The Greatest Science Fiction Quotes of all Time

[Gudy]

Originally Posted by Larla

Fear is the mind-killer.

Well, you could at least have done a proper job of that...

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, that quote was said to the android Norman. I forget who said it to Norman but it was one of the Enterprise crew.

I thought maybe it was also mentioned in one of the books based on the original series. I could be mis remembering though.

[crich70]

The 1950's version of War of the Worlds~
"When all that men had done had failed the Martians were destroyed by the littlest things which God in his wisdom had seen fit to put upon this Earth."

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Gudy

Well, you could at least have done a proper job of that...

[ApK]

Originally Posted by crich70

I thought maybe it was also mentioned in one of the books based on the original series. I could be mis remembering though.

In the episode "I, Mudd" the liar's paradox bit of word jujitsu was delivered to Norman in two parts by Kirk and Mudd together. Available on Netflix and Amazon Prime for your android-smoking pleasure.
Never read any TOS books so don't know if it was done differently there.

[BenG]

The left hand knows not what the right hand is doing. As a matter of fact, the
right hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.
—Philip José Farmer, ‘‘Riders of the Purple Wage’’ (1967)

[BenG]

“You don't know who your friends are ... until you're not like them anymore.”
― Jack Womack, Random Acts of Senseless Violence

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

The litany against fear from Dune

You know, I've tried that, during fearful moments.
Didn't help. At all.

On the other hand, "plexing," the Betazoid relaxation technique from Star Trek: The Next Generation, really does seem to work.

Which just goes to show you...something, not sure what.

[Gudy]

Originally Posted by ApK

You know, I've tried that, during fearful moments.
Didn't help. At all.

The Litany Against Fear is not, as far as I understand it, meant to be a magical incantation. Instead it's a focusing mantra so that someone who was extensively trained in the proper mental techniques could, in moments of stress, recall and invoke those techniques in order to conquer their fears. It is, in short, not the lit torch you bring to brighten a dark room, but the light switch you use to switch on a previously installed light bulb.

[ekbell]

Originally Posted by Gudy

The Litany Against Fear is not, as far as I understand it, meant to be a magical incantation. Instead it's a focusing mantra so that someone who was extensively trained in the proper mental techniques could, in moments of stress, recall and invoke those techniques in order to conquer their fears. It is, in short, not the lit torch you bring to brighten a dark room, but the light switch you use to switch on a previously installed light bulb.

Like the various methods of dealing with child-birth without pain-killers then. Trying fancy breathing exercises at the last minute isn't particularly helpful but if you've been practicing....

And like those exercises it works best if the method used meshes well with the way you do things.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Gudy

The Litany Against Fear is not, as far as I understand it, meant to be a magical incantation. Instead it's a focusing mantra so that someone who was extensively trained in the proper mental techniques could, in moments of stress, recall and invoke those techniques in order to conquer their fears. It is, in short, not the lit torch you bring to brighten a dark room, but the light switch you use to switch on a previously installed light bulb.

There is an implicit suggestion in your response that if it WAS in fact a magical incantation in the book, then perhaps I could have expected it to work for me in real life. Let's roll with that.

OK, I'll have you know I've completed my Bene Gesserit on-line correspondence course, and printed out the certificate, and it STILL doesn't work for me!

But on the plus side, I can legally perform weddings on Arrakis.

Back on topic, I could probably do a whole thread on great quotes from Firefly alone!

"...And also, I can kill you with my brain."

Well, come to think of it, the Firefly quotes are really best in the context of the show.

[rawling]

"We are an impossibility in an impossible universe."

[rawling]

Ray Bradbury

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by rawling

"We are an impossibility in an impossible universe."

I don't know. There are billions of galaxies out there, and the further and clearer we look, the more we see. How many solar systems in each galaxy? It's hard to imagine that there aren't all kinds of planets with life on them in that stupendous quantity of them.

[crich70]

"Out there is the vastness of space. The unknown. Where all possibilities exist, and man's future is limited only by his imagination, and his vision of the stars."

From "The Shape of Things to Come" (Barry Morse spoke the lines).