Notable quotes, excerpts, and profound lines.

[PKFFW]

"This above all: to thine own self be true"

Hamlet - William Shakespeare

[BenG]

The More Loving One

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.

– W. H. Auden

[kennyc]

"Everybody knows about Mississippi."

- Nina Simone

[MelC]

But yet mathematical certainty is after all, something insufferable. Twice two makes four seems to me simply a piece of insolence. Twice two makes four is a pert coxcomb who stands with arms akimbo barring your path and spitting. I admit that twice two makes four is an excellent thing, but if we are to give everything its due, twice two makes five is sometimes a very charming thing too.
- Notes from the Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky

[BenG]

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true."
-James Branch Cabell, The Silver Stallion

[kennyc]

I love that one Ben.

[WT Sharpe]

.....The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.
..........— Lord Acton (John E. E. Dalberg) (1834-1902) English Historian. The History of Freedom and Other Essays (1907), Chapter 1. Quoted in The Great Thoughts by George Seldes.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

.....The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.
..........— Lord Acton (John E. E. Dalberg) (1834-1902) English Historian. The History of Freedom and Other Essays (1907), Chapter 1. Quoted in The Great Thoughts by George Seldes.

Interesting!

[poohbear_nc]

Give me my scallop-shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My scrip of joy, immortal diet,
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope's true gage,
And thus I'll take my pilgramage.

Sir Walter Raleigh (awaiting execution)

[FatDog]

G.K.Chesterton was a childrens book writer who under attack early in the century for writing stories for children that were similar to Grims's fairy tales (the darker ones). His response to criticism was this quote:

"Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
— G.K. Chesterton

some others (from Goodreads)


"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
— Oscar Wilde

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."
— Groucho Marx (The Essential Groucho)


"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye. (as said by Miss Piggy)"
— Jim Henson

"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."
— Terry Pratchett

[WT Sharpe]

Please, folks, if you can source the quotes, please do. Unsourced quotes are just gossip. Give us chapter and verse from the original source!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Please, folks, if you can source the quotes, please do. Unsourced quotes are just gossip. Give us chapter and verse from the original source!

Yes Please. The intent here was to provide quotes, excerpts etc from specific books in order to find new books or authors to read.

[BenG]

My Cabell quote was from The Silver Stallion.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by BenG

My Cabell quote was from The Silver Stallion.

Thanks Man!

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by BenG

My Cabell quote was from The Silver Stallion.