TyrannusRex
Warlord
This is something I've pondered for a long time but haven't gotten around to working on. Now, I love the tech/civic quotes and Sean Bean's perfectly-gravelly-voice as much as the next Civ fanatic, but a 50/50 chance of getting one quote or the other gets tiring kind of quickly. So, I've taken it upon myself to add a third quote (and in some cases, a second) to each tech/civic to liven things up a bit, with my selections made based upon relevance, profundity, and what would sound funny coming out of Sean Bean's mouth. I've also tried to use quotes that can be reliably attributed (there are a few "unknowns" in there, but nothing outright apocryphal to my knowledge.) Some of them may get a tad wordy, but nothing nearly as obscenely long as that Poe quote for Optimization Imperative.
Why did I decide to do this? I guess I just needed something to do. Enjoy!
Technologies
Pottery
“In such a porcelain life, one likes to be sure that all is well, lest one stumbles upon one’s hopes in a pile of broken pottery.” - Emily Dickinson
Animal Husbandry
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” - Groucho Marx
Mining
“Mining is the art of exploiting mineral deposits at a profit. An unprofitable mine is fit only for the sepulcher of a dead mule.” - T. A. Rickard
Sailing
“We cannot direct the wind. But we can adjust our sails.” - Various
Astrology
“The starry vault of heaven is in truth the open book of cosmic projection…” - Carl Jung
Irrigation
“A farmer is a magician who produces money from the mud.” - Amit Kalantri
Writing
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.” - Maya Angelou
Archery
“The archer is the true weapon; the bow is just a long piece of wood.” - Sebastien de Castell
Masonry
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” - David Brinkley
Bronze Working
“All bronzes are made to be touched. Bronze is a sensual ‘living’ material. The sweat and oil of your palms adds to the patination.” - Peter Marino
Wheel
“The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was a genius.” - Sid Caesar
Civics
Code of Laws
“Laws are like sausages – it is better not to see them being made.” - Otto von Bismarck
Craftsmanship
“The difference between an artist and a craftsman is that a craftsman is interested in his or her tools and an artist disdains them.” - Richard Benson
Foreign Trade
“We woke that morning at the onward call / Our camels bridled up, our howdahs full / The sun was rising in the eastern sky / Just as we set out to the desert’s cry” – Loreena McKennitt
Military Tradition
“Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.” - Unknown
State Workforce
“An empowered and enriched workforce is the backbone of a company’s success framework.” - Ananya Birla
Early Empire
“The day of small nations has long passed away. The day of Empires has come.” - Joseph Chamberlain
Mysticism
“Religion is to mysticism what popularization is to science.” - Henri Bergson
Technologies
Celestial Navigation
“The ability to tell a good route from a terrible one is a valuable skill when leading an expedition. Unfortunately for us all, it was a skill I did not possess.” - Tahir Shah
Currency
“That money talks, I’ll not deny, I heard it once: it said ‘Goodbye.’” - Richard Armour
Horseback Riding
“Horses lend us the wings we lack.” - Pam Brown
Iron Working
“Pull the tongs from the fire / Strike the hammer to the anvil / Craft a weapon to bring an enemy to a standstill” – Dan Bull
Shipbuilding
“A ship in harbor is safe – but that is not what ships are built for.” John A. Shedd
Mathematics
“Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.”- Bertrand Russell
Construction
“Measure twice, cut once, swear silently.” - Tim “Level” Johnson
Engineering
“Science can amuse and fascinate us all, but it is engineering that changes the world.” - Isaac Asimov
Civics
Games and Recreation
“The bow cannot always stand bent, nor can human frailty subsist without some lawful recreation.” - Miguel de Cervantes
Political Philosophy
“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is not lost.” - John Quincy Adams
Drama and Poetry
“I think the theatre is as essential to civilization as safe, pure water.” - Vanessa Redgrave
Military Training
“The aim of military training is not just to prepare men for battle, but to make them long for it.” - Louis Simpson
Defensive Tactics
“To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” - George Washington
Recorded History
“No one has a better memory than a piece of paper.” - Ginny Di
Theology
“The best theology is rather a divine life than a divine knowledge.” - Jeremy Taylor
Technologies
Military Tactics
“Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.” - George S. Patton
Buttress
“Man must be arched and buttressed from within, else the temple will crumble to dust.” - Marcus Aurelius
Apprenticeship
“A long apprenticeship is the most logical way to success. The only alternative is overnight stardom, but I can’t give you a formula for that.” - Chet Atkins
Stirrups
“He who speaks the truth must keep one foot in the stirrup.” - Mark Shields
Machinery
“People are more difficult to work with than machines. And when you break a person, he can’t be fixed.” - Rick Riordan
Education
“It’s not enough to train today’s workforce. We also have to prepare tomorrow’s workforce by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education.” - Barack Obama
Military Engineering
“When sappers fear a man, that man is to be feared indeed.” - Peter McLean
Castles
“As you can imagine, medieval castles were not easy to break into. They were basically like those jungle gym things at Chuck E. Cheese’s: massive in size, intentionally confusing layout, security everywhere, and by the end of your visit, you’d probably end up with some kind of disease.” - Sam O’Nella
Civics
Naval Tradition
“When I lost my rifle, the Army charged me 85 dollars. That is why in the Navy, the captain goes down with the ship.” - Dick Gregory
Feudalism
“Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.” - Lord Acton
Civil Service
“For I am certain, O men of Athens, that if I had engaged in politics, I should have perished long ago, and done no good either to you or to myself.” - Plato
Mercenaries
“To act without a conscience, but for a paycheck, makes anyone a dangerous animal. The devil would be powerless if he couldn’t entice people to do his work. So long as money continues to seduce the hungry, the hopeless, the broken, the greedy, and the needy, there will always be war between brothers.” - Suzy Kassem
Medieval Faires
“Everything being a constant carnival, there is no carnival left.” - Victor Hugo
Guilds
“Proficiency in a craft is essential to every artist. Therein lies the prime source of creative imagination. Let us then create a new guild of craftsmen without the class distinctions that raise an arrogant barrier between craftsman and artist!” - Walter Gropius
Divine Right
“The ways of Heaven are not invariable. On the good-doer it sends down all blessings, and on the evil-doer it sends down all miseries.” - Shūjīng
Technologies
Cartography
“There’s no map for you to follow and take your journey. You are Lewis and Clark. You are the mapmaker.” - Phillipa Soo
“I knew I should’ve taken that left turn at Albuquerque!” - Bugs Bunny
Mass Production
“We seem to want mass production, but we must remember that men are individuals not to be satisfactorily dealt with in masses, and the making of men is more important than the production of things.” - Ralph W. Sockman
Banking
“Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, ‘It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.’” - Matthew 21:12-13
Gunpowder
“We owe to the Middle Ages the worst inventions of humanity – romantic love and gunpowder.” - Andre Maurois
Printing
“The printing press is the greatest weapon in the armory of the modern commander.” - T. E. Lawrence
Square Rigging
“Wherever we want to go, we go. That’s what a ship is, you know. It’s not just a keel and hull and a deck and sails. That’s what a ship needs. But what a ship is… what the Black Pearl really is… is freedom.” - Capt. Jack Sparrow
Astronomy
“Certainly the history of astronomy shows that every time we thought we were special, we were wrong.” - Seth Shostak
Metal Casting
“Still, my soul is cast iron, and not to be dented.” - Prince
Siege Tactics
“Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!” - Monty Python
Civics
Exploration
“That is the exploration that awaits you! Not mapping stars and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence.” - Leonard Nimoy
Humanism
“Humanism is about the world, not about humanism.” - Harold Blackham
Diplomatic Service
“Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘Nice doggie’ until you can find a rock.” - Will Rogers
Reformed Church
“I shall never be a heretic; I may err in dispute, but I do not wish to decide anything finally; on the other hand, I am not bound by the opinions of men.” - Martin Luther
Mercantilism
“The invisible hand of the market is no match for the very visible fist of the soldier.” - Sam O’Nella
The Enlightenment
“The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.” - Nikos Kazantzakis
Technologies
Industrialization
“The Industrial Revolution has two phases: one material, the other social; one concerning the making of things, the other concerning the making of men.” - Charles A. Beard
Scientific Theory
“A good scientific theory is one which is falsifiable, which has not been falsified.” - Richard Dawkins
Ballistics
“A bullet is like a word – when it flies out, you cannot catch it.” - Tamerlan Kuzgov
Military Science
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” - Napoleon Bonaparte
Steam Power
“More coal, more smoke, more heat, more steam, more pressure, more speed. The engine raced forward streaming black smoke like a funerary ribbon rippling in the breeze.” - Martin R. Jackson
Sanitation
“Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely.” - P. J. O’Rourke
Economics
“Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.” - John Kenneth Galbraith
Rifling
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” - Theodore Roosevelt
Civics
Colonialism
“The rich think this land is theirs, though they have never earned the right to call it theirs.” - Maaza Mengiste
Civil Engineering
“The road to success is always under construction… there are lots of potholes but no traffic jams.” - Dan Pena
Nationalism
“Nationalism can be a destructive force when it promotes intolerance and division. But it can also be a force for good, when it seeks to defend local autonomy against the homogenizing forces of larger entities.” - Maxime Bernier
Opera and Ballet
“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth, and it is yours for the taking.” - Agnes de Mille
Natural History
“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” - Charles Darwin
Urbanization
“In an agricultural world, the city was the crucible of thought and change, a role it would continue to play throughout history.” - David Macaulay
Scorched Earth
“The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.” - Revelation 8:7
Technologies
Flight
“‘The Guide says there is an art to flying’ said Ford, ‘or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.’” - Douglas Adams
Replaceable Parts
“I believe in standardizing automobiles. I do not believe in standardizing human beings.” - Albert Einstein
Steel
“Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.” - Napoleon Hill
Refining
“Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil.” - J. Paul Getty
“People say they are inventing electric cars. Well, where is the electricity coming from? Flowers? Maybe someday. But what is available now is oil and gas.” - Christophe de Margerie
Electricity
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.” - Genesis 1:3-4
Radio
“Can you hear me?” - Guglielmo Marconi’s first successful radio message
Chemistry
“Studying physics, mathematics, and chemistry is worshipping God.” - Fethullah Gulen
Combustion
“It can scarcely be denied that the fundamental phenomena which first led mankind into chemical inquiries are those of combustion.” - Sir William Crookes
Civics
Conservation
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead
Mass Media
“Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.” - Noam Chomsky
Mobilization
“Mankind will never win lasting peace so long as men use their full resources only in tasks of war. While we are yet at peace, let us mobilize the potentialities, particularly the moral and spiritual potentialities, which we usually reserve for war.” - John Foster Dulles
Capitalism
“Money is my military, each dollar a soldier. I never send my money into battle undefended. I send it to conquer and take currency prisoner and bring it back to me.” - Kevin O’Leary
Ideology
“Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together.” - Eugene Ionesco
Nuclear Program
“Oh, ‘meltdown.’ It’s one of these annoying buzzwords. We prefer to call it an ‘unrequested fission surplus.’” - C. Montgomery Burns
Suffrage
“Remember the dignity of your womanhood. Do not appeal, do not beg, do not grovel. Take courage, join hands, stand beside us, fight with us.” - Christabel Pankhurst
Totalitarianism
“If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.” - George Orwell
Class Struggle
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” - George Orwell
Technologies
Advanced Flight
“A jet plane cannot mow the lawn, but it can fly to distant destinations. Don’t worry so much about what you can’t do; just do what you can as only you can do it.” - Dan Millman
Rocketry
“It [the rocket] will free man from his remaining chains, the chains of gravity which still tie him to this planet. It will open him to the gates of heaven.” - Wernher von Braun
Advanced Ballistics
“The best time to stop demolition was before pressing the trigger. Now the only option left is to avoid the bullet’s trajectory.” - Ramsri Goutham
Combined Arms
“Nothing matures a military force quicker than actual military operations.” - Duncan Hunter
Plastics
“If you are what you eat, you’re part plastic – because every animal on earth is eating it.” - Mark Leiren-Young
Computers
“Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don’t need to be done.” - Andy Rooney
Nuclear Fission
“Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.” - Bhagavad Gita, Verse 32
Synthetic Materials
“My faith protects me. My Kevlar helps.” - Jim Butcher
Civics
Cultural Heritage
“A people’s relationship to their heritage is the same as the relationship of a child to its mother.” - John Henrik Clarke
Cold War
“The Cold War has become a battlefield marked by doublespeak. Disguise, distortion, and deception were accepted as reality. Truth was promised in a serum.” - Annie Jacobsen
Professional Sports
“A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” - Mary Lou Retton
Rapid Deployment
“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower
Space Race
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” - Neil Armstrong
Technologies
Telecommunications
“The telephone is a good way to talk to people without having to offer them a drink.” - Fran Lebowitz
Satellites
“The rockets and the satellites, spaceships that we’re creating now, we’re pollinating the universe.” - Neil Young
Guidance Systems
“GPS has saved countless relationships because us men do not like to ask for directions. Now if women could only come with relationship GPS, we would be one step closer to world peace.” - Ken Poirot
Lasers
“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.” - Han Solo
Composites
“I was always interested in figuring things out. I'd do experiments, like combining things I found around the house to see what would happen if I put them together.” - Alan Alda
Stealth Technology
“Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.” - William Shakespeare
Robotics
“The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that men may become robots.” - Erich Fromm
Nuclear Fusion
“I would like nuclear fusion to become a practical power source. It would provide an inexhaustible supply of energy, without pollution or global warming.” - Stephen Hawking
Nanotechnology
“Making visible what is invisible is the task of nanotechnology.” - Edilson Gomes de Lima
Civics
Environmentalism
“I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man.” - Sun Bear
Globalization
“What mattered in the Cold War was weight – how big are your missiles? How heavy are your tanks? What matters in globalization is speed. How fast is your modem? How good are your communications?” - Gavin Esler
Social Media
“Social media is both a dark and brilliant thing for mental health.” - Fearne Cotton
Near-Future Governance
“Good governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our government. Implementation with integrity is our core passion.” - Narendra Modi
“Corruption is the enemy of development, and of good governance. It must be got rid of. Both the government and the people at large must come together to achieve this national objective.” - Pratibha Patil
Venture Politics
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” - Rumi
“You are who you are when nobody’s watching.” - Stephen Fry
Distributed Sovereignty
“Politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.” - Charles de Gaulle
“Public servants should be focused on serving the public – not any special interest group, and good governance should be an expectation – not an exception.” - Abigail Spanberger
Optimization Imperative
“The endgame was the same for everyone: Growth at any cost. Scale above all. Disrupt, then dominate.” - Anna Wiener
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk.” - Mark Zuckerberg
Technologies
Advanced AI
“By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.” - Eliezer Yudkowsky
“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Advanced Power Cells
“Energy, like the biblical grain of mustard seed, will move mountains.” - Hosea Ballou
“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” - Benjamin Franklin
Cybernetics
“Machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate: only the unloved hate, the unloved and the unnatural.” - Charlie Chaplin
“You’re wond’ring who I am / Machine or mannequin / With parts made in Japan / I am the Modren Man” – Styx
Offworld Mission
“A still more glorious dawn awaits. Not a sunrise, but a galaxy-rise. A morning filled with 400 billion suns. The rising of the Milky Way.” - Carl Sagan
Predictive Systems
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” - Peter Drucker
“Those who have knowledge, don’t predict. Those who predict, don’t have knowledge.” - Lao Tzu
Seasteads
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main… Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.” - John Donne
Smart Materials
“The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.” - Henry David Thoreau
“Part wood, part industrial resin, part pasteurized processed cheese-food product! That valuable china crack? No problem! Just a dab of SPACOM will do the trick!” - MST3K
Future Tech
“Fear is of the future. There is no fear in the present, only action and reaction." - Unknown
Civics
Information Warfare (I made two for this one so it doesn’t recycle a quote and it doesn’t have two quotes by the same person.)
“A new normal is establishing itself in which an undeclared or invisible war is fought entirely through algorithms, narratives, and manipulated media.” - Roger Spitz
“We worried for decades about WMDs – Weapons of Mass Destruction. Now it is time to worry about a new kind of WMDs – Weapons of Mass Disruption.” - John Mariotti
Global Warming Mitigation
“The power is yours.” - Captain Planet
“If you really think that the environment is less important than the economy, try holding your breath while you count your money.” - Guy McPherson
Cultural Hegemony
““North American cinema is the only true weapon of mass destruction. It has achieved to convince the audience not only that it's the best possible cinema, but that it is the only.” - Arturo Ripstein
“The question of hegemony is always the question of a new cultural order.” - Stuart Hall
Smart Power Doctrine
“Smart power is neither hard nor soft. It is both.” - Joseph S. Nye, Jr.
“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”- Theodore Roosevelt
Exodus Imperative
“The good Earth – we could have saved it, but we were too damn cheap and lazy.” - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
“The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right!” - Larry Niven
Future Civic
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
Why did I decide to do this? I guess I just needed something to do. Enjoy!
Spoiler Ancient Era :
Technologies
Pottery
“In such a porcelain life, one likes to be sure that all is well, lest one stumbles upon one’s hopes in a pile of broken pottery.” - Emily Dickinson
Animal Husbandry
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” - Groucho Marx
Mining
“Mining is the art of exploiting mineral deposits at a profit. An unprofitable mine is fit only for the sepulcher of a dead mule.” - T. A. Rickard
Sailing
“We cannot direct the wind. But we can adjust our sails.” - Various
Astrology
“The starry vault of heaven is in truth the open book of cosmic projection…” - Carl Jung
Irrigation
“A farmer is a magician who produces money from the mud.” - Amit Kalantri
Writing
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.” - Maya Angelou
Archery
“The archer is the true weapon; the bow is just a long piece of wood.” - Sebastien de Castell
Masonry
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” - David Brinkley
Bronze Working
“All bronzes are made to be touched. Bronze is a sensual ‘living’ material. The sweat and oil of your palms adds to the patination.” - Peter Marino
Wheel
“The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was a genius.” - Sid Caesar
Civics
Code of Laws
“Laws are like sausages – it is better not to see them being made.” - Otto von Bismarck
Craftsmanship
“The difference between an artist and a craftsman is that a craftsman is interested in his or her tools and an artist disdains them.” - Richard Benson
Foreign Trade
“We woke that morning at the onward call / Our camels bridled up, our howdahs full / The sun was rising in the eastern sky / Just as we set out to the desert’s cry” – Loreena McKennitt
Military Tradition
“Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.” - Unknown
State Workforce
“An empowered and enriched workforce is the backbone of a company’s success framework.” - Ananya Birla
Early Empire
“The day of small nations has long passed away. The day of Empires has come.” - Joseph Chamberlain
Mysticism
“Religion is to mysticism what popularization is to science.” - Henri Bergson
Spoiler Classical Era :
Technologies
Celestial Navigation
“The ability to tell a good route from a terrible one is a valuable skill when leading an expedition. Unfortunately for us all, it was a skill I did not possess.” - Tahir Shah
Currency
“That money talks, I’ll not deny, I heard it once: it said ‘Goodbye.’” - Richard Armour
Horseback Riding
“Horses lend us the wings we lack.” - Pam Brown
Iron Working
“Pull the tongs from the fire / Strike the hammer to the anvil / Craft a weapon to bring an enemy to a standstill” – Dan Bull
Shipbuilding
“A ship in harbor is safe – but that is not what ships are built for.” John A. Shedd
Mathematics
“Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.”- Bertrand Russell
Construction
“Measure twice, cut once, swear silently.” - Tim “Level” Johnson
Engineering
“Science can amuse and fascinate us all, but it is engineering that changes the world.” - Isaac Asimov
Civics
Games and Recreation
“The bow cannot always stand bent, nor can human frailty subsist without some lawful recreation.” - Miguel de Cervantes
Political Philosophy
“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is not lost.” - John Quincy Adams
Drama and Poetry
“I think the theatre is as essential to civilization as safe, pure water.” - Vanessa Redgrave
Military Training
“The aim of military training is not just to prepare men for battle, but to make them long for it.” - Louis Simpson
Defensive Tactics
“To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” - George Washington
Recorded History
“No one has a better memory than a piece of paper.” - Ginny Di
Theology
“The best theology is rather a divine life than a divine knowledge.” - Jeremy Taylor
Spoiler Medieval Era :
Technologies
Military Tactics
“Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.” - George S. Patton
Buttress
“Man must be arched and buttressed from within, else the temple will crumble to dust.” - Marcus Aurelius
Apprenticeship
“A long apprenticeship is the most logical way to success. The only alternative is overnight stardom, but I can’t give you a formula for that.” - Chet Atkins
Stirrups
“He who speaks the truth must keep one foot in the stirrup.” - Mark Shields
Machinery
“People are more difficult to work with than machines. And when you break a person, he can’t be fixed.” - Rick Riordan
Education
“It’s not enough to train today’s workforce. We also have to prepare tomorrow’s workforce by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education.” - Barack Obama
Military Engineering
“When sappers fear a man, that man is to be feared indeed.” - Peter McLean
Castles
“As you can imagine, medieval castles were not easy to break into. They were basically like those jungle gym things at Chuck E. Cheese’s: massive in size, intentionally confusing layout, security everywhere, and by the end of your visit, you’d probably end up with some kind of disease.” - Sam O’Nella
Civics
Naval Tradition
“When I lost my rifle, the Army charged me 85 dollars. That is why in the Navy, the captain goes down with the ship.” - Dick Gregory
Feudalism
“Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.” - Lord Acton
Civil Service
“For I am certain, O men of Athens, that if I had engaged in politics, I should have perished long ago, and done no good either to you or to myself.” - Plato
Mercenaries
“To act without a conscience, but for a paycheck, makes anyone a dangerous animal. The devil would be powerless if he couldn’t entice people to do his work. So long as money continues to seduce the hungry, the hopeless, the broken, the greedy, and the needy, there will always be war between brothers.” - Suzy Kassem
Medieval Faires
“Everything being a constant carnival, there is no carnival left.” - Victor Hugo
Guilds
“Proficiency in a craft is essential to every artist. Therein lies the prime source of creative imagination. Let us then create a new guild of craftsmen without the class distinctions that raise an arrogant barrier between craftsman and artist!” - Walter Gropius
Divine Right
“The ways of Heaven are not invariable. On the good-doer it sends down all blessings, and on the evil-doer it sends down all miseries.” - Shūjīng
Spoiler Renaissance Era :
Technologies
Cartography
“There’s no map for you to follow and take your journey. You are Lewis and Clark. You are the mapmaker.” - Phillipa Soo
“I knew I should’ve taken that left turn at Albuquerque!” - Bugs Bunny
Mass Production
“We seem to want mass production, but we must remember that men are individuals not to be satisfactorily dealt with in masses, and the making of men is more important than the production of things.” - Ralph W. Sockman
Banking
“Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, ‘It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.’” - Matthew 21:12-13
Gunpowder
“We owe to the Middle Ages the worst inventions of humanity – romantic love and gunpowder.” - Andre Maurois
Printing
“The printing press is the greatest weapon in the armory of the modern commander.” - T. E. Lawrence
Square Rigging
“Wherever we want to go, we go. That’s what a ship is, you know. It’s not just a keel and hull and a deck and sails. That’s what a ship needs. But what a ship is… what the Black Pearl really is… is freedom.” - Capt. Jack Sparrow
Astronomy
“Certainly the history of astronomy shows that every time we thought we were special, we were wrong.” - Seth Shostak
Metal Casting
“Still, my soul is cast iron, and not to be dented.” - Prince
Siege Tactics
“Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!” - Monty Python
Civics
Exploration
“That is the exploration that awaits you! Not mapping stars and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence.” - Leonard Nimoy
Humanism
“Humanism is about the world, not about humanism.” - Harold Blackham
Diplomatic Service
“Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘Nice doggie’ until you can find a rock.” - Will Rogers
Reformed Church
“I shall never be a heretic; I may err in dispute, but I do not wish to decide anything finally; on the other hand, I am not bound by the opinions of men.” - Martin Luther
Mercantilism
“The invisible hand of the market is no match for the very visible fist of the soldier.” - Sam O’Nella
The Enlightenment
“The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.” - Nikos Kazantzakis
Spoiler Industrial Era :
Technologies
Industrialization
“The Industrial Revolution has two phases: one material, the other social; one concerning the making of things, the other concerning the making of men.” - Charles A. Beard
Scientific Theory
“A good scientific theory is one which is falsifiable, which has not been falsified.” - Richard Dawkins
Ballistics
“A bullet is like a word – when it flies out, you cannot catch it.” - Tamerlan Kuzgov
Military Science
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” - Napoleon Bonaparte
Steam Power
“More coal, more smoke, more heat, more steam, more pressure, more speed. The engine raced forward streaming black smoke like a funerary ribbon rippling in the breeze.” - Martin R. Jackson
Sanitation
“Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely.” - P. J. O’Rourke
Economics
“Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.” - John Kenneth Galbraith
Rifling
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” - Theodore Roosevelt
Civics
Colonialism
“The rich think this land is theirs, though they have never earned the right to call it theirs.” - Maaza Mengiste
Civil Engineering
“The road to success is always under construction… there are lots of potholes but no traffic jams.” - Dan Pena
Nationalism
“Nationalism can be a destructive force when it promotes intolerance and division. But it can also be a force for good, when it seeks to defend local autonomy against the homogenizing forces of larger entities.” - Maxime Bernier
Opera and Ballet
“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth, and it is yours for the taking.” - Agnes de Mille
Natural History
“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” - Charles Darwin
Urbanization
“In an agricultural world, the city was the crucible of thought and change, a role it would continue to play throughout history.” - David Macaulay
Scorched Earth
“The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.” - Revelation 8:7
Spoiler Modern Era :
Technologies
Flight
“‘The Guide says there is an art to flying’ said Ford, ‘or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.’” - Douglas Adams
Replaceable Parts
“I believe in standardizing automobiles. I do not believe in standardizing human beings.” - Albert Einstein
Steel
“Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.” - Napoleon Hill
Refining
“Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil.” - J. Paul Getty
“People say they are inventing electric cars. Well, where is the electricity coming from? Flowers? Maybe someday. But what is available now is oil and gas.” - Christophe de Margerie
Electricity
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.” - Genesis 1:3-4
Radio
“Can you hear me?” - Guglielmo Marconi’s first successful radio message
Chemistry
“Studying physics, mathematics, and chemistry is worshipping God.” - Fethullah Gulen
Combustion
“It can scarcely be denied that the fundamental phenomena which first led mankind into chemical inquiries are those of combustion.” - Sir William Crookes
Civics
Conservation
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead
Mass Media
“Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.” - Noam Chomsky
Mobilization
“Mankind will never win lasting peace so long as men use their full resources only in tasks of war. While we are yet at peace, let us mobilize the potentialities, particularly the moral and spiritual potentialities, which we usually reserve for war.” - John Foster Dulles
Capitalism
“Money is my military, each dollar a soldier. I never send my money into battle undefended. I send it to conquer and take currency prisoner and bring it back to me.” - Kevin O’Leary
Ideology
“Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together.” - Eugene Ionesco
Nuclear Program
“Oh, ‘meltdown.’ It’s one of these annoying buzzwords. We prefer to call it an ‘unrequested fission surplus.’” - C. Montgomery Burns
Suffrage
“Remember the dignity of your womanhood. Do not appeal, do not beg, do not grovel. Take courage, join hands, stand beside us, fight with us.” - Christabel Pankhurst
Totalitarianism
“If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.” - George Orwell
Class Struggle
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” - George Orwell
Spoiler Atomic Era :
Technologies
Advanced Flight
“A jet plane cannot mow the lawn, but it can fly to distant destinations. Don’t worry so much about what you can’t do; just do what you can as only you can do it.” - Dan Millman
Rocketry
“It [the rocket] will free man from his remaining chains, the chains of gravity which still tie him to this planet. It will open him to the gates of heaven.” - Wernher von Braun
Advanced Ballistics
“The best time to stop demolition was before pressing the trigger. Now the only option left is to avoid the bullet’s trajectory.” - Ramsri Goutham
Combined Arms
“Nothing matures a military force quicker than actual military operations.” - Duncan Hunter
Plastics
“If you are what you eat, you’re part plastic – because every animal on earth is eating it.” - Mark Leiren-Young
Computers
“Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don’t need to be done.” - Andy Rooney
Nuclear Fission
“Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.” - Bhagavad Gita, Verse 32
Synthetic Materials
“My faith protects me. My Kevlar helps.” - Jim Butcher
Civics
Cultural Heritage
“A people’s relationship to their heritage is the same as the relationship of a child to its mother.” - John Henrik Clarke
Cold War
“The Cold War has become a battlefield marked by doublespeak. Disguise, distortion, and deception were accepted as reality. Truth was promised in a serum.” - Annie Jacobsen
Professional Sports
“A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” - Mary Lou Retton
Rapid Deployment
“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower
Space Race
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” - Neil Armstrong
Spoiler Information Era :
Technologies
Telecommunications
“The telephone is a good way to talk to people without having to offer them a drink.” - Fran Lebowitz
Satellites
“The rockets and the satellites, spaceships that we’re creating now, we’re pollinating the universe.” - Neil Young
Guidance Systems
“GPS has saved countless relationships because us men do not like to ask for directions. Now if women could only come with relationship GPS, we would be one step closer to world peace.” - Ken Poirot
Lasers
“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.” - Han Solo
Composites
“I was always interested in figuring things out. I'd do experiments, like combining things I found around the house to see what would happen if I put them together.” - Alan Alda
Stealth Technology
“Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.” - William Shakespeare
Robotics
“The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that men may become robots.” - Erich Fromm
Nuclear Fusion
“I would like nuclear fusion to become a practical power source. It would provide an inexhaustible supply of energy, without pollution or global warming.” - Stephen Hawking
Nanotechnology
“Making visible what is invisible is the task of nanotechnology.” - Edilson Gomes de Lima
Civics
Environmentalism
“I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man.” - Sun Bear
Globalization
“What mattered in the Cold War was weight – how big are your missiles? How heavy are your tanks? What matters in globalization is speed. How fast is your modem? How good are your communications?” - Gavin Esler
Social Media
“Social media is both a dark and brilliant thing for mental health.” - Fearne Cotton
Near-Future Governance
“Good governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our government. Implementation with integrity is our core passion.” - Narendra Modi
“Corruption is the enemy of development, and of good governance. It must be got rid of. Both the government and the people at large must come together to achieve this national objective.” - Pratibha Patil
Venture Politics
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” - Rumi
“You are who you are when nobody’s watching.” - Stephen Fry
Distributed Sovereignty
“Politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.” - Charles de Gaulle
“Public servants should be focused on serving the public – not any special interest group, and good governance should be an expectation – not an exception.” - Abigail Spanberger
Optimization Imperative
“The endgame was the same for everyone: Growth at any cost. Scale above all. Disrupt, then dominate.” - Anna Wiener
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk.” - Mark Zuckerberg
Spoiler Future Era :
Technologies
Advanced AI
“By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.” - Eliezer Yudkowsky
“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Advanced Power Cells
“Energy, like the biblical grain of mustard seed, will move mountains.” - Hosea Ballou
“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” - Benjamin Franklin
Cybernetics
“Machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate: only the unloved hate, the unloved and the unnatural.” - Charlie Chaplin
“You’re wond’ring who I am / Machine or mannequin / With parts made in Japan / I am the Modren Man” – Styx
Offworld Mission
“A still more glorious dawn awaits. Not a sunrise, but a galaxy-rise. A morning filled with 400 billion suns. The rising of the Milky Way.” - Carl Sagan
Predictive Systems
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” - Peter Drucker
“Those who have knowledge, don’t predict. Those who predict, don’t have knowledge.” - Lao Tzu
Seasteads
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main… Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.” - John Donne
Smart Materials
“The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.” - Henry David Thoreau
“Part wood, part industrial resin, part pasteurized processed cheese-food product! That valuable china crack? No problem! Just a dab of SPACOM will do the trick!” - MST3K
Future Tech
“Fear is of the future. There is no fear in the present, only action and reaction." - Unknown
Civics
Information Warfare (I made two for this one so it doesn’t recycle a quote and it doesn’t have two quotes by the same person.)
“A new normal is establishing itself in which an undeclared or invisible war is fought entirely through algorithms, narratives, and manipulated media.” - Roger Spitz
“We worried for decades about WMDs – Weapons of Mass Destruction. Now it is time to worry about a new kind of WMDs – Weapons of Mass Disruption.” - John Mariotti
Global Warming Mitigation
“The power is yours.” - Captain Planet
“If you really think that the environment is less important than the economy, try holding your breath while you count your money.” - Guy McPherson
Cultural Hegemony
““North American cinema is the only true weapon of mass destruction. It has achieved to convince the audience not only that it's the best possible cinema, but that it is the only.” - Arturo Ripstein
“The question of hegemony is always the question of a new cultural order.” - Stuart Hall
Smart Power Doctrine
“Smart power is neither hard nor soft. It is both.” - Joseph S. Nye, Jr.
“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”- Theodore Roosevelt
Exodus Imperative
“The good Earth – we could have saved it, but we were too damn cheap and lazy.” - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
“The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right!” - Larry Niven
Future Civic
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
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It's better for your health.
Just providing feedback on the thing you ostensibly posted to get feedback on.
