Favorite Quotes

[Thanquol]

"I don't trust a man that doesn't have something strange going on about him, 'cause that means he's hiding it from you. If a man's wearing his pants on his head or if he says his words backwards from time to time, you know it's all laid out there for you. But if he's friendly to strangers and keeps his home spick-and-span, more often than not he's done something even his own ma couldn't forgive."

— No-Bark Noonan

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

"You breath so loud I could shoot you in the dark, dwarf." Haldir, LotR

[Sebias of Redwall]

The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and, the day you find out why.- Mark Twain

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

"Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall." Aragorn, TLotR

[Thanquol]

"All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few except the "elect" have seen it, or, at least, taken the trouble to read it. I brought away a copy from Salt Lake. The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so "slow," so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print. If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle — keeping awake while he did it was, at any rate. If he, accourding to tradition, merely translated it from certain ancient and mysteriously-engraved plates of copper, which he declares he found under a stone, in an out-of-the-way locality, the work of translating was equally a miracle, for the same reason."

-Mark Twain

[Jetthebinturong]

Spoiler contains alluded to swearing.

Libba Bray on language and controversial themes in writing

When I'm writing, I don't think about reception. My job is to find the story and be faithful to it and the characters. I'm not convinced that swear words necessarily outweigh censors' objections to sex and sexuality, but they are up there, and I'm actually quite fascinated by people's preoccupation with swear words as a source of outrage. [...]

I won't lie—I am a veteran, skillful curser. I can blister your eardrums. I love curse words. They are expressive and sometimes what you have to say needs a solid, "Mother—-er!" attached to it. For years, I apologized for it but now, at 48 years old, I no longer do. "Hi, my name is Libba and I'm a *#&@%&$# pottymouth." Hopefully, I have other qualities that make up for my George Carlinesque tongue. And if I know someone is really offended by cursing, I try to temper myself around him or her. But in the world of art, one should be free to feel/say/explore everything or else it has no teeth.

I think that language represents The-Thing-We-Can-Do-Something-About. The-Shallow Thing-Which-Allows-Us-To-Skirt-Greater-Fears. Do parents want to have a discussion about sex, sexuality, drug and alcohol use, teen pregnancy, disconnection, alienation, depression, loss of innocence? Probably not. It's really the ideas and emotional issues that are the most frightening aspects of any novel. Language? That's just a symptom. When people say, "Don't use that language. It's disrespectful and offensive," they shut down the conversation before it can begin. It essentially translates as, "I cannot tolerate your language; therefore, I certainly cannot tolerate the intense feeling behind it."

But I think people miss the positive aspects of transgressive language. It's cathartic. Swear words can be used to forge connections, especially among teenagers. It's a secret, "taboo" language that can be used to convey strong feelings or admiration or make teens feel a little edgy at times. The more interesting discussion, as it pertains to language, is, "What do these words allow you to say/express that less transgressive language does not? Why these words and not other words?"

Anyway, this is a great, great question, and I thank you for asking it. Frankly, I do give a damn.

[close]

[Hickory]

"It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell."
- William T. Sherman

[Jetthebinturong]

"As you have guessed from my words," he said, "I am shay'a'chern. As is Starwind. As you." Now he gave Vanyel a very brief, sidelong glance. "I am a Healer-Adept and I Heal more than people-I heal places. I know the natural world as only one who wishes to restore it to its rightful balances can. This is the thing I wish to tell you; in all the world, there are more creatures than just man that make lifetime matings. Among them, some of the noblest-wolves, swans, geese, the great raptors-all creatures man could do worse than emulate, in many, many ways. And with all of them, all, there are those pairings, from time to time, within the same gender. Not often, but not unheard of either."
Vanyel found himself unable to move, and unable to anticipate the direction this was taking.
Now Moondance dropped his eyes to catch and hold Vanyel's in a joining of glances and wills that was unbreakable.
"There is in you a fear, a shame, placed there by your own doubts and the thoughts of one who knew no better. I tell you to think on this: the shay'a'chern pairing occurs in nature. How then, 'unnatural'? Usual, no; and not desirable for the species, else it would die out for lack of offspring. But not unnatural. The beasts of the fields are innocent as man can never be, who has the knowledge of good and evil and the choice between, and they do not cast out of their ranks the shay'a'chern. There was between you and your shay'kreth'ashke much love-only love. There is no shame in loving."
Vanyel couldn't breathe; he could only see those ice-blue eyes.
"This I think I have learned: where there is love, the form does not matter, and the gods are pleased. This I have observed: what occurs in nature, comes by the hand of nature, and if the gods did not approve, it would not be there. I give you these things as food for your heart and mind."
~ Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey.

Hardly a revolutionary sentiment, but I like how it was put. And I'm still in wonderment that this was in a fantasy novel published in 1991.

[Hickory]

"'Don't tell me God works in mysterious ways,' Yossarian continued, hurtling on over her objection. 'There's nothing so mysterious about it. He's not working at all. He's playing. Or else He's forgotten all about us. That's the kind of God you people talk about - a country bumpkin, a clumsy, bungling, brainless, conceited, uncouth hayseed. Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include such phenomena as phlegm and tooth decay in His divine system of creation? What in the world was running through that warped, evil, scatological mind of His when He robbed old people of the power to control their bowel movements? Why in the world did He ever create pain?'"

"'Pain?' Lieutenant Scheisskopf's wife pounced upon the word victoriously. 'Pain is a useful symptom. Pain is a warning to us of bodily dangers.'"

"'And who created the dangers?' Yossarian demanded. He laughed caustically. 'Oh, He was really being charitable to us when He gave us pain! Why couldn't He have used a doorbell instead to notify us, or one of His celestial choirs? Or a system of blue-and-red neon tubes right in the middle of each person's forehead. Any jukebox manufacturer worth his salt could have done that. Why couldn't He?'"

"'People would certainly look silly walking around with red neon tubes in the middle of their foreheads.'"

"They certainly look beautiful now writhing in agony or stupefied with morphine, don't they? What a colossal, immortal blunderer! When you consider the opportunity and power He had to really do a job, and then look at the stupid, ugly little mess He made of it instead, His sheer incompetence is almost staggering. It's obvious He never met a payroll. Why, no self-respecting businessman would hire a bungler like Him as even a shipping clerk!'"

–Joseph Heller, Catch-22

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may  have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

[Wylder Treejumper]

"All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few except the "elect" have seen it, or, at least, taken the trouble to read it. I brought away a copy from Salt Lake. The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so "slow," so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print. If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle — keeping awake while he did it was, at any rate. If he, accourding to tradition, merely translated it from certain ancient and mysteriously-engraved plates of copper, which he declares he found under a stone, in an out-of-the-way locality, the work of translating was equally a miracle, for the same reason."

-Mark Twain

A snarky take on the subject, but unfortunately true in at least one aspect: very few people have indeed taken the time to read The Book of Mormon. Instead they rely on rumors passed through a thousand hands- or on sarcastic quotes.

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. . . Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses."

-C. S. Lewis

[One-Eye the wildcat]

"'Don't tell me God works in mysterious ways,' Yossarian continued, hurtling on over her objection. 'There's nothing so mysterious about it. He's not working at all. He's playing. Or else He's forgotten all about us. That's the kind of God you people talk about - a country bumpkin, a clumsy, bungling, brainless, conceited, uncouth hayseed. Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include such phenomena as phlegm and tooth decay in His divine system of creation? What in the world was running through that warped, evil, scatological mind of His when He robbed old people of the power to control their bowel movements? Why in the world did He ever create pain?'"

"'Pain?' Lieutenant Scheisskopf's wife pounced upon the word victoriously. 'Pain is a useful symptom. Pain is a warning to us of bodily dangers.'"

"'And who created the dangers?' Yossarian demanded. He laughed caustically. 'Oh, He was really being charitable to us when He gave us pain! Why couldn't He have used a doorbell instead to notify us, or one of His celestial choirs? Or a system of blue-and-red neon tubes right in the middle of each person's forehead. Any jukebox manufacturer worth his salt could have done that. Why couldn't He?'"

"'People would certainly look silly walking around with red neon tubes in the middle of their foreheads.'"

"They certainly look beautiful now writhing in agony or stupefied with morphine, don't they? What a colossal, immortal blunderer! When you consider the opportunity and power He had to really do a job, and then look at the stupid, ugly little mess He made of it instead, His sheer incompetence is almost staggering. It's obvious He never met a payroll. Why, no self-respecting businessman would hire a bungler like Him as even a shipping clerk!'"

–Joseph Heller, Catch-22

I love that book.

[Hickory]

"Incompetence should not be rewarded with blind loyalty. As long as I have my eyes I'll use them. I wasn't born into a great house, I came from nothing. I was sold as a slave and carved up as an offering. When I was a child I lived in alleys, gutters, abandoned houses. You wish to know where my true loyalties lie? Not with any king or queen, but with the people. The people who suffer under despots and prosper under just rule. The people whose hearts you aim to win."

-Varys, Game of Thrones

[Merida_of_redwall]

In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this." – Terry Pratchett

[Captain Wortshire]

"The world is a stage. And a stage is a world of entertainment." - Alastor