Finding Solace in Favourite Quotes: Escaping Despair with Words of Wisdom

[NeoDevin]

There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dare not face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not real, he becomes furious when they are disputed.

A brilliant man.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The fundamental cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.

-- Bertrand Russell,

 

[NeoDevin]

The fundamental cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.

-- Bertrand Russell,

Agreed.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

~ Now you understand that I have to charge you as much as I can. That way you know I'll still be here in twenty years if you need me.

- A roofing contractor making a bid for us

I had to laugh at that one. He wants me to think it is in my interest that he makes as much money as possible, from me.

I think he gets an A for creativity!

 

[Astronuc]

And what if the Hokey Pokey is really what it's all about?

bumper sticker

 

[Ivan Seeking]

And what if the Hokey Pokey is what it's all about?

For many years it was, but ever since I hit middle age...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

In order to protest wasteful spending, TEA party activists purchased a million tea bags.

- John Stewart

 

[DuncanM]

" . . . I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice can not sleep forever: ..."

-- Thomas Jefferson

 

[baywax]

"I don't even know what street Canada is on".
- Al Capone

 

[hagopbul]

I didn't put you in a prison, Evey. I just showed you the bars.
V for Vendetta (comics)

V: Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine - the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, whereby those important events of the past, usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, are celebrated with a nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. Last night I sought to end that silence. Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey, to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than four hundred years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest that you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot.

v for vendetta (film)

Remember, Remember
The fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

v for vendetta (film)

 

[Astronuc]

This may have been posted before, perhaps in some form.

Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset or mad, is a full minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Today's Message of the Day is:

Life is short,
Break the rules,
Forgive quickly,
Kiss slowly,
Love truly,
Laugh uncontrollably,
And never regret anything that made you smile.

Life may not to be the party we hoped for, but while we're here, we should dance!

Anonymous

 

[Ivan Seeking]

"We're also actively monitoring travelers at our land, sea, and air ports. We're watching them for signs of illness, and we have appropriate protocols in place to deal with those who are sick. Anyone exhibiting symptoms is being referred to an isolation room where they can be evaluated by a public health official before proceeding to their destruction."

- a whoops by the dhs

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The oil and natural gas industries will create well-paying jobs

- from a commercial for the oil and natural gas industries

 

[Oscar Wilde]

A quote with no politcal undertones:

"A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men"

From Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Wonka himself has many brilliant one-liners

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Most human beings associate sex with love; except for men

- Roseanne Barr

 

[Astronuc]

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose."
Dust tracks on a road, 1942
Zora Neale Hurston

http://www.zoranealehurston.com/

The quote is care of Mae Jemison in her TED talk care of Cyrus in his TED thread.
6Vy0ncmUvUw&feature=channel_page[/youtube]

 

[Ivan Seeking]

During my second one-hundered days in office, we will design, build, and commemorate a library dedicated to my first one-hundred days in office

- Barack Obama

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I thought this was a classic bit of double-talk from President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan.

MR. GREGORY: ... But I wonder why you're continuing to add to your stockpile, add to your arsenal at what is described as a pretty fast rate when there's so much instability in the country?

MR. ZARDARI: That's, that's, that's not a fact. It's a, it's a position that some people have taken. We, we're not adding to our stockpile as such. Why do we need more?

MR. GREGORY: So you're not adding to your nuclear arsenal at all?

MR. ZARDARI: I don't think so, no.

MR. GREGORY: You don't--do you know?

MR. ZARDARI: Even if I did, I wasn't going to tell you.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30658135//

 

[DaveC426913]

I thought this was a classic bit of double-talk from President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan.

You sure that wasn't http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/" ?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

You sure that wasn't http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/" ?

CHENEY: If we had been about torture, we wouldn't have wasted our time going to the Justice Department.

SCHIEFFER: How much did President Bush know specifically about the methods that were being used? We know that you-- and you have said-- that you approved this...

CHENEY: Right.

SCHIEFFER: ... somewhere down the line. Did President Bush know everything you knew?

CHENEY: I certainly, yes, have every reason to believe he knew -- he knew a great deal about the program. He basically authorized it. I mean, this was a presidential-level decision. And the decision went to the president. He signed off on it...

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/FTN_051009.pdf

I thought that was an interesting moment.

 

[Astronuc]

In the end, the government's job -- it seems to me -- in any country, is to make sure the economy works in the interest of the majority and not the minority. And it's to make sure that if people have aspirations and abilities and aptitudes, they're given the opportunity to realize their own aspirations to progress.

Alan Milburn, MP, UK

 

[Ivan Seeking]

What's a newspaper? Never mind; I'll go online and look it up.

- CNN Viewer; The Cafferty File

 

[Ivan Seeking]

...PAUL SOLMAN: Andrews applied for, and got, a no-ratio loan, in which his $2,500 monthly payments would consume nearly all his take-home pay.

No-ratio?

EDMUND ANDREWS: A no-ratio mortgage in which literally I left the income space blank.

PAUL SOLMAN: Therefore, there would be no ratio.

EDMUND ANDREWS: Correct, yes, because there was an issue of my debt-to-income ratio. But if you don't have any income that you're declaring, you have no debt-to-income ratio. Problem solved. Even at the time, I'm going, "I can't believe this. Is this a great country or what?"...

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june09/andrews_05-21.html

 

[Astronuc]

Economists have yet to figure out what combination of mass delusion and perverse incentives led banks to undertake so much leverage.

N. GREGORY MANKIW from

Economic View - NYTimes
That Freshman Course Won’t Be Quite the Same
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/business/economy/24view.html


Interesting term he used for what banks and financial institutions do - financial intermediation.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I wish people could live for hundreds of years. That way they would have to live with the consequences of their actions. The problem with the world is that everyone dies too soon.

- not sure who said it. It was a comment made on a show about the science of aging.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Paraphrasing here:

As Catholic Father Alberto Cutie' announced that he was leaving the Catholic church, and joining the Epoiscopal Church, the news conference was interrupted by a lightning storm.

- CNN

 

[misgfool]

At the bus stop:

"If one could make a difference by voting, it would be illegal."

 

[Astronuc]

but, life is a process...

Ideals are never reached, but they give us a standard and a direction to guide our fumbling steps.

Democracy is based on respect. Not on respect for leaders, or flags, or classes, but for EACH OTHER. The whole basis of democracy is that all are equal and all are worthy. It has no meaning without that foundation.

And democracy REQUIRES an informed citizenry and open communication, or it cannot exist.

To communicate requires respect for the views of all... Not necessarily agreement, but an openess.

yale - a friend

 

[Ivan Seeking]

No matter how high-tech an application may be, never leave home without duct tape

- Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

[DaveC426913]

Revenge is a dish best served upside the head.

- Mrs. DaveC426913, June 17, 2009