Great Quotes III: Source and Context are Key

[Mouthwash]

"Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men. If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learned from experience and the light of reason?

St. Augustine

Link to video.

 

[Borachio]

...going all the way back to Rsabhanatha, who existed in an earlier age of the world, when men and women were always born in wedded couples, were two miles tall, and lived for a period of countless years.

Before his day,... the people of the preceding period - who were four miles tall, with one hundred and twenty-eight ribs, enjoying a life span of two periods of countless years - were supplied in all their needs by ten "wish-fulfilling trees" which gave sweet fruits, leaves that were shaped like pots and pans, leaves that sweetly sang, leaves that gave forth light at night, flowers delightful to see and to smell, food perfect both to sight and taste, leaves that might serve as jewelry, and bark providing beautiful clothes. One of the trees was like a many-storied palace in which to live; another shed a gentle radiance, like that of many little lamps. The earth was as sweet as sugar; the ocean as delicious as wine. And then again, before this happy age, there had been a period happier still - precisely twice as happy - when men and women had been eight miles tall, possessing each two hundred and fifty-six ribs. When those superlative people died, they passed directly to the world of the gods, without ever having heard of religion, for their natural virtue was as perfect as their beauty.

Joseph Campbell

 

[ReindeerThistle]

"The Soviets have stopped the Nazis in Eastern Poland; I only wish they were doing it as our allies."

Winston Churchill, in an October 1, 1939 Radio broadcast after learning of the Red Army moving into Poland.

 

[madviking]

"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place."

The Red Queen

 

[Arakhor]

The BBC reporting on a piece in the Telegraph about Piers Morgan's cancelled CNN show:

There are two opinions on Morgan in the UK: "Some people despise him. And the rest really despise him.

(I don't hate him; I just feel the urge to punch him in the face. Several times.)

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

In other words they appeal to casuals. This guy gets it.
"Zombies are an excuse to give your game terrible AI, because they're dumb by nature. But that makes them boring, unthreatening villains -- they're mindless drones to be gunned down, a novelty that wears off fast."
-Mark Hill, 4 Trends That Have Overstayed Their Internet Welcome

 

[ReindeerThistle]

"Karl Marx has died. He deserves to be honored, for he placed himself on the side of the weak."
José Martí, Cuban Revolutionary, March 29, 1883, speaking at a function commemorating Marx.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

"Goodbye, Bill, I die like a true blue rebel. Don't waste any time mourning. Organize!" -Joe Hill's last telegram to Bill Haywood, 1915

 

[cardgame]

"If men are judged by their looks how do you explain all the fat, bald, short presidents we've had since TV became common?"

/u/5th_Law_of_Robotics

 

[Narz]

“Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”

 

[Borachio]

Also by Joseph Addison:

Man is subject to innumerable pains and sorrows by the very condition of humanity, and yet, as if nature had not sown evils enough in life, we are continually adding grief to grief and aggravating the common calamity by our cruel treatment of one another.

(Actually, I find people to be mostly very kind, myself.)

 

[Gucumatz]

Arevalo speaking on Guatemala's October Revolution and how it viewed itself as, before the US overthrew it.

"Our revolution is not explained by the hunger of the masses but by their thirst for dignity... our Socialism does not, therefore, aim at ingenious distribution of material wealth to economically equalize men who are economically different. Our socialism aims at liberating men psychologically and spiritually. We aim to give each and even citizen not only the superficial right to vote, but the fundamental right to live in peace with his own conscience, with his family, with his property, and with his destiny.

We call this post-war socialism "Spiritual" because in the world, as now in Guatemala, there is a fundamental change in human values. The materialistic concept has become a tool in the hands of totalitarian forces. Communism, Fascism, and Nazism have also been "socialistic". But they are a socialism which gives food with the left hand while with the right it mutilates the moral and civic values of man."
==========

But apparently views like this: "Communism is contrary to human nature, it is contrary to the psychology of man... We see the superiority of the doctrine of democracy, which does not seek to destroy anything that man has accomplished but humbly seeks to straighten out crooked paths" somehow convinced that Guatemala was a "Communist" state. Makes you wonder if the CIA attaches could ever read...

 

[carmen510]

"The arguments with which we justify our conduct are often dumber than our actual conduct. It is more tolerable to watch men live than to hear them spout their opinions."

-Nicolás Gómez Dávila

 

[Borachio]

I won't shed one single tear over her death. She destroyed the NHS and destroyed industry in this country and as far as I'm concerned she can rot in hell.

Mr Bob Crow, speaking after Baroness Thatcher's death

 

[Arakhor]

So, that's the newly dead speaking ill of the dead, eh? What a nice chap.

 

[Borachio]

Well. Fair comment, I suppose.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Mr Bob Crow, speaking after Baroness Thatcher's death

Red to a great man!

To honor him, I will quote a great American union leader, Joe Hill, just before his own execution:

Don't mourn: organize!

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Mr Bob Crow, speaking after Baroness Thatcher's death

Red to a great man!...

And a Red indeed.

In the words of Mother Jones:

"Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living."

 

[Kyriakos]

"Ανοήμονες βιούσι ού τερπόμενοι βιούν."

(Non-thinking people go through life without feeling pleasant to be alive)

Democritos

 

[madviking]

"Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice."

- variation on Hanlon's razor