Great Quotes II: Source and Context are Key

[classical_hero]

The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. - Albert Einstein.

 

[ace99]

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."

-Circuit Court of Caroline County (1959)

 

[Gucumatz]

"Our crime is our patriotic wish to advance, to progress, to win economic independence to match our political independence. We are condemned because we have given our peasant population land and rights."

Arbenz, addressing Guatemala after the Eisenhower had made it clear he would try bringing down the government because Arbenz had the 'nerve' to buy a small percentage of the United Fruit Company's land for the 'market' price.

 

[classical_hero]

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."

-Circuit Court of Caroline County (1959)

He certainly didn't get that from the Bible. Must have got it from somewhere else, Like perhaps A Civic Biologyresentation in Problems.
"The Races of Man. -- At the present time there exist upon the earth five races or varieties of man, each very different from the other in instincts, social customs, and, to an extent, in structure. These are the Ethiopian or negro type, originating in Africa; the Malay or brown race, from the islands of the Pacific; The American Indian; the Mongolian or yellow race, including the natives of China, Japan, and the Eskimos; and finally, the highest type of all, the caucasians, represented by the civilized white inhabitants of Europe and America. ..."

 

[Thorvald of Lym]

Arbenz, addressing Guatemala after the Eisenhower had made it clear he would try bringing down the government because Arbenz had the 'nerve' to buy a small percentage of the United Fruit Company's land for the 'market' price.

This coming from the prez who railed against the military-industrial complex.


"The Egyptian people have not had their real revolution yet. But it's coming. And it won't be on Facebook."

- Cairo cabbie

 

[ace99]

He certainly didn't get that from the Bible. Must have got it from somewhere else, Like perhaps A Civic Biologyresentation in Problems.
"The Races of Man. -- At the present time there exist upon the earth five races or varieties of man, each very different from the other in instincts, social customs, and, to an extent, in structure. These are the Ethiopian or negro type, originating in Africa; the Malay or brown race, from the islands of the Pacific; The American Indian; the Mongolian or yellow race, including the natives of China, Japan, and the Eskimos; and finally, the highest type of all, the caucasians, represented by the civilized white inhabitants of Europe and America. ..."

Unlikely. He probably just rephrased Va.Code Ann. § 20-57 (1960 Repl. Vol.) to toss in some godliness. That's where the footnote leads.

 

[Gucumatz]

This coming from the prez who railed against the military-industrial complex.


"The Egyptian people have not had their real revolution yet. But it's coming. And it won't be on Facebook."

- Cairo cabbie

The whole Guatemalan coup was an awkward affair. A CIA director in 1980s said that if Arbenz had been around politically in 80s that he would have been the ideal choice from the US to lead Guatemala. Of course the CIA eventually ended up drowning him in the early 1970s... but hey, whats 20 years of bloodshed? Its funny, Guatemala [And Iran] became the model for a whole host of other coups and considering how it happened it was probably the worst possible model. [See Bay of Pigs]

My grandfather was a colonel in the Guatemalan Cavalry during that time, he remembers the only thing the military was afraid of was of American involvement. The military easily put down the small incited crowd of drunkards that the US tried to raise, but the military ended up panicking after a single plane that the CIA had given to the "Rebels" bombed Guatemala City. Apparently the military thought that was just the start of an aerial bombardment [Which it wasn't] and basically forced out Arbenz. Had that single plane not bombed Guatemala City, the civil war could have been averted.

 

[ace99]

Usa #1

 

[carmen510]

I went to Universal Studios Orlando over Spring Break and was in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park. There's a hologram of Albus Dumbledore floating around in his study, and the guy in front of me says:

"Oh crap... Frederick Douglass."

Nearly died laughing.

 

[Gucumatz]

Usa #1

Yup. The whole Guatemalan coup sounds like a poorly done comedy. IE, the entire 'rebel' force that the US had built up for 2 years to invade Guatemala was about to attack the border, but before attacking they all decided to go for a couple drinks. They all got drunk and lost track of time and place and the El Salvadorians put all of them in jail and stole their weapons that Congress and the CIA had been funding them for years. Basically the US supplied El Salvador's military for the next 30 years with that one mistake

Certainly the fact that the director of the CIA was the brother of the head of United Fruit company had nothing to do with the coup either. Its just as funny reading about how the CIA and the government tried to justify the coup. Arbenz was no communist, but the CIA ran an entire operation to try and prove he was a commie. The best they could do was plant a receipt of a $20 book of some communist book.

Only part of the running comedy [CIA interactions with the rebels were just as hilarious, battles were routs, propaganda was poorly done, etc], could go on for hours

 

[ace99]

It sometimes surprises me that Latin America doesn't hate us more aside from Cuba and Venezuela. I would hate us.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

if this story is true, i'm pretty sure the "german commander" had no freaking idea why that american is talking about a hardshelled fruit.
i find it rather improbable he got the slang.

also, why the hell is it always quoted with "To the German Commander, The American Commander." ?
didnt they have names?

FYI: the German Commander at Bastogne had no idea what"Nuts" meant and his adjutant said "I think he means 'Go to Hell,' sir."

Source: old 82 nd Airborne Veteran.


My quote du jour: "Sorrows come not in single spies, but in battalions...". Claudius from Hamlet.

 

[Mechanicalsalvation]

Avoid vain disputing; but exchange views freely. If dispute thou must, learn from thy adversary; for even from a fool, if thou listen not with the ear and the reasoning mind but the soul's light, thou canst gather much wisdom.

- Sri Aurobindo

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

'What's jojoba? Where I'm from that's the month before November.' - The Great Billy Connolly

 

[Borachio]

“Excuse me," I said. "I thought you were a trout stream."
"I'm not," she said.

― Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing In America

 

[Dachs]

"What anything means depends on how you tell the story."
-Various characters (esp. Caine and Deliann Mithondionne), Blade of Tyshalle

 

[Mechanicalsalvation]

The rejection of falsehood by the mind seeking after truth is one of the chief causes why mind cannot attain to the settled, rounded & perfect truth; not to escape falsehood is the effort of divine mind, but to seize the truth which lies masked behind even the most grotesque or far-wandering error.

- Sri Aurobindo

 

[madviking]

"Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life."

Kant

 

[Borachio]

Five colours darken the eyes.
Five tones deaden the ears.
Five tastes jade the palate.
Hunting and racing madden the heart.
Exotic goods ensnarl human lives.

Therefore the Sage
Takes care of the belly, not the eye,
Chooses one, rejects the other.

Lao Tzu

 

[Phrossack]

A bit long, but oh well.

Spoiler Blackadder and friends on the causes of WWI :

Baldrick: The thing is: The way I see it, these days there's a war on, right? and, ages ago, there wasn't a war on, right? So, there must have been a moment when there not being a war on went away, right? and there being a war on came along. So, what I want to know is: How did we get from the one case of affairs to the other case of affairs?

Edmund: Do you mean "Why did the war start?"

Baldrick: Yeah.

George: The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire-building.

Edmund: George, the British Empire at present covers a quarter of the globe, while the German Empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganyika. I hardly think that we can be entirely absolved of blame on the imperialistic front.

George: Oh, no, sir, absolutely not. [aside, to Baldick] Mad as a bicycle!

Baldrick: I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich 'cause he was hungry.

Edmund: I think you mean it started when the Archduke of Austro-Hungary got shot.

Baldrick: Nah, there was definitely an ostrich involved, sir.

Edmund: Well, possibly. But the real reason for the whole thing was that it was too much effort not to have a war.

George: By Golly, this is interesting; I always loved history...

Edmund: You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent war in Europe, two superblocs developed: us, the French and the Russians on one side, and the Germans and Austro-Hungary on the other. The idea was to have two vast opposing armies, each acting as the other's deterrent. That way there could never be a war.

Baldrick: But this is a sort of a war, isn't it, sir?

Edmund: Yes, that's right. You see, there was a tiny flaw in the plan.

George: What was that, sir?

Edmund: It was bollocks.

Baldrick: So the poor old ostrich died for nothing!