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daydreamer_girl
Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 276
Location: Kaneedaaaa!!!
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 Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 5:04 pm Post subject: |
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Know what quote I found which ticks me off?
"One hundred women is not worth one testicle." -Confucious.
That one.
_________________
Yo.
dubbed "Emma" by Asa
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Tamir
Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 1628
Location: Israel
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| Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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Eugh. Ugh.
"If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." - Abraham Maslow |
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Nem
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 2109
Location: England
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| Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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This is probably the most famous dialogue in the realist school of international relations:
| Quote: | Athenians. For ourselves, we shall not trouble you with specious pretences - either of how we have a right to our empire because we overthrew the Mede, or are now attacking you because of wrong that you have done us - and make a long speech which would not be believed; and in return we hope that you, instead of thinking to influence us by saying that you did not join the Lacedaemonians, although their colonists, or that you have done us no wrong, will aim at what is feasible, holding in view the real sentiments of us both; since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.
Melians. As we think, at any rate, it is expedient- we speak as we are obliged, since you enjoin us to let right alone and talk only of interest- that you should not destroy what is our common protection, the privilege of being allowed in danger to invoke what is fair and right, and even to profit by arguments not strictly valid if they can be got to pass current. And you are as much interested in this as any, as your fall would be a signal for the heaviest vengeance and an example for the world to meditate upon.
Athenians. The end of our empire, if end it should, does not frighten us: a rival empire like Lacedaemon, even if Lacedaemon was our real antagonist, is not so terrible to the vanquished as subjects who by themselves attack and overpower their rulers. This, however, is a risk that we are content to take. We will now proceed to show you that we are come here in the interest of our empire, and that we shall say what we are now going to say, for the preservation of your country; as we would fain exercise that empire over you without trouble, and see you preserved for the good of us both.
[...]
Melians. But we know that the fortune of war is sometimes more impartial than the disproportion of numbers might lead one to suppose; to submit is to give ourselves over to despair, while action still preserves for us a hope that we may stand erect.
Athenians. Hope, danger's comforter, may be indulged in by those who have abundant resources, if not without loss at all events without ruin; but its nature is to be extravagant, and those who go so far as to put their all upon the venture see it in its true colours only when they are ruined; but so long as the discovery would enable them to guard against it, it is never found wanting. Let not this be the case with you, who are weak and hang on a single turn of the scale; nor be like the vulgar, who, abandoning such security as human means may still afford, when visible hopes fail them in extremity, turn to invisible, to prophecies and oracles, and other such inventions that delude men with hopes to their destruction.
Melians. You may be sure that we are as well aware as you of the difficulty of contending against your power and fortune, unless the terms be equal. But we trust that the gods may grant us fortune as good as yours, since we are just men fighting against unjust, and that what we want in power will be made up by the alliance of the Lacedaemonians, who are bound, if only for very shame, to come to the aid of their kindred. Our confidence, therefore, after all is not so utterly irrational.
Athenians. When you speak of the favour of the gods, we may as fairly hope for that as yourselves; neither our pretensions nor our conduct being in any way contrary to what men believe of the gods, or practise among themselves. Of the gods we believe, and of men we know, that by a necessary law of their nature they rule wherever they can. And it is not as if we were the first to make this law, or to act upon it when made: we found it existing before us, and shall leave it to exist for ever after us; all we do is to make use of it, knowing that you and everybody else, having the same power as we have, would do the same as we do. Thus, as far as the gods are concerned, we have no fear and no reason to fear that we shall be at a disadvantage. But when we come to your notion about the Lacedaemonians, which leads you to believe that shame will make them help you, here we bless your simplicity but do not envy your folly. The Lacedaemonians, when their own interests or their country's laws are in question, are the worthiest men alive; of their conduct towards others much might be said, but no clearer idea of it could be given than by shortly saying that of all the men we know they are most conspicuous in considering what is agreeable honourable, and what is expedient just. Such a way of thinking does not promise much for the safety which you now unreasonably count upon. |
http://www.wellesley.edu/ClassicalStudies/CLCV102/Thucydides--MelianDialogue.html
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Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
- Issa |
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Asa
Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Posts: 3439
Location: Grammar Police HQ. Watch your language, I'm armed with the NYTimes Style Book AND Strunk and White!
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| Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 6:42 pm Post subject: |
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"Bar fights. Rule number one of bar fights: Don't get into a bar fight."
~Bas Rutten, a bouncer on a tv show I'm watching. ^_^
_________________
Self-styled Forum Grandmother, because I hand out nicknames and hugs whether you want them or not. ^_^
Keeper of the Library and the Gateway to Haven
Nem: "It's the sort of face you just know is getting ready to poke you with something sharp."
BS: "...then insist you eat a brownie."
__________________
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this and all is mended...
Give me your hands if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends. |
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Asa
Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Posts: 3439
Location: Grammar Police HQ. Watch your language, I'm armed with the NYTimes Style Book AND Strunk and White!
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| Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 9:32 am Post subject: |
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| Geoffrey K. Pullum wrote: | | Eyjafjallajoekull: the name says it all, doesn't it? No, of course it doesn't. It looks like a kitten walked across your keyboard. It's the name of the glacier covering the volcano in Iceland that just woke up and remembered that its job description says "Spew hot lava ash across northwestern Europe". |
~From a Language Log blog post yesterday. It tickled my funny bone, so I decided to share. And also because I saw it shortly after Ax's post on the same subject.
_________________
Self-styled Forum Grandmother, because I hand out nicknames and hugs whether you want them or not. ^_^
Keeper of the Library and the Gateway to Haven
Nem: "It's the sort of face you just know is getting ready to poke you with something sharp."
BS: "...then insist you eat a brownie."
__________________
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this and all is mended...
Give me your hands if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends. |
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Nem
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 2109
Location: England
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| Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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"His loyalty couldn't be bought at any price; but it could be rented remarkably cheaply."
- can't remember
"Don't call the tune if you aren't willing to dance." - Old saying.
Antoninus was a most eminent man, and had very excellent qualities, which made him admirable in the sight of the people and acceptable to the soldiers, for he was a warlike man, most enduring of fatigue, a despiser of all delicate food and other luxuries, which caused him to be beloved by the armies. Nevertheless, his ferocity and cruelties were so great and so unheard of that, after endless single murders, he killed a large number of the people of Rome and all those of Alexandria. He became hated by the whole world, and also feared by those he had around him, to such an extent that he was murdered in the midst of his army by a centurion. And here it must be noted that such-like deaths, which are deliberately inflicted with a resolved and desperate courage, cannot be avoided by princes, because any one who does not fear to die can inflict them; but a prince may fear them the less because they are very rare; he has only to be careful not to do any grave injury to those whom he employs or has around him in the service of the state. Antoninus had not taken this care, but had contumeliously killed a brother of that centurion, whom also he daily threatened, yet retained in his bodyguard; which, as it turned out, was a rash thing to do.
- Machiavelli; The Prince.
XD
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Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
- Issa |
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Tenshi
Joined: 18 Apr 2008
Posts: 2594
Location: Star Stuff
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| Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 2:41 am Post subject: |
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Two quotes from an episode of Andromeda "Devil Take the Hindmost". I don't particularly like the episode after seeing it a few times, but I love the quotes in it.
.) "Only those born guilty Recognize
Innocence for what it is:
The rarest thing in the Universe,
And the most Precious."
The Anointed, The Finder of The Way,
C.Y. 9799
( The above is the opening text, of which a new selection is posted from the writers every episode.)
.) "Give me the strength to follow the path. To give and not to count the cost. To struggle, and not to heed the wounds. I am the darkness become the light. I am the darkness become truth. I am the darkness become The Way." - Rev Bem
I lied. Here's a third. An exchange between Captain Dylan Hunt and an episode character.
Rox: Any thoughts?
Dylan: Well, several, none of which should be said aloud in the presence of a lady.
Rox: So what's stopping you?
Dylan: Just my inner female, of course.
_________________
. Dubbed "Usagi" by AsA .
Keeper of the Siderean Swords
"If by chance some day you're not feeling well, and you should remember some silly thing I've said or done, and it brings back a smile to your face or a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled."
Red Skelton |
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Nem
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 2109
Location: England
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| Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 12:39 pm Post subject: |
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Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
- Issa
_________________
Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
- Issa |
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Tenshi
Joined: 18 Apr 2008
Posts: 2594
Location: Star Stuff
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:29 am Post subject: |
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“It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.”
- Agatha Chrisite
So very true. I find that I've loved a person the most when they're soaked to the bone, or covered in mud, or otherwise disheveled. I just... I don't know. It speaks to the protector in me. ^_^
_________________
. Dubbed "Usagi" by AsA .
Keeper of the Siderean Swords
"If by chance some day you're not feeling well, and you should remember some silly thing I've said or done, and it brings back a smile to your face or a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled."
Red Skelton |
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sunshine
Joined: 05 Sep 2008
Posts: 592
Location: Up in the Clouds
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| Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:59 am Post subject: |
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I don’t think human affection and compassion are just religious concerns; they’re indispensable factors in our day-to-day lives.
- Dalai Lama (taken from his Twitter feed)
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I do commissions!
Interested? Let me know! :D
My deviantART page
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Nem
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 2109
Location: England
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| Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:11 pm Post subject: |
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Continuing the merry theme ^^ :
"One of the complaints most frequently made about [my work] can be summed up as follows: "After all, these people are so spineless, how are you going to make heroes out of them?" This objection almost makes me laugh, for it assumes that people are born heroes. That's what people really want to think. If you're born cowardly, you may set your mind perfectly at rest; there's nothing you can do about it; you'll be cowardly all your life, whatever you may do. If you're born a hero, you may set your mind just as much at rest; you'll be a hero all your life; you'll drink like a hero and eat like a hero. What the existentialist says is that the coward makes himself cowardly, that the hero makes himself heroic. There's always a possibility for the coward not to be cowardly any more and for the hero to stop being heroic. "
- Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is A Humanism
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Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
- Issa |
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Wren
Joined: 22 Apr 2008
Posts: 797
Location: In my head, wondering how so many manage to step outside theirs.
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 12:01 am Post subject: |
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“There's so much excellent new music around that I can't afford to buy it all and I haven't the time to review as much as I'd like. I can't remember a better time to be a musician or to listen to music!”
--Malcolm Wilson
_________________
Dubbed "Fish" by Asa. Wren->Fish
~Keeper of Willow's Jedi cloak and Tristram's smirk.~
GENERATION 19: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment. |
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Nem
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 2109
Location: England
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| Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 1:08 am Post subject: |
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I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
By John Masefield (1878-1967).
...
I remember when my mother and father withdrew me from the school system - - it may have been a couple of years later when they presented this poem to analyse. Asked me what I thought of it....
Strange memories of this night in Las Vegas....
Okay, maybe not.
Shattered memories, however: Of bubbling test-tubes, vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. Bubbles for the sake of bubbles =p. Working out when two trains meet. The volume of the interior of a Borg cube... compared to the required density of a 'lethal' gas. Heh.
An education in blocks, mostly forgotten. 
Heh, poems. This one pretty much purchased me a 100% on my final A Level English exam. Mostly because it wasn't in the curriculum:
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:
mors et fugacem persequitur virum
nec parcit inbellis iuventae
poplitibus timidove tergo.
....
Vaguely translated:
It is sweet and glorious, to die for one's state;
Death follows the man who runs;
Sparing not the cowardly hamstrings or backs;
Of the young who are afraid of fighting.
....
The exam as I recall was to compare two poems and to say which of them made a more emotional argument. I answered that both of them were making emotional arguments - that the pragmatic considerations of one made no sense if you didn't have an emotional investment in what it was talking about. <_<
.
Talking of war poems who's read the 'and now I see through a mirror darkly' one? Won't post the whole thing here but:
http://www.generalpatton.com/poem.html
Incase anyone was interested. ^^;
Patton was nuts.
_________________
Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
- Issa |
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Tenshi
Joined: 18 Apr 2008
Posts: 2594
Location: Star Stuff
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 12:56 am Post subject: |
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A couple from my personal quotes list, which I'll browse from time to time when I need strength that I, personally, lack.
"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." -Friedrich Nietzsche
"Against criticism a man can neither protest nor defend himself; he must act in spite of it, and then it will gradually yield to him." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Maxims and Reflections
"For fate has wove the thread of life with pain,
And twins ev'n from the birth are Misery and Man!"
-Homer, Odyssey
"Every evil is some good spelt backwards." -Coventry Patmore
(That one blew my mind)
_________________
. Dubbed "Usagi" by AsA .
Keeper of the Siderean Swords
"If by chance some day you're not feeling well, and you should remember some silly thing I've said or done, and it brings back a smile to your face or a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled."
Red Skelton |
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Tinalles
Site Admin
Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 1630
Location: Grand Forks
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:49 am Post subject: |
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Does this mean every evil is a doog? Or an emos doog?
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Keeper of The Remnant Minuon (cognomen Lucy, the Eaten One) and the Emissary Caeli |
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