Smart People's Quotes

[quoteguy]

Hello Friends,

I thought it would be fun to start a thread on quotes, funny, inspirational, and otherwise. I searched the forum to see if there was another thread like it but I found none. Contribute your favorite quotes as they come to you and enjoy.

"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin - more even than death.... Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man." (Bertrand Russell, British philosopher, 1872-1970)

[Dan.Linehan]

How happy is the blameless vessel's lot.
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.
Each prayer accepted, and each wish resigned.

- Eloisa to Abelard, Alexander Pope

[cdn2wheeler]

Oh my God... It has finally happened, he has become so massive that he collapsed into himself like a neutron star.
- Stewie Grifin, on Peter Griffin's ever-expanding waistline

[NotesMaeve]

"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you."

Oscar Wilde

"Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow."

Oscar Wilde

[lizthefair]

The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.

Oscar Wilde (he's popular here!)

[Livgivare]

It Takes A Fool To Remain Sane - The Ark (Ola Salo)

Whatever happened to the funky race?
A generation lost in pace,
-Wasn´t life supposed to be more than this?
In this kiss I´ll change your bore for my bliss
But let go of my hand and it will slip out in the sand if you don´t give me the chance
to break down the walls of attitude,
I ask nothing of you
not even your gratitude

And if you think I´m corny
then it will not make me sorry
it´s your right to laugh at me
and in turn, that´s my oppurtunity
to feel brave
Because ridicule is no shame
it´s just a way to eclipse hate
it´s just a way to put my back straight
it´s just a way to remain sane

Every morning I would see her getting off the bus the picture never drops
it´s like a multicoloured snapshot stuck in my brain
it kept me sane for a couple of years
as it drenched my fears
of becoming like the others
who become unhappy mothers
and fathers of unhappy kids
And why is that?
´Cause they´ve forgotten how to play
maybe they´re afraid to feel ashamed
to seem strange
to seem insane
to seem gay
to gain weight
- I tell you this:

That it takes a fool to remain sane
It takes a fool to remain sane
It takes a fool to remain sane
In this world all covered up in shame
(-Oh, take it to the stage!)

So, take it to the stage in a multicoloured jacket take it jackpot, crackpot,
strutting like a peacock
nailvarnish Arkansas
shimmy-shammy featherboah crackpot haircut
dye your hair in glowing red and blue,

-Do, Do, Do! What you wanna do, Don´t think twice, do what you have to do,
Do, Do, Do, let your heart decide what you have to do that´s all there is to find
Cause it takes a fool to remain sane,
Oh,It takes a fool to remain sane
It takes a fool to remain sane
In this world all covered up in shame
It takes a fool to remain sane,
It takes a fool to remain sane
It takes a fool to remain sane
In this world all covered up in shame


This gotta be among the best songs ever, and suits as a quote as well when it sums up almost all of the philosophy of The Ark and Ola Salo that is the best of Sweden of today...

Love Leelene

[Lil Chris]

NO! Do or do not... There is no try...
-Yoda

[Uplift]

Heres some classics, but I don't know who said them.

Never judge a book by its cover, or is it, First impressions always count.

Look before you leap, or is it, Just take the plunge.

A change is as good as a holiday, or is it, The grass is always greener on the other side.

Slow and carefull wins the race, or is it, He who dares wins.

So I just make up my own.

I'm awesome, a part of and filled with the most deluxe, awesome, unlimited thing going. Black holes, blue holes, space, strings, quantums, galaxies... you name it, I can do it!

[Akashic_Librarian]

The more you fight the current, the more tired you get, but as soon as you let the water carry you, you can reach the river-bank with ease.

- Yours truly, the great Akashic!

[maryelyn]

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

- Franz Kafka

[Betrade]

"When in doubt, tell the truth"

Benjamin Franklin

[quoteguy]

Hello Friends,

Hope all is well. Here's a nice passage reminding us to draw strength from within. Enjoy.

Everything we need is all inside

Grass grows
No one tells it
How to grow to.

River gently winds
Downstream.
No one tells it
How to flow to.

Seeds fall from the tree.
Embedded into the earth.
Flourishes into new life
Again and again.
No one reminds that it's
Time to plant.

The ocean waves
Ebbs to and fro
In natural rhythm
With the moon.
A curious and peaceful dance.
No directions included.

Sun rises in the east.
It sets in the west.
Stars light up the evening sky.
No one tells them
How to glow.
No one asks them why.

The earth spins
Effortlessly
On its axis
Rocking gently
Through the day
And into the night
In perfect rotation.
No batteries included.

The body gives life.
The body ends life.
Naturally.
And knows to make love
Sometimes in the back
Of an old Chevy.

Children play.
No one tells them
It's how they learn.
They simply know
How to.

Mama Kitty cares for
Her young
And Mama Bird
Tends to her nest.
No manual.

Intelligence in every cell.
The universe perfect
In every way.
Whole.
Pure.
Divine wisdom
And perfect
Miracle.
All knowing without trying.
No struggles.
Effortlessly like God herself.
Creating.
Trusting the perfection inside.
All knowledge.
All knowing. All inside.
One tiny cell.
One tiny perfect cell.

It's all inside. All things.
All times. All of all.
It's all inside.

--- Copyright © 2007 Shelley Joy Tellez

[Lil Chris]

For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you.

-Yoda (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back)

[maryelyn]

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.

~ Marcus Aurelius ~

[Max Power]

God: "Max, not everyone believes what you believe"

Max: "My beliefs do not require them to"

Max Power
"Stop telling me I'm God......I already know that!"

[quoteguy]

Originally Posted by cdn2wheeler

Oh my God... It has finally happened, he has become so massive that he collapsed into himself like a neutron star.
- Stewie Grifin, on Peter Griffin's ever-expanding waistline

VICTORY SHALL BE MINE!!!-Stewie Griffin

I try to remember to say this when I begin my day.

[emilee]

"Is normal an illusion, somewhere between right and wrong?"
My 10 year old son, James.

[Parthon]

Rofl emilee! I love it. I might change it to "Normal is that place somewhere between right and wrong."

One of my favorite quotes is "If you try and succeed you have succeeded. If you try and fail you have learnt something. The only way to truely fail is to do nothing at all."

I forget who said it.

[Kiwiana]

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. Its an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. Its a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary.

IMPOSSIBLE is NOTHING!!!"

From my Muhammed Ali poster on my wall.

[DrMartinRussell]

This rare quote is so powerful I used to book-end my first online product, Self Help Meeting...

"Any year which passes in which you don't destroy one of your best-loved ideas is probably wasted. It's a very useful thing to do."

Charlie Munger, Billionaire & Vice-Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway Corporation (Warren Buffett is the Chairman)

[seeker5]

Max Powers - You rip off one of my favorite lines of the Matrix!

Re: Yoda quote. Can an alien be considered a person?

One quote I really like: "When you give up in freedom for security, you lose both". - Benjamin Franklin said it, and Ron Paul quoted him during a debate.

[Lil Chris]

Originally Posted by seeker5

Re: Yoda quote. Can an alien be considered a person?

Well it's kind of like McDonald's, you can eat it and it makes turds... But it's not really considered food...

[quoteguy]

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is a habit."
Socrates

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by quoteguy

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is a habit."
Socrates

Heh, I've said that quote before in front of an audience. However, I remember the quote being from Aristole. It's also listed in the 7 Habits by Steven Covey.

[quoteguy]

"No man is a failure who is enjoying life."
William Feather

[Uplift]

Here's another couple of beauties by Aristotle:

‘It is the best for all tame animals to be ruled by human beings. For this is how they are kept alive. In the same way, the relationship between the male and the female is by nature such that the male is higher, the female lower, that the male rules and the female is ruled.’

‘That person is by nature a slave who can belong to another person and who only takes part in thinking by recognising it, but not by possessing it. Other living beings (animals) cannot recognise thinking; they just obey feelings. However, there is little difference between using slaves and using tame animals: both provide bodily help to do necessary things.’

Smart guy eh!

His mate Plato was a genius too! Here's one of his classics:

“It is only males who are created directly by the gods and are given souls. Those who live rightly return to the stars, but those who are ‘cowards or [lead unrighteous lives] may with reason be supposed to have changed into the nature of women in the second generation’. This downward progress may continue through successive reincarnations unless reversed. In this situation, obviously it is only men who are complete human beings and can hope for ultimate fulfilment; the best a woman can hope for is to become a man”

Good luck girls!

[mlc82]

Here are two from my "quote list", one from a person on this forum and one from the bodybuilding.com forums:



I'm all for those who take what is spoon fed to the masses for fact, it gives the people with the latitude and scope for free thought the freedom to be themselves. -"Billy", stevepavlina.com

I think a key to creativity, is simply being the opposite of what everyone else is. -"takemehigher", bb.com

[Halcyon]

Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today - James Dean

Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential. - Bruce Lee

I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine. - Bruce Lee

If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. - Bruce Lee

If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of. - Bruce Lee

It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential. - Bruce Lee

Knowledge will give you power, but character respect. - Bruce Lee

Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable. - Bruce Lee

Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system. - Bruce Lee

Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. - Bruce Lee

To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person. - Bruce Lee

A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at. - Bruce Lee

Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it. - Bruce Lee

As you think, so shall you become. - Bruce Lee

[quoteguy]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today - James Dean

Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential. - Bruce Lee

I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine. - Bruce Lee

If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. - Bruce Lee

If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of. - Bruce Lee

It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential. - Bruce Lee

Knowledge will give you power, but character respect. - Bruce Lee

Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable. - Bruce Lee

Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system. - Bruce Lee

Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. - Bruce Lee

To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person. - Bruce Lee

A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at. - Bruce Lee

Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it. - Bruce Lee

As you think, so shall you become. - Bruce Lee

I'm a big fan of Bruce too. Here's for you:


"Don't think; feel. It's like a finger pointing to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all the heavenly glory." (Bruce Lee, Enter The Dragon)

[Halcyon]

Yeah Bruce was an awesome man.