Quotes

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Friedrich Nietzsche
"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying. "

"I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time. "

Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man. "

"A subject for a great poet would be God's boredom after the seventh day of creation."

"In heaven, all the interesting people are missing. "

"Is man one of God's blunders? Or is God one of man's blunders? "

"It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book. "

"Madness is rare in individuals - but in groups, parties, nations, and ages it is the rule. "

"One has to pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while one is still alive. "

"Perhaps I know best why it is man alone who laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter. "

"The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy. "

"The future influences the present just as much as the past. "

"There cannot be a God because if there were one, I could not believe that I was not He. "


Winston Churchill
"A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him. "

"Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement. "

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."

"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. "

"Eating words has never given me indigestion. "

"For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself."

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. "

"I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.

"I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. "

"I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter. "

"I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

"If you are going through hell, keep going. "

"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time. "

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Epicurus
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"

I think that's it for now. Anyone know any interesting quotes?

 

[Zeonix]

The Titan Agememnon

It has often been said that it is better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven. This is defeatist talk: I intend to rule everywhere, not just in Hell.

Frank Herbert

The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man.

Anything outside yourself, this you can see and apply your logic to it. But it's a human trait that when we encounter personal problems, these things most deeply personal are the most difficult to bring out for our logic to scan. We tend to flounder around, blaming everything but the actual, deep-seated thing that's really chewing on us.

Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.

No matter how exotic human civilization becomes, no matter the developments of life and society nor the complexity of the machine/human interface, there always come interludes of lonely power when the course of humankind, depends upon the relatively simple actions of single individuals.

The convoluted wording of legalisms grew up around the necessity to hide from ourselves the violence we intend toward each other. Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. You have done violence to him, consumed his energy. Elaborate euphemisms may conceal your intent to kill, but behind any use of power over another the ultimate assumption remains: "I feed on your energy."

Either we abandon the long-honored Theory of Relativity, or we cease to believe that we can engage in continued accurate prediction of the future. Indeed, knowing the future raises a host of questions which cannot be answered under conventional assumptions unless one first projects an Observer outside of Time and, second, nullifies all movement. If you accept the Theory of Relativity, it can be shown that Time and the Observer must stand still in relationship to each or inaccuracies will intervene. This would seem to say that it is impossible to engage in accurate prediction of the future. How, then, do we explain the continued seeking after this visionary goal by respected scientists?

Atrocity is recognized as such by victim and predator alike, by all who learn about it at whatever remove. Atrocity has no excuses, no mitigating argument. Atrocity never balances or rectifies the past. Atrocity merely arms the future for more atrocity. It is self-perpetuating upon itself ? a barbarous form of incest. Whoever commits atrocity also commits those future atrocities thus bred.

Governments, if they endure, always tend increasingly toward aristocratic forms. No government in history has been known to evade this pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, government tends more and more to act exclusively in the interests of the ruling class ? whether that class be hereditary royalty, oligarchs of financial empires, or entrenched bureaucracy.

Most civilization is based on cowardice. It's so easy to civilize by teaching cowardice. You water down the standards which would lead to bravery. You restrain the will. You regulate the appetites. You fence in the horizons. You make a law for every movement. You deny the existence of chaos. You teach even the children to breathe slowly. You tame.

Laws to suppress tend to strengthen what they would prohibit. This is the fine point on which all the legal professions of history have based their job security.

Show me a completely smooth operation and I’ll show you a cover up. Real boats rock.

Unfortunately, some wars are won by the side that is the most fanatical in a religious sense. The victorious leaders harness the holy energy of collective insanity.

With all the artillery, shis and manpower in the military, our commanders often forget that ideas can be the greatest weapon of all.

The gravest error a thinking person can make is to believe that one particular version of history is absolute fact. History is recorded by a series of observers, none of whom is impartial. The facts are distorted by sheer passage of time and thousands of years of humanity's dark ages, deliberate misrepresentations by religious sects, and the inevitable corruption that comes from an accumulation of careless mistakes. The wise person, then, views history as a set of lessons to be learned, choices and ramifications to be considered and discussed, and mistakes that should never again be made.

Mark Twain: He is the ****ing ****

<DT>An Englishman is a person who does things because they have been done before. An American is a person who does things because they haven't been done before. </DT>
<DT>Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge. </DT><DT> </DT><DT>I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position. </DT>
<DT>I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not lie; I can, but I won't. </DT>
<DT>I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him. </DT>
Too many good ones. Do yourself a favor and read through them. You'll be a better person for doing so:

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Mark_Twain/

 

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Mark Twain
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.

Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.

Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

Often it does seem a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat.

Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.

The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.

The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.

When people do not respect us we are sharply offended; yet deep down in his private heart no man much respects himself.

Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.

When you cannot get a compliment any other way pay yourself one.

The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane.

The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.


Yeah, he is.

 

[Skiwan]

All quotes from Hagakure - The book of the Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

To talk about other people's affairs is a great mistake. To praise them, too, is unfitting. In any event, it is best to know your own ability well, to put forth effort in your endeavours, and to be discreet in speech.

The heart of a virtuous person has settled down and he does not rush about at things. A person of little merit is not at peace but walks about making trouble and is in conflict with all.

It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream. When you have something like a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream. It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this.

People with intelligence will use it to fashion things both true and false and will try to push through whatever they want with their clever reasoning. This is injury from intelligence.
Nothing you do will have effect if you do not use truth.

One cannot accomplish simply with cleverness. One must take a broad view. It will not do to make rash judgements concerning good and evil. However, one should not be sluggish. It is said that one is not truely a samurai if he does not make his decisions quickly and break right through to completion.

Among the words spoken by great generals, there are some that were said offhandedly. One should not receive these words in the same manner, however.

People who have an intellegent appearance will not be outstanding even if they do something good, and if they do something normal, people will think them lacking. But if a person who is thought of as having a gentle disposition does even a slightly good thing, he will be praised by people.

Some years ago there was a sutra reading at the Jissoin in Kawakami. Five or six men from Kon'yamachi and the area of tashiro had gone to the service, and on their way home passed some time drinking. Among them was one of Kizuka Kyuzaemons retainers who, having some reason for doing so, turned down his companions' quarters. He listened to the details and then said, "in the end i suppose you will have to submit a statement. When you do, you should say that I was there also and assisted in cutting down those men. When I return, I will say as much to Kyuzaemon. Scince a fight is a matter involving all concerned, I should meet the same death sentence as you. And that is my deepest disire. The reason is that even if I were to explain to my master that I had returned home early, he would never accept it as the truth. Kyuzaemon has always been a severe man, and even if I were cleared by the investigators, he would probably have me executed as a coward right before his eyes. In such a case, dying with the bad reputation of having run away from a place would be extremely regretful.
"since the fate of dying is the same, I would like to die being blamed for having killed a man. If you are not in agreement with this, I will cut my stomach open right here"
Having no alternative, his companions spoke as he had requested. Presently, during the inquiry, although the circumstances were explained in the above manner, it became known that the retainer had returned home early. All the investigators were impressed and in fact praised the man.

During happy times, pride and extravagance are dangerous. If one is not prudent in ordinary times, he will not be able to catch up. A person who advances during good times will falter during the bad.

When someone is giving you his opinion, you should recieve it with deep gratitude even though it is worthless. If you don't, he will not tell you the things that he has seen and heard about you again. It is best to both give and recieve opinions in a friendly way.

Love this book...

 

[Rayos]

"If it wasn't for pick-pockets and frisking at airports I'd have no sex life at all."
Rodney Dangerfield


"I blame my mother for my poor sex life. All she told me was, 'the man goes on top and the woman underneath'. For three years my husband and I slept on bunk beds."
Joan Rivers



"The trouble with heart disease is that the first symptom is often hard to deal with - sudden death."
Michael Phelps

 

[frsrblch]

"Fruit and berries on strange planets either make you live or make you die. Therefore the point at which to start toying with them is when you're going to die if you don't. That way you stay ahead. The secret to healthy hitchhiking is to eat junk food."

-Ford Prefect​

 

[SaiyanPrideXIX]

"There is no such thing as innocence; only degrees of guilt."
--Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War