Favourite Quotes

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Buxton

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What are your favourite quotes by famous people?

I'll start:

Robert Fawcett - "We represent, the only view of art, of beauty, to millions of people. If we do less than our best, we cheat them."
 
Seff said:
Churchill: Madam, would you sleep with me for five million pounds?
Socialite: My goodness, Mr. Churchill... Well, I suppose... we would have to discuss terms, of course...
Churchill: Would you sleep with me for five pounds?
Socialite: Mr. Churchill, what kind of woman do you think I am?!
Churchill: Madam, we've already established that. Now we are haggling about the price.

Lady Nancy Astor: Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea.
Churchill: Nancy, if I were your husband, I'd drink it.

Bessie Braddock: Sir, you are drunk.
Churchill: And you, madam, are ugly. But in the morning, I shall be sober.


"If one chooses sides on emotion, then the Rebel is the guy to go with. He is fighting for everything men claim to honor: freedom, independence, truth, the right. . . . All the subjective illusions, all the eternal trigger-words. We are minions of the villain in this piece. We confess the illusion and deny the substance.
There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints. Victorious historians rule where good or evil lies."
    - Glen Cook, The Black Company


Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them! ~Einstein

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence. ~Einstein

The life of the individual has meaning only insofar as it aids in making the life of every living thing nobler and more beautiful. Life is sacred, that is to say, it is the supreme value, to which all other values are subordinate. ~Einstein

Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind. ~Einstein

Nationalism, on my opinion, is nothing more than an idealistic rationalization for militarism and aggression. ~Einstein


'I always love to quote Albert Einstein because nobody dares contradict him' - Studs Terkel


Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
-Dr. Seuss


The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who do not possess it. ~Can't remember who.


Invisible Pink Unicorns are beings of awesome mystical power. We know this because they manage to be invisible and pink at the same time. Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can’t see them.
~ Steve Eley


"There are no atheists in foxholes" isn't an argument against atheism, it's an argument against foxholes.  ~James Morrow


“Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.”  - Oscar Wilde
 
"If you give a man a hammer, he thinks he can solve all problems by pounding. Well, God gave men penises.... "

Also: Rename to Seff 'n Buxton's circle jerk, y/n?
 
"Inanimate objects can be classified scientifically into three major categories; those that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost."
Russell Baker

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything." - Friedrich Nietzsche

"Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent."  - Friedrich Nietzsche

"He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill

"I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image." - Stephen Hawking

"Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window." - Steve Wozniak

"Every man who has shown the world the way to beauty, to true culture, has been a rebel, a 'universal' without patriotism, without home, who has found his people everywhere." - Chaim Potok

"A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice." - Bill Cosby

"If you love god, burn a church." - Jello Biafra

"Punk is not really a style of music. It was more like a state of mind." - Mike Watt

"It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious. " - Murphy's law of design
 
"If you want a thing done right, do it yourself." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open in and remove all doubt." -Misatributed to Mark Twain, actually Geoffrey C. Ward

"A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself as a liar."  - Mark Twain

"If you're going through Hell, keep going." -Winston Churchill

"Patriotism is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular country is the best in the world because you were born in it… " - George Bernard Shaw

"My way of joking is to tell the truth. It's the funniest joke in the world." - George Bernard Shaw

A few off the top of my head.
 
"Suonisauvaa limakirnuun" - A friend of mine.

"Jesus was Black, Ronald Reagan was the Devil, and the government is lying about 9/11" - Huey Freeman (The Boondocks)

"The cowbell as a symbol of unbridled passion, ladies and gentlemen" - Frank Zappa

"Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny" - Frank Zappa

"Here's all you have to know about men and women: women are crazy, men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid." - George Carlin

"There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless, boys and women, and I am neither one.” - Greek saying
 
Reverend L. Lamb said:
"There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless, boys and women, and I am neither one.” - Greek saying
:sad:
Similar to
"A woman with a beard looks like a man. A man without a beard looks like a woman." - Afghan Saying
 
I have a text file of quotes I've picked up and liked.

What is now proved was once only imagin'd
~William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Love the animals. God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Don't trouble it, don't harass them, don't deprive them of their happiness, don't work against God's intent.
~Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

Acts of injustice done
Between the setting and rising sun
In history lie like bones, each one
~W.H. Auden, The Ascent of F.6

Marvellous happy it was to be
Alone, yet not solitary.
O out of terror and dark, to come
In sight of home.
~Walter de la Mare, The Pilgrim

He which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart, his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse.
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship, to die with us.
~Shakespeare, Henry V

The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form,
Yet, the strong man must go.
~Robert Browning, Prospice

Like an obelisk towards which the principle streets of a town converge, the strong will of a proud spirit stands prominent and commanding in the middle of the art of war.
~Clausewitz, On War

This world, where much is to be done, and little known...
~Dr. Johnson

"A word to the wise ain't necessary, it's the stupid ones who need advice."
~Bill Cosby

"Okay, think of what little patience I have as, oh, I don't know, your virginity. You always thought it would be there, until that night Junior Year when you were feeling a little down about yourself and your pal Kevin, who just wanted to be friends, well, he dropped by and he brought a copy of About Last Night and a four-pack of Bartels & James and woo hoo hoo, it was gone forever - just like my patience is now."
~Dr Cox

"Talent is nothing more than long patience."
~Flaubert, French writer

"For every difficult and complex problem, there is an obvious solution that is simple, easy, and wrong."
~H.L. Mencken, American critic/writer

"My early and invincible love of reading, I would not exchange for the treasures of India."
~Edward Gibbon

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary."
~James Madison

"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered
automatic weapons."
-General Douglas MacArthur

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference."
- Elie Wiesel

I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
-- Winston Churchill

What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined... to strengthen each other... to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories.
      ~ George Eliot

In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals nothing.
      ~ Mignon McLaughlin

For one human being to love another that is perhaps the most difficult of our tasks; the ultimate, the last test and proof; the work for which all other work is but preparation.
      ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.
      ~ Mother Teresa

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love.
      ~ Henry Drummond

Treasure the love you receive above all.
It will survive long after your good health has vanished.
      ~ Og Mandino

The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.
      ~ Pearl S. Buck

Love works in miracles every day: such as weakening the strong, and stretching the weak; making fools of the wise, and wise men of fools; favouring the passions, destroying reason, and in a word, turning everything topsy-turvy.
      ~ Marguerite De Valois

All love that has not friendship for its base,
is like a mansion built upon the sand.
      ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible.
      ~ Mother Teresa

The only gift is a portion of thyself.
      ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The best portion of a good man's life,
His little, nameless, unremembered acts,
Of kindness and of love.
      ~ William Wordsworth

Love is a thing, well, its kind of like quicksand: 
The more you are in it, the deeper you sink. 
And when it hits you, you've just got to fall.
      ~ UB40

Love is an electric blanket with somebody else in control of the switch.
      ~ Cathy Carlyle

Find the person who will love you because of your differences and
not in spite of them and you have found a lover for life.
      ~ Leo Buscaglia

To laugh often and love much... to appreciate beauty,
to find the best in others, to give one's self...
this is to have succeeded.
      ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.
      ~ Lao Tzu

The heart has reasons that reason does not understand.
      ~ Jacques Benigne Bossuel

Love is always bestowed as a gift --
freely, willingly, and without expectation....
We don't love to be loved; we love to love.
      ~ Leo Buscaglia

Love is a mutual self-giving which ends in self-recovery.
      ~ Fulton J. Sheen

We find rest in those we love, and we provide a resting place
in ourselves for those who love us.
      ~ Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

The most powerful symptom of love is a tenderness which becomes at times almost insupportable.
      ~ Victor Hugo

There is no instinct like that of the heart.
      ~ Lord Byron

May no gift be too small to give,
nor too simple to receive,
which is wrapped in thoughtfulness
and tied with love.
      ~ L.O. Baird

You come to love not by finding the perfect person,
but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly.
      ~ Sam Keen

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence."
- George Washington

"Where love is a guide, no journey is too long."
~German Proverb

"Love and fear are two emotions that cannot be hidden."
~Russian proverb

"You cannot escape your destiny and you cannot share it with others."
~Persian proverb

"Be bold and you will be killed."
~Indian proverb

"Justice neither sinks nor burns."
~Turkish proverb

"A thousand friends are too few, but one enemy is too many."
~Turkish proverb

"Joy lasts for seven days while sorrow lasts a lifetime."
~Arabian proverb

"Where there is sunshine there is also shadow."
~Arabian proverb

"Those who do not take chances will neither win nor lose anything."
~French proverb

"The voice of truth is easily recognized."
~English proverb

"Think about everything you see in life."
~Arabian proverb

"It is not good to get what you want all the time."
~Turkish proverb

"The sun will set, but misfortune never will."
~French proverb

"War does not have eyes."
~African proverb

"Those who love danger will die seeking it."
~Spanish proverb

"A change of mind has never been a crime."
~Spanish proverb

"A life without love is like a year without summer."
~ Swedish Proverb

"Be humble, for you are made of earth. Be noble, for you are made of stars."
~Serbian proverb

"God kills us off when we cease being entertaining. Therefore, we must never, ever be boring."
~Hellfire657 @ AOST

I insult the idiots. If you feel you are a part of that then that is your own problem. I don't make people feel anything. People make themselves feel what they feel on their own volition.
~Persnicketese @ deviantART

"Talking to you about relationships is like talking to a brick wall about moving."
~Myself

"There's nothing unrealistic about trying."
~Myself

"No free movies for *****es."
~Myself

"Mm, baby, my panties are blue... like your balls."
~Myself


There's quite a few missing from this list. I get so lazy to type them up.
 
"I speak Spanish to god, Itialian to woman, French to men, and German to my horse"
-Emperor Charles V, Holy roman Emperor

"...It goes up, it goes down, it goes up, it goes down; No body ****ing knows why it happens! And I know this... because I took Economics. And I'd explain it to you, but I flunked that course. Not my fault, they taught it at 8 o'clock in the morning. And there, is absolutely nothing that you can learn out of one bloodshot eye. After I Flunked the first two tests, I grabbed the professor by the throat and said "Why are you teaching this **** at this ungodly hour?! Are you trying to keep this stuff a Secret?!"
-Lewis Black, on Early classes and the economy

In Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,
Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
The only shadow that the Desert knows:
"I am great OZYMANDIAS," saith the stone,
"The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
"The wonders of my hand." The City's gone,
Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose
The site of this forgotten Babylon.
We wonder, and some Hunter may express
Wonder like ours, when thro' the wilderness
Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,
He meets some fragments huge, and stops to guess
What powerful but unrecorded race
Once dwelt in that annihilated place.
—Horace Smith

"Grant me chastity lord... but not yet"
-St. Augustine
 
I kill without compunction,
And remember all my killings,
Treason must be scotched
By fair means or foul
Before it overwhelms me;
Oak-trees grow from acorns.
 
More contextual fiction than philosophical axioms but my favorites nonetheless :grin:

''There I am... somehow there I am... but I couldn't tell you who I am or where I am from but... before we could get to that, I see this guy with a knife and a murderous face and i thought: ''What's this man doing there, oh right he's trying to kill me''

So there is my welcoming comitee -Bing- -Boom-, Goodnight.. drop the knife and I take a glance at this... and I realise ... I survived the first 30 seconds of my life ,or wateaver you wanna call it, by killing someone, and Oh!... someone that happens to be me...''


-Stanislaw Lem's Solaris

''Inter Arma enim Silent Leges'' means ''In times of war the lord falls silent''

-Legate Cicero

''La ou il y a l'amour, on trouve la mort'' or ''Where there is Beauty, one finds death''

-Charles Beaudelaire

''If the world has no sense at all, what prevents me from Inventing a sense to it?''

-Lewiss Caroll, Throught the Looking glass and what Alice found there

''Why would a man only love the one's who love him, for they already love him. To love your ennemies can only lead you to be loved by them.''


-Jesus Christ

And this one can be considered out of category as it comes from one of my songs I sing on the streets in summertime, and it isnt a unique thought but wateaver:

''When you reached the bottom, there is only one way up''
 
"A witty saying proves nothing."
-Voltaire (though I have my doubts)

"Wit is but educated insolence."
-One o' dem Greek philosophying blokes. (=Aristotle)

"Love is friendship set on fire."
-I don't know.

"When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity; when many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion."
-Again, no idea.

And there's another one I'm trying to find which I love.
 
Friedrich Nietzsche you mean ? That insignificant yet cheerful German philosopher with the awesome moustache ?
 
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