Zenan Plains - Site Discussion > General Discussion
Quote Digest
Lord J Esq:
A grudging “welcome back” to the General board, Daniel. (What is your real name, anyway?) Now let’s not hijack yet another thread, yes? You are old enough to behave yourself.
--- Quote from: Daniel Krispin ---…do you know if Caesar said that before or after he marched on Rome?
--- End quote ---
As told by Cicero, in his De Officiis.
Ah, Julius Caesar! One of history’s most well-known sinistrals, and the namesake of my birth month. He revived an ailing republic, preserved countless historical writings, and crucially influenced the shape of the world to this very day. Dante assigned his betrayers the cruelest punishment in Hell, and, against all democratic tradition, there were no few people in his time who wanted him to put on that crown—which he never did. He is still one of the greatest people our species has ever produced. He had another quote:
--- Quote from: Julius Caesar ---I had rather be first in a village than second at Rome.
--- End quote ---
Such beautiful ambition was perhaps the inspiration for Milton when he wrote Satan's famous line centuries later. And of course with such a mindset, Caesar ultimately surmounted his own poetic dilemma and achieved the status of being first in Rome after all.
But his greatest quote of all, in my mind, is perhaps one from whose contemplation you might emerge the richer:
--- Quote from: Julius Caesar ---“Libenter homines et id quod volunt, credunt.”
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“What men wish, they like to believe.”
--- Quote from: Daniel Krispin ---Oh, and I'm not quite up on my Latin... what does that one Latin one mean?
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As I said in my commentary below the quote, it means (more or less) “…which was the thing to be proven.” It is most commonly used nowadays as an exclamation to indicate that one has successfully completed an argument. Often it is abbreviated to “QED.”
--- Quote from: Daniel Krispin ---
--- Quote ---Pathei Mathos
--- End quote ---
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There’s something else I know a little about. (Dealing with you being one good example.) Obviously it is an adage you hold deeply in your personal philosophy. We’re not so far apart in that respect, but in my case I do not shut out the parallel truth: “Wisdom through pleasure.”
--- Quote from: Daniel Krispin ---But hey, do you notice a trend in each person's quotes? ZeaLitY is mostly about perseverence and striving forward in the face of difficulty. Lord J has a certain intellectual streak - knowledge and understanding above all.
--- End quote ---
Interesting you should put it that way. I do see the difference between Z’s quotes and mine, but I would not describe it like that.
--- Quote from: Daniel Krispin ---…silence is wisdom you have yet to learn…
--- End quote ---
If only you knew! On this occasion I am tempted to share something about my personal life that develops your statement into an irony. But I suppose your politeness is simple courtesy, and you aren’t terribly interested in the real Josh, but only your caricature of him. Well, so be it. Now that you have recovered from your last experience with me, you are welcome back here, and I do mean it. But remember that Solomon you quoted, in your own interest. Your lovely sermon is no more than an eloquent string of insults, which naught but reinforces what I said earlier about your arrogance. If you weren’t so caught up in yourself, you might see that. And I don’t blame you for being cross with me! You are, after all, human like the rest of us.
Ah, but these things are neither here nor there, and I am out of quotes!
Well…there is always my new sig. And, perhaps, just one more:
--- Quote from: Tacitus ---“Omne ignotum pro magnifico est.”
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“We have great notions of everything unknown.”
Leebot:
Let's see... a few of my own here. Maybe I'll think of some more later.
--- Quote ---All I know is that I know nothing else. The rest is just guesses.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---In my darkest hour, I looked deep within myself. I searched for meaning; I searched for a piece of God. I found nothing, so that's what I believe in now.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Pete Townshend ---There's no easy way to be free.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---Entire books have been written defining Good and Evil. I can define each in one word. Good: Us. Evil: Them.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---You claim the forces of good will always triumph, but you've got cause and effect mixed up. The forces that triumph always call themselves good.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---Knowledge is not a zero-sum game.
--- End quote ---
JossiRossi:
--- Quote ---Whenever I read a quote, and realize if was taken not by an outside party, but the writer themselves, I can't help but wonder what kind of ridiculous self important image that person must have. -JossiRossi
--- End quote ---
Joke. Joke. I just happen to like irony.
Lord J Esq:
--- Quote from: JossiRossi ---
--- Quote ---Whenever I read a quote, and realize if was taken not by an outside party, but the writer themselves, I can't help but wonder what kind of ridiculous self important image that person must have. -JossiRossi
--- End quote ---
Joke. Joke. I just happen to like irony.
--- End quote ---
I have a quote in my Quote Book attributed to me!
--- Quote from: Josh ---“I just learned from a Junior Trivial Pursuit edition Pringles potato crisp that horned lizards shoot blood from their eyes when threatened.”
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Sure, it's not quite up to the caliber of Julius Caesar or Mark Twain, but I'll bet you didn't know about the blood-shooting lizards either! Unless, that is, you enjoy a good Pringles Potato Crisp every now and again. =)
Hadriel:
Many of my favorite quotes are at least somewhat humorous in their nature. I'm of the belief that without humor, life is unlivable. My mind is quite fragmented at times; without that aspect of my being, I would have long ago descended into chaos, death, and unspeakable acts.
--- Quote from: CATS ---All your base are belong to us!
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One of the most hysterical linguistic screwups of all time, bar none.
--- Quote from: Fred Kwan ---Well, we could reconfigure the solar matrix in parallel for endothermic propulsion.
--- End quote ---
Probably my favorite line from GalaxyQuest, making fun of the endless technobabble that has largely consumed the last several seasons of Star Trek in lieu of actual characterization. Seeing as science fiction and fantasy often stands on shaky ground, both scientifically and philosophically, it's also a great reminder to know what you're talking about.
--- Quote from: Every Yuuzhan Vong ever ---Embrace the pain.
--- End quote ---
Call them goths pumped up on steroids. Call them emos in crab suits. Call them the result of a drinking binge at LucasBooks. I only wish I could come up with a species this cool when I was drunk. But their philosophy adds an excellent counterpoint to the sometimes woefully-underdeveloped Jedi take on the universe; not that the Jedi take is itself undeveloped, but it's rarely, if ever, properly described or elaborated upon.
You've got Luke trying to run his Order in a direction that avoids the faults of the old Order's rather simplistic and naive outlook on the universe, and then WHAM, these badasses come in and start messing a lot of shit up in the name of their gods, psychological personifications of the life force of their home planet Yuuzhan'tar. They aren't just experts in the art of combat; the espionage and political prowess of the disciples of Yun-Harla, the Yuuzhan Vong trickster goddess easily likened to Loki, confounds public opinion and divides the New Republic against itself, allowing the Yuuzhan Vong to capture and despoil much of the galaxy despite the Republic's vastly larger infrastructure, military, and resource base, including capturing and holding Coruscant for two years. Defeating them is a grueling process that costs 365 trillion lives (yeah, you read that number right) and requires both a ruthlessly efficient approach and an eye towards the philosophical Jedi angle first seriously explored in Timothy Zahn's novels, in order to prevent the rise of another Empire after the fact. The Yuuzhan Vong War personified the history of the Jedi Order, and in turn makes manifest the desire for emotional and rational balance present within all sentient beings.
--- Quote from: Princess Zelda ---The flow of time is cruel...Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it.
--- End quote ---
This is irony at its best; I prefer to think it's intentional. Not only does Link have the power to travel through time and change the course of history, time itself is a rather fluid thing on its own. Obviously, it describes the state of life for people who aren't Link, Crono, Marty McFly, or the cast of a Star Trek show. However, when thinking of time travel, we tend to overlook that those who can time-travel are also left to fight fate; changing the past can be just as hard and painful as altering the situation in the present. Zelda herself, not possessing the Master Sword, was left to languish and despair for seven years while Ganondorf turned Hyrule into a tyrannical regime filled with monsters, death, and general suckitude. The fact that she immediately teaches Link the Minuet of Forest afterward serves as an excellent counterpoint to her sharp warning of how it works for most people, perhaps to add to the realization that yeah, the fate of the world IS in his hands.
--- Quote from: Chef ---Haven't you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation?
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--- Quote from: Pompous Military Bitch Dude ---I don't listen to hip-hop!
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Exchanges like this are what make me love Chef.
--- Quote from: Pious Augustus ---I had no knowledge of what was to come. Nor did I care. How the knowledge changed me...It will also change you. As you read this, you will come to learn fear as I have. You too, will come to understand, or you will perish.
To think that once I could not see beyond the veil of our reality...to see those who dwell behind. My life now has purpose, for I have learned the frailty of flesh and bone. I was once a fool...
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There's nothing more terrifying to anyone than to have their entire concept of how reality works torn out from under them like they lost control of a skateboard. In most circumstances, the most terrifying stories deal in circumstances that aren't blatantly supernatural, or at least outside of our current realm of understanding. People who wish to sap the sanity from others exploit the selfish nature of all beings to do this, whether that nature extends toward their survival, their spiritual and intellectual growth, or some harmful addiction.
Also, it's just freaky to watch your own head fall off and then have it recite the "to be or not to be" speech, or to have your GameCube fake a restart and the PS2 or Xbox startup screen appears instead, followed by the "flashback" and your character exclaiming frantically that it isn't really happening.
--- Quote from: Thomas Edison ---I have not failed. I have just discovered 10,000 ways that won't work.
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Both humorous and inspirational, and largely true of much of engineering and science, and pretty much anything that requires experimentation of any kind.
--- Quote from: Cloud Strife ---...Shut up. The cycle of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing. Aeris is gone. Aeris will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry, or get angry...What about us...what are WE supposed to do? What about my pain? My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning!
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Sephiroth ---What are you saying? Are you trying to tell me you have feelings, too?
--- End quote ---
A corollary of being effective, both in war and in peace, is that some people are inevitably going to die, or get screwed over. Whether we're talking about terrorists taking hostages, heroes giving their lives without true physical reward or even understanding, or the arguably warranted oppression of lower classes in different societies, someone is going to suffer to make civilization work. This much is fairly obvious. In Sephiroth's idea of morality, this someone just happened to be Aeris; this ended up being his undoing, reaping the consequences of his own style of morality, that which revolves around death and hatred. The good thing is that technological advancement can reduce the impact of some of these "issues of civilization" quite a good bit, but knowledge alone won't do the job. It's easy to lose sight of the fact that you have to have the will to fight, to grow, and to progress as a civilization and individually, rather than to give up and give in to one's more primal nature. One might think that technology alone will not solve humanity's problems, but it isn't just technology, it's what the technology represents; the collective and individual growth of humanity's sum of knowledge, and thus our growth as beings in the larger sense. The problem is, of course, that it can be hard to gauge the level of technology necessary to actually fix many of our foremost problems, and it can be equally hard to determine what new problems may arise. Knowledge, both of ourselves and the universe, represents everything that we are. Aeris' death was no mere emotional tool, but a reflection of the harsh reality of the darker side of humanity, the tendency to take the convenient road simply because it's convenient, rather than for its actual merits. As much effort as it took to create a scheme to become a god, more effort still would have been required to ferret out injustice and destroy it individually.
I have some more, but I have shit to do, so I'll post them when I think of them.
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