sexual encounters; there are not so many that they can't be recalled, but many were so momentous that they aren't easily quantified.
This is my favorite one however and for this board it seems particularly apt.
Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively, and without self-delusion- in the long run, these are the only people who count.
-- Robert Heinlein
In an election year we should strain to ensure our presence among Heinlein's "extremely tiny fraction."
This is my favorite one however and for this board it seems particularly apt.
Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively, and without self-delusion- in the long run, these are the only people who count.
-- Robert Heinlein
In an election year we should strain to ensure our presence among Heinlein's "extremely tiny fraction."
D'oh!---Homer Simpson
There are simply too many quotes for any occasion. I tried to print out the ones I have in a file and it would have been 130 pages long.
So now I simply follow the Tao of Homer. After all he is the quintessential american male.
There are simply too many quotes for any occasion. I tried to print out the ones I have in a file and it would have been 130 pages long.
So now I simply follow the Tao of Homer. After all he is the quintessential american male.
I'll back Homer quotes!
"A gun is not a weapon, it's a tool, like a hammer or a screwdriver or an alligator"
"If the Bible has taught us anything—which it hasn't—it's that girls should stick to girl's sports like hot oil wrestling, foxy boxing and such and such."
"Just sit through this NRA meeting Marge, and if you still don't think guns are great then we'll argue some more"
"A gun is not a weapon, it's a tool, like a hammer or a screwdriver or an alligator"
"If the Bible has taught us anything—which it hasn't—it's that girls should stick to girl's sports like hot oil wrestling, foxy boxing and such and such."
"Just sit through this NRA meeting Marge, and if you still don't think guns are great then we'll argue some more"
I'm also a fan of quotations. My favorites are ones that are snarkily profound, if that makes any sense! 
Douglas Adams:
You live and learn. At any rate, you live.
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.
Will Rogers:
Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate; now what's going to happen to us with both a Senate and a House?
Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
Robin Williams:
You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.
Albert Einstein:
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself.
Douglas Adams:
You live and learn. At any rate, you live.
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.
Will Rogers:
Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate; now what's going to happen to us with both a Senate and a House?
Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
Robin Williams:
You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.
Albert Einstein:
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself.
I like Mark Twain 
"We are called the nation of inventors. And we are. We could still claim that title and wear its loftiest honors if we had stopped with the first thing we had ever invented — human liberty."
"Without fools the rest of us could not succeed."
"A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain."
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness. Broad, wholesome, charitable views cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth."
(and my new sig)
Edited to add: Actually, some of my favorite quotes are often from members here. Wertz made a great one on the "what I've learned" thread: "I have learned that I don't necessarily have to add my two cents if there's already a fiver on the table" Geez, it would be helpful if I'd learned that one. Hopefully in time. 
"We are called the nation of inventors. And we are. We could still claim that title and wear its loftiest honors if we had stopped with the first thing we had ever invented — human liberty."
"Without fools the rest of us could not succeed."
"A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain."
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness. Broad, wholesome, charitable views cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth."
(and my new sig)
Edited to add: Actually, some of my favorite quotes are often from members here.
Wertz made a great one on the "what I've learned" thread: "I have learned that I don't necessarily have to add my two cents if there's already a fiver on the table" Geez, it would be helpful if I'd learned that one. Hopefully in time.
My personal Favorites:
It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds -- Samuel Adams
Like the membership of AD
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies." -- -Groucho Marx
Should be the new dictionary.com definition in my opinion.
If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of it's experienced Patriots to prevent it's ruin. -- Samuel Adams
will we ever step up to our responsiblities here?
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest. -- Abraham Lincoln
This is try of ay Ideological Zelot.
Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive. -- William F. Buckley Jr.
Reason needs to be considered where ideology will be wielded over people.
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences. -- C. S. Lewis
How true, now if only the "Protect them from Themselves" crowd of either ideology would wake up to this.
The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced, if the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance. -- Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC), 55 BC
The more things change.....
Only actions give life strength; only moderation gives it a charm. -- Jean Paul Richter (1763 - 1825)
Gotta love that.
I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many of the prejudices of the few. -- Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881), campaign speech at High Wycombe, England, November 27, 1832
I love this because it represents my views to some extent.
The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out the conservative adopts them. -- Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
If someone from the 1940s was to hear what conservatives fight for now, they would think you were refering to liberals.
A really great man is known by three signs... generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success. -- Otto von Bismarck (1815 - 1898)
Bravo!!
I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly. -- Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592)
How sadly true this can be.
He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave. -- Sir William Drummond
Classic.
"I do not seek the 'good of others' as a sanction of my right to exist, nor do I recognize the 'good of others' as a justification for their right to seize my property."- Ayn Rand- "Atlas Shrugged"
Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."--Benjamin Franklin, _Poor_Richard_, 1758
Good ol' Ben
It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds -- Samuel Adams
Like the membership of AD
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies." -- -Groucho Marx
Should be the new dictionary.com definition in my opinion.
If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of it's experienced Patriots to prevent it's ruin. -- Samuel Adams
will we ever step up to our responsiblities here?
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest. -- Abraham Lincoln
This is try of ay Ideological Zelot.
Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive. -- William F. Buckley Jr.
Reason needs to be considered where ideology will be wielded over people.
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences. -- C. S. Lewis
How true, now if only the "Protect them from Themselves" crowd of either ideology would wake up to this.
The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced, if the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance. -- Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC), 55 BC
The more things change.....
Only actions give life strength; only moderation gives it a charm. -- Jean Paul Richter (1763 - 1825)
Gotta love that.
I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many of the prejudices of the few. -- Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881), campaign speech at High Wycombe, England, November 27, 1832
I love this because it represents my views to some extent.
The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out the conservative adopts them. -- Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
If someone from the 1940s was to hear what conservatives fight for now, they would think you were refering to liberals.
A really great man is known by three signs... generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success. -- Otto von Bismarck (1815 - 1898)
Bravo!!
I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly. -- Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592)
How sadly true this can be.
He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave. -- Sir William Drummond
Classic.
"I do not seek the 'good of others' as a sanction of my right to exist, nor do I recognize the 'good of others' as a justification for their right to seize my property."- Ayn Rand- "Atlas Shrugged"
Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."--Benjamin Franklin, _Poor_Richard_, 1758
Good ol' Ben
QUOTE(Samuel Adams)
A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.
How true this is!QUOTE(John Marshall)
An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation.
This is why I don't like the 16th amendment!QUOTE(Noah Webster)
Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States.
Long live the second amendment!QUOTE(James Madison)
A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.
QUOTE(George Washington)
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.
QUOTE(George Washington)
We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die: Our won Country's Honor, all call upon us for vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions.
QUOTE(John Adams)
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.
I'll only offer this one, other than my signature quote (Once you get a lot of these quotes together in one place, they start to lose their punch):
"Not a day passes over the earth but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows."
- Charles Reade
"Not a day passes over the earth but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows."
- Charles Reade
QUOTE
Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.
I like how this quote relates to the war on terror. It makes you remember that how just and right your cause is, like stopping terrorism is, the approach that works in the long term is non-violent.
To announce that there must be no criticism of the President...is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. - Theodore Roosevelt
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