Favorite Quotes

I'm just an old fart who remembers listening to the song on AM radio.

 

We’re cynical because we know the world. If we were optimists, we’d also be idiots.

- Abigail C. Edwards

 

“The last thing one discovers in composing a work is what to put first.”

― Blaise Pascal, Pensées

 

A man said to the universe:
“Sir, I exist!”
“However,” replied the universe,
“The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.”

- Stephen Crane

 

“Without music, life would be a mistake.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

 

A lion does not concern himself with the opinions of the sheep.

~ Lionel Messi

 

Where I found the quote it credited Lionel Messi, so I have no idea if Tywin Lannister is the originator or not.

 

"If I cannot swear in Heaven I shall not stay there."

--Mark Twain

 

"Everyone was dancing! It is of course true that people always danced in Paris: those who were not having their heads cut off in 1793 danced, those who were not being killed on the battlefield during the Empire danced, and as nobody was being killed during the Restoration, everybody danced."

~ the duchesse de Maille

 

You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.
~ Wayne Gretzky

 

People forget that during the Enlightenment, the majority of people were not enlightened. It was like, 200 guys.

- anonymous poster at Slashdot.

 

“And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.”

― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

 

It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men.

- Samuel Adams

 

A good one, with the caveat that exactly what that minority considers "freedom" has varied considerably over the years.

 

Conformity is the tool of the tyrant.

- James Tunney

 

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.”

― Heraclitus

 

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

 

The Progressive Caspian People’s Party. A footnote that dreamed it was a chapter.

- Neil Sharpson

[No idea what he's talking about, but I like the metaphor.]

 

“If you can't annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.”

― Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim

 

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

~ Winston Churchill

 

"One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotes." - Diogenes

I'll be sure to let you know if I ever have one...

 

Programming is just a matter of replacing bugs with other bugs until they get small enough that you don't care any more.

- Dan Lyke

 

I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will have found the one that does. — Thomas A. Edison

Every failure is a lesson learned about your strategy. — Thomas A. Edison

 

A moderator edit on a post from another forum:

"A note to everyone: This commentary is permissible as a response to the gratuitous post mentioned above. NO FURTHER COMMENTARY REGARDING THE FORESKIN OF CHRIST WILL BE ALLOWED IN THIS THREAD.
Thank you for your understanding."