Notable quotes, excerpts, and profound lines.

[kennyc]

"You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that."
-- E.B. White, Charlotte's Web

[astrangerhere]

Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.

- C.S. Lewis as quoted by Paul Holmer in C.S. Lewis (1978)

[Coops]

Those who like Murakami, don't forget to read "Underground" - it may not seem the most interesting or intriguing, judging by its subject matter... but it's rather excellent. i only read it because I'd already read all his other novels and gave it a chance.

~=~
"Do you guys still cut off ears?"
The man's lips twitched slightly. "A man only has one life. Ears, he has two."
"Maybe so, but if he loses an ear, he's got nothing to hang his glasses on."
"Most inconvenient," the man says.
- After Dark
~=~

~=~
Autonomy is only the mirror image of dependence on others. if you were left as a baby on a deserted island, you would have no notion of what “autonomy” means. Autonomy and dependency are like light and shade, caught in the pull of each other’s gravity. Until, after considerable trial and error, each individual can find his or her own place in the world.
- Underground
~=~

[BenG]

“I do not say that all lawyers are bad, but I do maintain that the general tendency is bad: standing up in a court for whichever side has paid you, affecting warmth and conviction, and doing everything you can to win the case, whatever your private opinion may be, will soon dull any fine sense of honour. The mercenary soldier is not a valued creature, but at least he risks his life, whereas these men merely risk their next fee.”
― Patrick O'Brian, The Reverse of the Medal

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by BenG

“I do not say that all lawyers are bad, but I do maintain that the general tendency is bad: standing up in a court for whichever side has paid you, affecting warmth and conviction, and doing everything you can to win the case, whatever your private opinion may be, will soon dull any fine sense of honour. The mercenary soldier is not a valued creature, but at least he risks his life, whereas these men merely risk their next fee.”
― Patrick O'Brian, The Reverse of the Medal

[BenG]

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by BenG

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Guilty!

[kennyc]

Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not.
Both are equally terrifying.
- Arthur C. Clarke

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not.
Both are equally terrifying.
- Arthur C. Clarke

“Man has gone out to explore other worlds and other civilizations without having explored his own labyrinth of dark passages and secret chambers, and without finding what lies behind doorways that he himself has sealed.”
― Stanisław Lem, Solaris

Oh, my personal favorite quote involving aliens...

“Morning sir, or madam, or neuter," the thing said. "This your planet, is it?"
"Well, er. I suppose so," Newt said.
"Had it long, have we sir?"
"Not personally. I mean, as a species, about half a million years. I think."
The alien exchanged glances with its colleague.
"Been letting the old acid rain build up, haven't we sir," it said. "Been letting ourselves go a bit with the old hydrocarbons, perhaps?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you, sir, but your polar ice caps are below regulation size for a planet of this category, sir."
"Oh, dear," said Newt.
"We'll overlook it on this occasion, sir."
The smaller alien walked past the car. "CO2 level up nought point five percent," it rasped, giving him a meaningful look. "You do know you could find yourself charged with being a dominant species while under the influence of impulse-driven consumerism, don't you?”
― Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (Good Omens)

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Guilty!

Sorry, what did you say? I was busy thinking of my reply.

[kennyc]

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!
- Dr. Seuss

[WT Sharpe]

“A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.”
— Garrison Keillor

From http://adventured.com/about-life-quo...istmas-quotes/

[WT Sharpe]

Oh Christmas Day, I travel ’round the world and say: Taoist, Krishnas, Buddhists and all you atheists too! Merry [expletive deleted] Christmas to you!”
— Mr. Garrison, South Park (ibid.)

[poohbear_nc]

Getting an education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease. It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on. (Hogfather, Terry Pratchett)

[kennyc]

All good books have one thing in common - they are truer than if they had really happened.
- Ernest Hemingway