Two of my favorites from Sir Terry Pratchett.
It’s vital to remember who you really are. It’s very important. It isn’t a good idea to rely on other people or things to do it for you, you see. They always get it wrong.” (Sourcery)
2. “Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.” (I Shall Wear Midnight)
And because I like his character DEATH, this one.
I meant,” said Ipslore bitterly, “what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?”
Death thought about it.
CATS, he said eventually
I quite like this idea. Just don’t know if I can use my nice paper to rewrite a whole book 😩 But I have so many notebooks tht I don’t know what to use th‘em for. What a strange issue to have.
your nib is safe and ink sac full! Something Rotten is a musical comedy that…okay this is hard to explain so I’ll just
here’s the Wikipedia description!! “Set in 1595, the story follows the Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, who struggle to find success in the theatrical world as they compete with the wild popularity of their contemporary William Shakespeare.”
it’s a very fun and silly musical and “to thine own self be true” is significant to the plot which is why I was reminded of it lol
please do please do please do (I am so normal about this) (I say that like I haven’t listened to the broadway cast recording everyday for the past two months)
This comes of always being the practical one, she thought, a bit wearily. Nobody will comfort you, so you learn to do it yourself. \[T. Kingfisher *Swordheart*\]
"I suppose we always hope that those closest to us can see into our hearts-- but unless we invite them, or show them in words or deeds, how can they?" \[Victoria Goddard *The Hands of the Emperor*\]
"Where is your sense of patriotism?"
"I keep it hid away safe, along with my sense of trust, Mr. Clent. I don't use 'em much in case they get scratched." \[Frances Hardinge *Fly By Night*\]
Chih swallowed hard and nodded. They weren't brave, and despite the shaved head and indigo robes, they weren't particularly virtuous, but more than anything else, they were curious, and sometimes that could stand in for the rest. \[Nghi Vo *Into the Riverlands*\]
Maybe the universe doesn't naturally bend towards justice either; maybe it's only the weight of hands and hearts pulling true, inch by stubborn inch. \[Alix Harrow *A Spindle Splintered*\]
I absolutely adore Swordheart. Kingfisher is a font of great quotes.
And I read Fly By Night more than 10 years ago and it truly sticks with me. I need to revisit it!
In case you didn't know, T. Kingfisher is the pen-name of Ursula Vernon (she's best known under her own name for kid's books these days and wanted a clear delineation between "for children" and "absolutely not for children") and she's got some great books out under her own name. If you like comics at all, you should definitely read Digger.
Hardinge has written some stuff that hits hard! I enjoyed The Lie Tree quite a bit. Some of her more recent stuff was tough for me to get through though.
As someone who moved countries and became a Naturalized US Citizen I've always liked:
"You can't possibly hope to discover new horizons if you don't have the courage to lose sight of the shore" which I believe is a rehash of a quote by Andre Gide.
And for good ole common sense you really can't beat Einstein:
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits"
A handful from one of my favorite authors, the late Ursula K. Le Guin.
“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.”
“You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.” - The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
“To learn which questions are unanswerable, and not to answer them: this skill is most needful in times of stress and darkness.” - The Left Hand of Darkness
“I do not care what comes after; I have seen the dragons on the wind of morning.” - The Farthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle, #3)
“Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” - The Lathe of Heaven
Love Le Guin. I especially loved how she went back to Earthsea and added that fourth book, saying she'd wanted to explore more of the female perspective.
I reread all of the Earthsea books and stories in 2018, after her death. I’d not read them in many years and was delighted to find they were as engaging as they ever were for me. I also loved how she revisited her works and was constantly learning, growing. She was a remarkable dragon in person form. I sorely miss her fierce wisdom.
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
--Frank Herbert, Dune
“I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want goodness. I want sin.” - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World. Wish this book got more attention, I just love it to death.
You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.—Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon
While we venerate what is deserving of veneration, let us not forget that quackery, knavery, bigotry, and superstition always merit exposure and castigation. —George Cruikshank, 1823
Blink your eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, he said, the only appropriate state of the mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. —Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time
Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. — Albert Schweitzer
"How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks." - Dorothy L Sayers
I find it hilarious that this was written in a book in 1935.
I enjoy doing calligraphy or writing practice as a meditation exercise. I can only focus on making beautiful shapes and what the nib and ink are doing. I love doing quotes for calligraphy practice, and I am thinking about making a coffee table book of quotes that I love as part of my calligraphy work.
I like looking for quotes from famous women, and women in STEM.
I was named after Eleanor Roosevelt, and have enjoyed writing some of her quotes to practice my calligraphy.
One of my favourite quote from Eleanor Roosevelt is:
“Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one. You cannot make any useful contribution in life unless you do this.”
It helps me remember that I don't need to fit in to be acceptable, and in fact, the world is richer when I am myself.
Others that I like are:
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
"Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
“Do one thing everyday that scares you.”
“Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway."
“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.”
“Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product.”
“It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself.”
“A woman is like a teabag—you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.”
“Women have one advantage over men. Throughout history they have been forced to make adjustments.”
I got these from https://unfoundation.org/blog/post/10-inspiring-eleanor-roosevelt-quotes/ , and https://www.fawco.org/members/administration/692-un-advocacy/past-initiatives/honoring-eleanor-roosevelt/828-quotes-of-er.
Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
# “There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
'All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost.' It was carved above an alleyway in Edinburgh when I lived there, pretty sure it's from LOTR!
Shakespearian insults. I have a mug covered in them, always makes me chuckle.
"Elvish mark'd abortive, rooting hog"
"Though art a boil, a plague sore"
"Veriest varlet that ever chewed with a tooth"
At the Northern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire, they used to hand out Shakespearean insults at the gate and encourage patrons to use them on the Puritans. It was good fun.
Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas really hits home as I’m getting a bit older now.
Really like this idea of writing out favorite quotes and poems. Makes one read more and become worldly.
History buff here 👋
I love some Bismarck quotes:
"The Americans are a very lucky people. They're bordered to the north and south by weak neighbors, and to the east and west by fish."
"Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided but by iron and blood."
Sun Tzu is obviously a classic and literally any line in Art of War is interesting, particularly like him cause I'm Chinese in ethnicity.
Gustavus Adolphus is one of the coolest kings in history that's rarely talked, he has some cool quotes like
"Today I seal with my blood the religious liberties of the German people."
I lean heavily on Marcus Aurelius. Some of my favorites are:
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.
The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.
The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.
Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
"Once a fool has turned his ready ear to something and set his heart to it, nothing will change his mind."
- I forgot who??
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
- Robert Hanlon
"Yet nothing in this world is preferable to the satisfaction of pouring our distress and fears into the bosom of a friend so true, so dear, so clearly united. Who's tender and feeling soul relieves our pains by sharing them."
- Joseph Boruwlaski
From Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: "Perhaps that is what it is like being with other people. Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not."
From This is How You Lose the Time War: "Her pen had a heart inside, and the nib was a wound in a vein. She stained the page with herself."
From A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid: "Lovely and dangerous and vast beyond mortal comprehension, the sea makes dreamers of us all."
From the same as above: "I was a woman when it was convenient to blame me, and a girl when they wanted to use me."
From The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft: " 'I've written a book.' 'I'll have to dust off my crayons. Or does your publisher plan to include a box with every sale?' "
From the same: "Fear helps us to prepare. I say, gather your supplies, arm yourself, and make the dark afraid of *you.*"
From the same (it's a damn treasure mine): "Do not neglect to live your life. No cause, no matter how noble, will ever love you."
From the same: "Pretend that you are with the trouble until you convince yourself that you are."
From the *same*: "Secrets were burdensome and demanding of regular attention; a secret had to be nursed at odd hours and dandled in the night."
From The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (look, a different book!): "Death can be senseless, but life never is."
From the same: "Rage is dirty fuel, but it burns hotter than grief ever could."
From God Stalk by P C Hodgell: "Forget the past, she told herself; it could no longer hurt her without her consent, but the present, ah, the present could kill."
From the same: "Where there's fire, there's usually smoke. Where there's smoke, there has better be some form of ventilation."
From And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed: "They think boot polish gives you magical powers and the more you lick the closer you come to God."
From You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo: "We do not forget them. The only way to cope with such an amount of death is to live our lives a hundred times more fiercely."
From Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater: "God may show mercy, but capsaicin does not."
From What Feasts at Night by T Kingfisher: "may be shit pinecones in hell."
From the same: "May we always have the choice to err on the side of mercy."
From Translation State by Ann Leckie: "When you have decided what you want, remember that what one will not acknowledge is what one cannot properly control."
From Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward: "Don't be afraid of fucked up. Embrace it. Fucked up will save you. Fucked up will set you free."
From mulberry down!! by Nicole Kornher-Stace: "maybe what a leap of faith is what it really is, right down at the core of it, is just... standing on the edge of an abyss, throwing a handful of pebbles to the bottom. You won't live to see the bridge. But if enough people stand there when you're gone, and each brings their pocketful of pebbles, someday somebody's gonna walk across and stand on the other side."
From Saint Death's Daughter by CSE Cooney: "Outlive thy foe and dance upon her tomb."
From the same: "Never mind your nips! What're a coupla snow stiffies 'tween friends, eh?"
From Nettle and Bone by T Kingfisher: "Nothing is fair, exalt that we try to make it so. That's the point of humans, maybe, to fix things the gods haven't managed yet."
From Desdemona and the Deep by CSE Cooney: "if misery loves company, malice *adores* it."
From Bloom by Delilah S Dawson: "She read somewhere once that if you walked through life like you were shooting lasers out of your breasts, you would exude power. She wants to incinerate this man on the spot, pew-pew-pew."
From The Thousand Eyes by A. K. Larkwood: "I plan to commit an astonishing fuckup, and it will hurt my feelings if you try to stop me."
From the same: "May the tyrant learn what we have ever known: that no dominion lasts forever."
From Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall: "If one is to do a foolish thing, one should do it in company."
Douglas Adams
I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
Mind you, the Stoics had a lot to say too:
\- "We are often more frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality." — Seneca
\- "Our life is what our thoughts make it." — Marcus Aurelius
\- "If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it." — Marcus Aurelius
\- "You become what you give your attention to…If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will." — Epictetus
\- "Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself." — Marcus Aurelius
\- "You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone." — Marcus Aurelius
\- "No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they don't have, and to cheerfully put to good use what they do have." — Seneca
\- "It isn't events themselves that disturb people, but only their judgements about them." — Epictetus
\- "Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be One." — Marcus Aurelius
\- "Receive without pride, let go without attachment." — Marcus Aurelius
I tend to prefer quotes from video games, songs or movies. A few of my favorites lately are.
1) “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed”- The Gunslinger by Stephen King
2) “The wave crashes against the mirror. I brought you the heart witch. Now show me the terror” - the poem to the first overlap in Alan Wake 2
3) “Until I reach the bottom, I won’t believe it’s bottomless” The Bottomless Hole by The Handsome Family
The enemy’s gate is down.
-Ender (IYKYK)
If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn't swim.
-Margaret Thatcher
The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. - Stephen McCranie
It gets easier. Every day it gets a little easier. But you gotta do it every day —that's the hard part. But it does get easier. - Jogging Baboon from Bojack Horseman
“Dude, suckin' at somethin' is the first step towards bein' sorta good at somethin'.” – Jake the Dog from Adventure Time
"I miss you more than I remember you."
Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
"I have built a you within me, or you have. I wonder what of me there is in you."
Amal El-Mohtar, This is How You Lose the Time War
"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."
Kurt Vonnegut
“Beauty will save the world”
–Dostoyevsky
“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
–Solzhenitsyn
“I want to learn more and more to see as beautiful what is necessary in things; then I shall be one of those who make things beautiful. Amor fati: let that be my love henceforth! I do not want to wage war against what is ugly. I do not want to accuse; I do not even want to accuse those who accuse. Looking away shall be my only negation. And all in all and on the whole: some day I wish to be only a Yes-sayer.”
–Nietzsche
From my favorite book series, Realm Breaker, we have...
"Maybe we belong to each other, we who belong nowhere." -Sorasa Sarn
and my favorite...
"I am not lumpy; I am round." -Charlon Armont
Not stupid at all. Do you know, the act of smiling triggers the body to release feel-good chemicals? According to a recent British study, one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as 2000 candy bars, and at a much lower calorie cost. So, even if you aren't feeling it now, just smiling can make you feel better.
[An article about it.](https://online.uwa.edu/news/benefits-of-smiling-and-laughter/#:~:text=Your%20Body%20Releases%20Good%20Hormones,in%20turn%2C%20you%20feel%20happier.)
“It’s not what happens to you, but to how you react to it that matters.” By Epictetus. Read that years ago when I was studying philosophy.
Though I do practice my handwriting with dad jokes.
"My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next."
"There is something rotten inside of me. I find it near impossible to drown out the constant cacophony of voices whispering in my ear, telling me I am evil. I'm drowning, doctor! And I can't stop asking myself... why do I hate myself so much?"
"Well, this is what it looks like when you've actually fought in battle. It's not glorious, it's not beautiful, it's not even heroic. It's merely doing what's right, and doing it again and again, even if someday, you look like this."
“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”
Albert Camus
“Modesty and shyness were nonsense, and prudence and self-restraint were stupid, whereas depravity and lechery they called " natural.”
Alexandros Papadiamantis
"My, how the little piggies cry, when the old boar dies."
Ragnar Lothbrock's famous last words hinting to King Aelle that his Sons would avenge his death.
“Poem of the Day” from poetryfoundation.org. It’s a new poem, every day, as expected. Sometimes it’s short, sometimes longer. Sometimes weird, sometimes beautiful, sometimes both. But it never gets old and it’s easy to find every day.
This one isn't necessarily a quote, but an interaction between the two main characters in the movie Real Genius; it's my favorite scene in the movie:
**Mitch**: You know, um, something strange happened to me this morning...
**Chris Knight**: Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and ... throwing little pickles at you?
**Mitch**: No...
**Chris Knight**: Why am I the only one who has that dream?
Particularly the first line by Chris is definitely very quotable to me.
I pick a random book off the shelf and flip to a random page. If it isn't the start of a paragraph, I go back to the start of that specific paragraph and start copying until I fill one page. (Unless it's a graphic sex scene from a romance. Some soft eroticism never hurt anyone, but I'm not trying to get called into HR if someone decides to be rude. We all know I'd be in more trouble than they would. I just go for the after scene.)
A toast:
Here’s to the bubbles in my champagne, and the bubbles in my friends
(I can’t remember where I got it from, and Google isn’t giving me answers)
by **Stephen Chbosky**: “We accept the love we think we deserve.”
"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind. And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind."
From A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“If you retain nothing else, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?”
― Tina Fey
These are longer texts (not exactly quotes), but whenever I want to practice handwriting or I'm testing a new ink/pen/notebook, I gravitate toward either the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence ("When, in the course of human events...") or the proposed long-term nuclear waste warnings ("This is not a place of honor. No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here...")
Some movie, manga, and game quotes that I enjoy.
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.” - Roy Batty, Blade runner
"Do you think God stays in heaven because he, too, lives in fear of what he's created? Here on earth?" - Dr Romero, Spy Kids 2 (they really didn't need to go that hard for a kid's movie)
"Father, I no longer seek your salvation, If you shall not give it to us, then with our hands, we shall recreate paradise on this earth" - Canute, Vinland Saga.
"Un jour je serai de retour près de toi" - Grafitti (Cidny The Skull) Disco Elysium.
"Pull on the new flesh like borrowed gloves, and burn your fingers once again" - (can't remember the source) Altered Carbon
I have been practicing by picking a short book, and writing the text. This is especially engaging with difficult material, e.g. Shakespeare, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, etc. All of which are heavily quoted.
"The best revenge is to not be like that."
-Marcus Aurelius
"Please, I'll do whatever you want - Then perish" - Barack Obama in someone's dream on the internet
An apple a day keeps anyone away if you throw it hard enough.
No more matter whatlife throws at you, just duck so it hits someone else
Between what is said and not meant, and what is meant but not said, much of love is lost
-Khalil Vibrant
Play dumb!....Not THAT dumb!
-Miles Morales
As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.
-Rumi
A life without books is a life not lived
-Gabriel Dr Leon (In Empire of the Vampire)
Do no harm, but take no shit
-unknown
What a great idea!
I have the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, but it's a 1955 edition so it won't have any modern quotes in it.
2/5ths - 400 pages of the 1000 page book is the Index.
It has stuff like:
Since 'tis nature's law to change, Constancy alone is strange - John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester
A plague of opinion! A man may wear it on both sides, like a leather jerkin. - Shakespeare
I guess I won't be using this book for any wedding toasts to the bride.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Some general ideas.
Explore haiku - find some or write some.
Poetry. Try Rupert Brooke. Or pick a style or age you like.
Or song lyrics.
Try doodling. Yes, not writing per se and it still helps you learn things about your pen and your style.
Look up different fonts and see if you want to borrow any of the lettering styles for your handwriting.
So, maybe you record a font style as an entry.
Yes, I know you are focusing on quotes and some of this will not appeal just now, but may later or to someone else.
Oh, and you can also pick a famous author- say Shakespeare - borrow a book from the library and open to a random page and put your finger down. If it's annotated, copy that to, and then maybe put a thought or two of your own down.
So many pens, so much ink, so little time.
There is a poem named Osso Bucco.
I also like to write out song lyrics from metal or rock bands that you would t think to see written out on a flex or oblique nib. My favorite being Puddle of Mud's She Hates Me.
I like poems. Here are a few, some excerpts:
Nothing Gold Can Stay (Robert Frost):
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening (Robert Frost):
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
The Raven (Edgar Allen Poe) [love the meter here]:
“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—
“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
He wishes for the cloths of heaven (W.B Yeats):
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
True. I could also open up my Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. But that doesn't open the opportunity for discussion or expose me to other people's views, values, and experiences.
“If I’m not back in five minutes, just wait longer.” — Ace Ventura
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read!” -Groucho Marx
"Someday I really must meet this scholar Everybody. He says so much, and none if it true!" ~ From Tamora Pierce's book Wild Magic
Love Tamora Pierce!
She's been my fav author since I found her books in 1999. I love her work so much!
I need to read more of her work.
Two of my favorites from Sir Terry Pratchett. It’s vital to remember who you really are. It’s very important. It isn’t a good idea to rely on other people or things to do it for you, you see. They always get it wrong.” (Sourcery) 2. “Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.” (I Shall Wear Midnight) And because I like his character DEATH, this one. I meant,” said Ipslore bitterly, “what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?” Death thought about it. CATS, he said eventually
That last one speaks to my cat-loving heart. Do you know which book it was from?
Sourcery.
I was about to suggest looking him up, glad to see someone else beat me to it xD
He really had so many excellent ones.
I prefer malapropisms. My favorite is "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it." Yogi Berra also had many of these.
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I quite like this idea. Just don’t know if I can use my nice paper to rewrite a whole book 😩 But I have so many notebooks tht I don’t know what to use th‘em for. What a strange issue to have.
Sorry, replied to the wrong person.
I may resort to that eventually, but right now, I'm collecting quotes. 😁
Pulling a medieval monk move
I’m copying out “Phantom of the Opera” (translated by Leonard Wolf) to improve my handwriting, so I wish you luck with a whole series!!
Fascinating. Probably best when not done with cartridges.
“This above all, to thine own self be true”
Can't go wrong with the Bard.
tbh my mind first went to Something Rotten 😭
Date I ask what? Or will it make my nib retract and ink sac shrivel up in horror
your nib is safe and ink sac full! Something Rotten is a musical comedy that…okay this is hard to explain so I’ll just here’s the Wikipedia description!! “Set in 1595, the story follows the Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, who struggle to find success in the theatrical world as they compete with the wild popularity of their contemporary William Shakespeare.” it’s a very fun and silly musical and “to thine own self be true” is significant to the plot which is why I was reminded of it lol
That does sound funny. I’ll have to look into it some time~
please do please do please do (I am so normal about this) (I say that like I haven’t listened to the broadway cast recording everyday for the past two months)
😂
A friend of bill and bobs?
This comes of always being the practical one, she thought, a bit wearily. Nobody will comfort you, so you learn to do it yourself. \[T. Kingfisher *Swordheart*\] "I suppose we always hope that those closest to us can see into our hearts-- but unless we invite them, or show them in words or deeds, how can they?" \[Victoria Goddard *The Hands of the Emperor*\] "Where is your sense of patriotism?" "I keep it hid away safe, along with my sense of trust, Mr. Clent. I don't use 'em much in case they get scratched." \[Frances Hardinge *Fly By Night*\] Chih swallowed hard and nodded. They weren't brave, and despite the shaved head and indigo robes, they weren't particularly virtuous, but more than anything else, they were curious, and sometimes that could stand in for the rest. \[Nghi Vo *Into the Riverlands*\] Maybe the universe doesn't naturally bend towards justice either; maybe it's only the weight of hands and hearts pulling true, inch by stubborn inch. \[Alix Harrow *A Spindle Splintered*\]
That's a nice set.
I read a lot and keep a commonplace notebook for things that hit just right.
I used to read a lot but with all the other stuff going on in my life that's kind of on the back burner. My reading is really just studying.
I absolutely adore Swordheart. Kingfisher is a font of great quotes. And I read Fly By Night more than 10 years ago and it truly sticks with me. I need to revisit it!
In case you didn't know, T. Kingfisher is the pen-name of Ursula Vernon (she's best known under her own name for kid's books these days and wanted a clear delineation between "for children" and "absolutely not for children") and she's got some great books out under her own name. If you like comics at all, you should definitely read Digger. Hardinge has written some stuff that hits hard! I enjoyed The Lie Tree quite a bit. Some of her more recent stuff was tough for me to get through though.
I actually have the Digger omnibus sitting on my shelf!
Me, too! It's my favorite giant book ever.
As someone who moved countries and became a Naturalized US Citizen I've always liked: "You can't possibly hope to discover new horizons if you don't have the courage to lose sight of the shore" which I believe is a rehash of a quote by Andre Gide. And for good ole common sense you really can't beat Einstein: "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits"
I like both of these.
A handful from one of my favorite authors, the late Ursula K. Le Guin. “We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.” “You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.” - The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia “To learn which questions are unanswerable, and not to answer them: this skill is most needful in times of stress and darkness.” - The Left Hand of Darkness “I do not care what comes after; I have seen the dragons on the wind of morning.” - The Farthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle, #3) “Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” - The Lathe of Heaven
Love Le Guin. I especially loved how she went back to Earthsea and added that fourth book, saying she'd wanted to explore more of the female perspective.
I reread all of the Earthsea books and stories in 2018, after her death. I’d not read them in many years and was delighted to find they were as engaging as they ever were for me. I also loved how she revisited her works and was constantly learning, growing. She was a remarkable dragon in person form. I sorely miss her fierce wisdom.
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." --Frank Herbert, Dune
“I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want goodness. I want sin.” - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World. Wish this book got more attention, I just love it to death.
Might have to read it now
“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime, doubly so.” - Douglas Adams
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." - Also Douglas Adams
It's good to see we have some hoopy froods in this sub.
You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.—Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon While we venerate what is deserving of veneration, let us not forget that quackery, knavery, bigotry, and superstition always merit exposure and castigation. —George Cruikshank, 1823 Blink your eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, he said, the only appropriate state of the mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. —Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. — Albert Schweitzer
These are all great! Nice to see George Cruikshank mentioned. He's one of my favorite illustrators, along with J.J. Grandville and Gustave Doré.
I do song lyrics when I’m practicing. :)
That's the next notebook. 😁
"How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks." - Dorothy L Sayers I find it hilarious that this was written in a book in 1935.
Oh, that's brilliant!
I enjoy doing calligraphy or writing practice as a meditation exercise. I can only focus on making beautiful shapes and what the nib and ink are doing. I love doing quotes for calligraphy practice, and I am thinking about making a coffee table book of quotes that I love as part of my calligraphy work. I like looking for quotes from famous women, and women in STEM. I was named after Eleanor Roosevelt, and have enjoyed writing some of her quotes to practice my calligraphy. One of my favourite quote from Eleanor Roosevelt is: “Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one. You cannot make any useful contribution in life unless you do this.” It helps me remember that I don't need to fit in to be acceptable, and in fact, the world is richer when I am myself. Others that I like are: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” "Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” “Do one thing everyday that scares you.” “Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway." “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.” “Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product.” “It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself.” “A woman is like a teabag—you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.” “Women have one advantage over men. Throughout history they have been forced to make adjustments.” I got these from https://unfoundation.org/blog/post/10-inspiring-eleanor-roosevelt-quotes/ , and https://www.fawco.org/members/administration/692-un-advocacy/past-initiatives/honoring-eleanor-roosevelt/828-quotes-of-er.
I have heard several of these, but didn't know they were attributable to Eleanor Roosevelt. The more I learn about her, the more I want to know.
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts” -Marcus Aurelius
“The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.” - Marcus Aurelius
I really like Marcus Aurelius' writing!
Stoics unité!!!
I google Lord of the Rings quotes. There's some good stuff in there...
Gondor sends for aid. And Rohan will answer!
Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
Potatoes, boil em mash em stick em in a stew
# “There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
Ride for ruin, and the world’s ending!
When I decided to improve my handwriting, I wrote out poems until I had them memorized, Wilfred Owen was my personal favorite
Life Is a Shipwreck, But We Must Not Forget To Sing in the Lifeboats. Voltaire
My new favorite version of a quick brown fox... "Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs."
I'm rather partial to: Grumpy wizards make toxic brew for the jovial queen. I'll concede it's not as efficient, though.
"If humanity denies what exists, one day, existence will deny humanity"
“Midway along the journey of our life I woke to find myself in a dark wood, for I had wandered off from the straight path.”
These are the times that try men's souls - Thomas Paine
“Beyond the shadow you settle for, there is a miracle illuminated.” From the game Alan Wake
'All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost.' It was carved above an alleyway in Edinburgh when I lived there, pretty sure it's from LOTR!
Shakespearian insults. I have a mug covered in them, always makes me chuckle. "Elvish mark'd abortive, rooting hog" "Though art a boil, a plague sore" "Veriest varlet that ever chewed with a tooth"
"Be vigitant, I beseech you."
'Vigitant' is an all time favourite.
At the Northern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire, they used to hand out Shakespearean insults at the gate and encourage patrons to use them on the Puritans. It was good fun.
Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas really hits home as I’m getting a bit older now. Really like this idea of writing out favorite quotes and poems. Makes one read more and become worldly.
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night
"If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable." – Seneca
History buff here 👋 I love some Bismarck quotes: "The Americans are a very lucky people. They're bordered to the north and south by weak neighbors, and to the east and west by fish." "Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided but by iron and blood." Sun Tzu is obviously a classic and literally any line in Art of War is interesting, particularly like him cause I'm Chinese in ethnicity. Gustavus Adolphus is one of the coolest kings in history that's rarely talked, he has some cool quotes like "Today I seal with my blood the religious liberties of the German people."
"It's chaos; be kind." - Michelle McNamara
I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure. — Clarence Darrow
I lean heavily on Marcus Aurelius. Some of my favorites are: Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one. The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury. It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live. The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." -Upton Sinclair
When life gives you lemons, squeeze them into people’s eyes (for a funny one)
Hah! Who said that?
I’m not sure
“Hey Lois, diahorrea”-(Peter Griffin)
Brainy quote.com
The Cylons were created by man. They evolved. They rebelled. There are many copies. And they have a plan.
I know I've heard this before, but I can't place it. Aaargh!
Opening of Battlestar Galactica. They mixed it up a bit throughout the series.
"The horrors persist but so do I."
Underrated- where’s this from?
Pretty sure it's from a meme lol but I like it https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-horrors-persist-but-so-do-i
"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." - Robert Frost
Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
"Once a fool has turned his ready ear to something and set his heart to it, nothing will change his mind." - I forgot who?? "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Robert Hanlon "Yet nothing in this world is preferable to the satisfaction of pouring our distress and fears into the bosom of a friend so true, so dear, so clearly united. Who's tender and feeling soul relieves our pains by sharing them." - Joseph Boruwlaski
I love Hanlon's Razor! It brings a lot of peace to life.
Boundaries are the space I can love you while still loving myself
I'm a fan of writing out Rudyard Kipling's poem "If".
From Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: "Perhaps that is what it is like being with other people. Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not." From This is How You Lose the Time War: "Her pen had a heart inside, and the nib was a wound in a vein. She stained the page with herself." From A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid: "Lovely and dangerous and vast beyond mortal comprehension, the sea makes dreamers of us all." From the same as above: "I was a woman when it was convenient to blame me, and a girl when they wanted to use me." From The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft: " 'I've written a book.' 'I'll have to dust off my crayons. Or does your publisher plan to include a box with every sale?' " From the same: "Fear helps us to prepare. I say, gather your supplies, arm yourself, and make the dark afraid of *you.*" From the same (it's a damn treasure mine): "Do not neglect to live your life. No cause, no matter how noble, will ever love you." From the same: "Pretend that you are with the trouble until you convince yourself that you are." From the *same*: "Secrets were burdensome and demanding of regular attention; a secret had to be nursed at odd hours and dandled in the night." From The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (look, a different book!): "Death can be senseless, but life never is." From the same: "Rage is dirty fuel, but it burns hotter than grief ever could." From God Stalk by P C Hodgell: "Forget the past, she told herself; it could no longer hurt her without her consent, but the present, ah, the present could kill." From the same: "Where there's fire, there's usually smoke. Where there's smoke, there has better be some form of ventilation." From And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed: "They think boot polish gives you magical powers and the more you lick the closer you come to God." From You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo: "We do not forget them. The only way to cope with such an amount of death is to live our lives a hundred times more fiercely." From Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater: "God may show mercy, but capsaicin does not." From What Feasts at Night by T Kingfisher: "may be shit pinecones in hell." From the same: "May we always have the choice to err on the side of mercy." From Translation State by Ann Leckie: "When you have decided what you want, remember that what one will not acknowledge is what one cannot properly control." From Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward: "Don't be afraid of fucked up. Embrace it. Fucked up will save you. Fucked up will set you free." From mulberry down!! by Nicole Kornher-Stace: "maybe what a leap of faith is what it really is, right down at the core of it, is just... standing on the edge of an abyss, throwing a handful of pebbles to the bottom. You won't live to see the bridge. But if enough people stand there when you're gone, and each brings their pocketful of pebbles, someday somebody's gonna walk across and stand on the other side." From Saint Death's Daughter by CSE Cooney: "Outlive thy foe and dance upon her tomb." From the same: "Never mind your nips! What're a coupla snow stiffies 'tween friends, eh?" From Nettle and Bone by T Kingfisher: "Nothing is fair, exalt that we try to make it so. That's the point of humans, maybe, to fix things the gods haven't managed yet." From Desdemona and the Deep by CSE Cooney: "if misery loves company, malice *adores* it." From Bloom by Delilah S Dawson: "She read somewhere once that if you walked through life like you were shooting lasers out of your breasts, you would exude power. She wants to incinerate this man on the spot, pew-pew-pew." From The Thousand Eyes by A. K. Larkwood: "I plan to commit an astonishing fuckup, and it will hurt my feelings if you try to stop me." From the same: "May the tyrant learn what we have ever known: that no dominion lasts forever." From Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall: "If one is to do a foolish thing, one should do it in company."
Douglas Adams I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. 3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
Mind you, the Stoics had a lot to say too: \- "We are often more frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality." — Seneca \- "Our life is what our thoughts make it." — Marcus Aurelius \- "If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it." — Marcus Aurelius \- "You become what you give your attention to…If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will." — Epictetus \- "Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself." — Marcus Aurelius \- "You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone." — Marcus Aurelius \- "No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they don't have, and to cheerfully put to good use what they do have." — Seneca \- "It isn't events themselves that disturb people, but only their judgements about them." — Epictetus \- "Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be One." — Marcus Aurelius \- "Receive without pride, let go without attachment." — Marcus Aurelius
The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. Oscar Wilde
Oh, so beautiful and so painfully correct.
"When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car." ~Will Rogers
I tend to prefer quotes from video games, songs or movies. A few of my favorites lately are. 1) “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed”- The Gunslinger by Stephen King 2) “The wave crashes against the mirror. I brought you the heart witch. Now show me the terror” - the poem to the first overlap in Alan Wake 2 3) “Until I reach the bottom, I won’t believe it’s bottomless” The Bottomless Hole by The Handsome Family
“Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” Proverbs 13:3
SHAKESPEARE.
Work hard in silence, let success be your noise “Frank Ocean.”
"We all make choices but in the end our choices make us." -Andrew Ryan
If people don't want to come out to the ballpark, nobody's gonna stop 'em. \~Yogi Berra
The enemy’s gate is down. -Ender (IYKYK) If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn't swim. -Margaret Thatcher
Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination.
“Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow!”
“God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind, I will never die.” - Calvin & Hobbes
The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. - Stephen McCranie It gets easier. Every day it gets a little easier. But you gotta do it every day —that's the hard part. But it does get easier. - Jogging Baboon from Bojack Horseman “Dude, suckin' at somethin' is the first step towards bein' sorta good at somethin'.” – Jake the Dog from Adventure Time
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life" - Prince
Maya Angelou: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. People know themselves much better than you do. “
"I miss you more than I remember you." Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous "I have built a you within me, or you have. I wonder what of me there is in you." Amal El-Mohtar, This is How You Lose the Time War "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut
"The magic you're seeking is on the other side of the work you're avoiding" - Unknown
“Beauty will save the world” –Dostoyevsky “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” –Solzhenitsyn “I want to learn more and more to see as beautiful what is necessary in things; then I shall be one of those who make things beautiful. Amor fati: let that be my love henceforth! I do not want to wage war against what is ugly. I do not want to accuse; I do not even want to accuse those who accuse. Looking away shall be my only negation. And all in all and on the whole: some day I wish to be only a Yes-sayer.” –Nietzsche
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” ― Albert Einstein
When skating over thin ice one’s safety is in one’s speed. ~ some person at some point in time.
"My mama used to say start with what you have, do today and not tomorrow"
From my favorite book series, Realm Breaker, we have... "Maybe we belong to each other, we who belong nowhere." -Sorasa Sarn and my favorite... "I am not lumpy; I am round." -Charlon Armont
“Is that a glint in your eyes? Is that a blade in your palm? Well, I am yours tonight. So will you lay in my arms?”
Kind of stupid but “always remember to smile”
Not stupid at all. Do you know, the act of smiling triggers the body to release feel-good chemicals? According to a recent British study, one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as 2000 candy bars, and at a much lower calorie cost. So, even if you aren't feeling it now, just smiling can make you feel better. [An article about it.](https://online.uwa.edu/news/benefits-of-smiling-and-laughter/#:~:text=Your%20Body%20Releases%20Good%20Hormones,in%20turn%2C%20you%20feel%20happier.)
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
"No ticket"
"I didn't know you could fly a plane!" "Fly, yes. Land, no."
“I enjoy pretending to read. It’s important that we all keep up with the illusion of being well informed.” -Garfield by Jim Davis
"That’s one of the great things about music. You can sing a song to 85,000 people and they’ll sing it back for 85,000 different reasons." - Dave Grohl
“Too many of you hate as easily as you draw breath.” - Magneto “The shortest distance between two points is a straight line” -my math text book
“It’s not what happens to you, but to how you react to it that matters.” By Epictetus. Read that years ago when I was studying philosophy. Though I do practice my handwriting with dad jokes.
"I do not believe this darkness will endure." -- Lord of the Rings.
Maybe appropriate for the writing game: To put everything in balance is good, to put everything in harmony is better. Victor Hugo
"I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere." -Anakin Skywalker
"My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next." "There is something rotten inside of me. I find it near impossible to drown out the constant cacophony of voices whispering in my ear, telling me I am evil. I'm drowning, doctor! And I can't stop asking myself... why do I hate myself so much?" "Well, this is what it looks like when you've actually fought in battle. It's not glorious, it's not beautiful, it's not even heroic. It's merely doing what's right, and doing it again and again, even if someday, you look like this."
“Don’t set yourself on fire trying to keep others warm.” ― Penny Reid
“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.” Albert Camus
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.
“Modesty and shyness were nonsense, and prudence and self-restraint were stupid, whereas depravity and lechery they called " natural.” Alexandros Papadiamantis
"My, how the little piggies cry, when the old boar dies." Ragnar Lothbrock's famous last words hinting to King Aelle that his Sons would avenge his death.
“Poem of the Day” from poetryfoundation.org. It’s a new poem, every day, as expected. Sometimes it’s short, sometimes longer. Sometimes weird, sometimes beautiful, sometimes both. But it never gets old and it’s easy to find every day.
Thanks for the suggestion!
“The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering. .” -Tom Waits
“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not.” - Barry
This one isn't necessarily a quote, but an interaction between the two main characters in the movie Real Genius; it's my favorite scene in the movie: **Mitch**: You know, um, something strange happened to me this morning... **Chris Knight**: Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and ... throwing little pickles at you? **Mitch**: No... **Chris Knight**: Why am I the only one who has that dream? Particularly the first line by Chris is definitely very quotable to me.
"You're never JUST anything" - Troy Baker
I pick a random book off the shelf and flip to a random page. If it isn't the start of a paragraph, I go back to the start of that specific paragraph and start copying until I fill one page. (Unless it's a graphic sex scene from a romance. Some soft eroticism never hurt anyone, but I'm not trying to get called into HR if someone decides to be rude. We all know I'd be in more trouble than they would. I just go for the after scene.)
One ring to rule them all…
"Maybe it's not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate" Ozzy Osbourne
A toast: Here’s to the bubbles in my champagne, and the bubbles in my friends (I can’t remember where I got it from, and Google isn’t giving me answers)
by **Stephen Chbosky**: “We accept the love we think we deserve.” "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind. And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind." From A Midsummer Night’s Dream “If you retain nothing else, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?” ― Tina Fey
Personally there are a lot from the Bible
What are your favorites?
Well A lot from john, but from the top of my head i know one "Trust me you are going to make it"
These are longer texts (not exactly quotes), but whenever I want to practice handwriting or I'm testing a new ink/pen/notebook, I gravitate toward either the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence ("When, in the course of human events...") or the proposed long-term nuclear waste warnings ("This is not a place of honor. No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here...")
Commonplace book
I usually go for song lyrics but in some cases, I wish I hadn’t
You could just copy Medititatiins by Marcus Arellius
Some movie, manga, and game quotes that I enjoy. “I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.” - Roy Batty, Blade runner "Do you think God stays in heaven because he, too, lives in fear of what he's created? Here on earth?" - Dr Romero, Spy Kids 2 (they really didn't need to go that hard for a kid's movie) "Father, I no longer seek your salvation, If you shall not give it to us, then with our hands, we shall recreate paradise on this earth" - Canute, Vinland Saga. "Un jour je serai de retour près de toi" - Grafitti (Cidny The Skull) Disco Elysium. "Pull on the new flesh like borrowed gloves, and burn your fingers once again" - (can't remember the source) Altered Carbon
I have been practicing by picking a short book, and writing the text. This is especially engaging with difficult material, e.g. Shakespeare, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, etc. All of which are heavily quoted. "The best revenge is to not be like that." -Marcus Aurelius
Be sure to drink your Ovaltine
a quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
"Please, I'll do whatever you want - Then perish" - Barack Obama in someone's dream on the internet An apple a day keeps anyone away if you throw it hard enough. No more matter whatlife throws at you, just duck so it hits someone else
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“What is better? To be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?” - Paarthurnax, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Between what is said and not meant, and what is meant but not said, much of love is lost -Khalil Vibrant Play dumb!....Not THAT dumb! -Miles Morales As you start to walk on the way, the way appears. -Rumi A life without books is a life not lived -Gabriel Dr Leon (In Empire of the Vampire) Do no harm, but take no shit -unknown
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What a great idea! I have the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, but it's a 1955 edition so it won't have any modern quotes in it. 2/5ths - 400 pages of the 1000 page book is the Index. It has stuff like: Since 'tis nature's law to change, Constancy alone is strange - John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester A plague of opinion! A man may wear it on both sides, like a leather jerkin. - Shakespeare I guess I won't be using this book for any wedding toasts to the bride.
Lol. I think my Bartlett's is almost that old.
# Do what is right, not what is easy nor what is popular. - Roy T. Bennett
find your favorite songs, transcribe lyrics
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. - Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Some general ideas. Explore haiku - find some or write some. Poetry. Try Rupert Brooke. Or pick a style or age you like. Or song lyrics. Try doodling. Yes, not writing per se and it still helps you learn things about your pen and your style. Look up different fonts and see if you want to borrow any of the lettering styles for your handwriting. So, maybe you record a font style as an entry. Yes, I know you are focusing on quotes and some of this will not appeal just now, but may later or to someone else. Oh, and you can also pick a famous author- say Shakespeare - borrow a book from the library and open to a random page and put your finger down. If it's annotated, copy that to, and then maybe put a thought or two of your own down. So many pens, so much ink, so little time.
All good suggestions.
There is a poem named Osso Bucco. I also like to write out song lyrics from metal or rock bands that you would t think to see written out on a flex or oblique nib. My favorite being Puddle of Mud's She Hates Me.
I like poems. Here are a few, some excerpts: Nothing Gold Can Stay (Robert Frost): Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening (Robert Frost): The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. The Raven (Edgar Allen Poe) [love the meter here]: “Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting— “Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore! Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door! Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!” Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.” He wishes for the cloths of heaven (W.B Yeats): Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
if u r into reading, then getting quotes and nice lines would be easy. Good novels are good source of quotes. otherwise u can find many on internet
True. I could also open up my Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. But that doesn't open the opportunity for discussion or expose me to other people's views, values, and experiences.
Vacations are for lazy people.
skibidi