What if there were more Tech/Civic quotes?

[pokiehl]

It's such a shame that robust blogging infrastructure hasn't been present throughout all of human civilization's history, since when it comes to quotes, I consider the gold standard to be first-hand accounts from regular people. Like, what were the words of onlookers to the first ever horse-carried invasion? What did the citizens of Constantinople say about the Ottoman bombards? What was the civilian reaction to the first locomotive?

I think you’re conflating the historical value of a first-hand account of an event with what makes a good, insightful quote that stands the test of time.

 

[Patine]

I honestly find relying on Shakespeare and/or the Bible to be even lazier, even more uninspired

Relying on random Internet hacks over foundations of our culture and civilization is, what, exactly, as opposed to, "lazy," if I may ask?

 

[TyrannusRex]

In that light, I love TyrannusRex's idea for Animal Husbandry. By alluding to the "dog is man's best friend" saying, it reflects directly on the importance of animals in human life (and thus of animal husbandry); while using a humorous subversion based on the double meaning of "outside a dog" to keep the line from being bland and flavorless. It's an excellent choice, and depicting it as a quote "about books" is an absurdly literal interpretation.

 

[The Mighty Quinn]

Yeah, I was gonna say, I feel like the quotes were one of the most universally criticized things in 6. I think someone searched and they were basically the first result that came up when googling, like someone realized Sean Bean was booked for the next day and gave the assignment to an intern to get quotes quickly.

Came in to say just this. Since my first couple playthroughs I've turned off the quotes on the audio because they're just too insipid.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

My own personal collection of 'good quotes' are almost all military-related, because that's the subject I write on and where I use them. I have never particularly worried about the source of a quote, as long as I can verify that source in some way as specifically as I can - and sometimes, as when a quote is attributed to a 'proverb' to use it all I can legitimately do is make sure the attribution is identified as an anonymous original and therefore automatically suspect.

For examples:

On the quality of troops:

"It is not the big armies that win battles, it is the good ones".
- Maurice de Saxe, Reveries, 1732 CE

On Decisiveness:

"The God of War hates those who hesitate"
-Euripedes, Herclidae, 425 BCE

On Training:

"To lead an untrained people to war is to throw them away."
-Kong-fu-Tse, Analects, 500 BCE

On Artillery:

"The nimble gunner
With linstock now the devilish cannon touches,
And all goes down before him."
-William Shakespeare, King Henry V, Act III, 1598 CE

On Conscription:

"Any blockhead is good enough to be shot at."
-English proverb, 18th century CE

On Defensive Weapons:

"A weapon is offensive or defensive depending on which end of it is pointing at you."
- Aristide Brand (attributed) 1930 CE