This is a collection of quotes that I find interesting or meaningful in some way. Some are just fun, some are serious, but most of them should generate some thinking.
“The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice…it is conformity.” – Rollo May, Man’s Search for Himself.
”… smelling flowers, going to sock hops, and that feeling you get the first week of having a new girlfriend sort of pale in comparison to simply romping on the gas pedal.” – WrenchHead on strangetalk.net
”… it is, after all, an analog world.” – Guy Kawasaki
“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” – Albert Einstein
WRC > Forumla 1 > Kittens > Pogo Sticks > Dirt > Nascar
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln
“Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.” – Thomas Edison
“We expect there to be transparency. People who have something to hide make us nervous.” – George W. Bush
Communications benefits the defenders far more than it benefits the attackers. – Bruce Schneier
Innovation is a wildflower; you cannot choose where it will blossom, you can only choose where it will not.
A patriot is a terrorist who's on our side; a terrorist is a patriot who's on their side
If you're happy, you're successful.
“Absence does for love what wind does for fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great.”
Don't be afraid to take big steps. You can't cross a chasm in two small steps.
“Calling an Echo a sport sedan is like calling my toaster a precision engineered 120V thermal transfer food temperature accelerating unit.” –Integra96
To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. -Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (1858-1919)
Straightaways are for fast cars. Corners are for fast drivers
Removing the straw that broke the camel's back does not necessarily allow the camel to walk again.
“You know that times are strange when the best rapper in the world is white, the best golfer in the world is black, the Americas cup is held by landlocked Switzerland, the French are accusing the Americans of arrogance and Germany is steadfastly refusing to go to war.”
All life is a journey towards death, it's up to us to make the trip worthwhile.
25.Q. How does GNOME compare to Microsoft Windows? A. GNOME is an open, free, and productive desktop environment that sparks innovation and excitement among users and developers worldwide. Microsoft Windows is not. – Sun FAQ
to know recursion, you must first know recursion
The devil you know is better than the devil you don't.
Specifically, I needed a Super-Sized Starbucks drip-of-the-day. I'm not quite sure what Super-Sized translates to in the bullshit foo-foo Starbucks lingo, but it's pretty much the largest cup the've got. They're pretty good at Starbucks about not fucking with you if you ask for Super-Sized. I guess they figure if you need that much coffee, you're probably in a shit mood anyway - and in this case, they would have been right. – Mixerman
I don't like butterscotch, but I do like vanilla. You don't see friggin holy wars over pudding, though, do you?
Rev it up and buy stock in your favorite clutch manufacturer – slsuby
Talking about music is like dancing about architecture. – Laurie Anderson
“Bastard operators don't win…anyone can win. Bastard operators win and TOTALLY demoralize. That is REAL winning.”
Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right, But Three Lefts Do.
I'm a UNIX user. I didn't switch to MacOS - MacOS switched to UNIX.
A computer without a Microsoft operating system is like a dog without bricks tied to its head.
“Everybody wants to save the earth; nobody wants to help Mom with the dishes.” - P. J. O'Rourke
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance” - Derek Bok
Turn the other cheek. – Jesus Christ
“In Googlis non est, ergo non est.”
If we all had perfect driving skills, everyone would be an average driver.
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” – Carl Sagan
No one wants to learn from mistakes, but we cannot learn enough from successes to go beyond the state of the art. – Henry Petroski
“Just once, I'd like someone to call me 'Sir' without adding 'you're making a scene'.” –Homer
The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free. – Henry David Thoreau
Men have as exaggerated an idea of their rights as women have of their wrongs. – E.W. Howe
“Being a System Administrator is like being the phone company. Nobody ever calls up to say 'you know, this thing works great. Thanks!'”
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
Arrogance and Ignorance go hand in hand.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur. (Anything said in Latin sounds profound.)
“Best be the idiot that has learnt, than the genius who can't.”
“There has grown in the minds of certain groups in this country the idea that just because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is supported by neither statue or common law. Neither corporations or individuals have the right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back.” -Robert Heinlein, Life Line, 1939
Woolsey-Swanson Rule: People would rather live with a problem they cannot solve rather than accept a solution they cannot understand.
“A witty saying proves nothing.” –Voltaire
Genius is often ignored. Ignorance never lets itself be ignored.
Doing evil in the name of good is still evil.
“Well done is better than well said.” - Benjamin Franklin
Slashdot - News for Herds. Stuff that Splatters.
“We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” – Benjamin Franklin
Dyslexics have more fnu.
“There never was a good war or a bad peace” Benjamin Franklin, Sept 11 1773.
'Those who will not reason, are bigots, those who cannot are fools, and those who dare not, are slaves.' - George Gordon
MacOS X: UNIX for people who bathe daily.
If you hold a Unix shell to your ear, do you hear the C?
I used to think maths was no fun, 'Cause I couldn't see how it was done, Now Euler's my hero, For I now see why zero, = e ^ (i pi) + 1 -- Anonymous
Drive defensively. Buy a tank.
“Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.” - Jules de Gaultier
The meat is rotten, but the booze is holding out. Computer translation of “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
“Anyone attempting to generate random numbers by deterministic means is, of course, living in a state of sin.” – John Von Neumann
There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. When there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. – Ayn Rand
“On the Internet, there is no 'they'. There's only a very, very large 'us'.” - Douglas Adams.
“No enemy can attack more viciously than a friend”
Modesty: The gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it. – Oliver Herford
Caffeine: for when sleep is a luxury you just cant afford.
They laughed at my Mac, it had no CLI. They laughed at Linux, it had no GUI. I installed MacOS X, and shut them up.
There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.
In real love you want the other person's good. In romantic love you want the other person. – Margaret Anderson
“a slashdotting is insignificant next to the power of a Google Cache.”-Cyclopedian (slashdot)
“There's always something waiting at the end of the road. If you're not willing to see what it is, you probably shouldn't be out there in the first place.” -BMW Films, The Follow
For every problem, there is a solution that is simple, elegant, and wrong. – H. L. Mencken
Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats. – Howard Aiken quoted by Ken Iverson quoted by Jim Horning, 1979
Using GPL Will encroach upon our rights To control the world
“I love the way Microsoft follows standards. In much the same manner that fish follow migrating caribou.” - Paul Tomblin, as seen in USENET, in one of my all-time favorite .sigs.
Through the perception of illusion, we experience reality.
Science may someday discover what faith has always known.
It may be bad manners to talk with your mouth full, but it isn't too good either if you speak when your head is empty.
God is dead. - Nietzche Nietzche is dead! - God
No matter how much Jello you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water
If carrots are so good for the eyes, how come I see so many dead rabbits on the highway?”
Two peanuts were walking down the street. One was a salted.
“Everyday I beat my own previous record for the number of consecutive days I've stayed alive.”
Shopping tip: You can get shoes for 85 cents at the bowling alley.
I don't approve of political jokes. I've seen too many of them get elected.
I live in my own little world, but it's ok… they know me here.
Real friends don't care if your socks don't match
Law of Probability Dispersal: Whatever it is that hits the fan will not be evenly distributed.
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
Paul's Law: You can't fall off the floor.
The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.
It has recently been discovered that research causes cancer in rats.
A truly wise man never plays leapfrog with a unicorn.
Psychiatrists say that 1 of 4 people are mentally ill. Check three friends. If they're OK, you're it.
“If the world were a logical place, men would ride side-saddle.” – Rita Mae Brown
“Blessed are they that can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.”
Kramer's Law: You can never tell which way the train went by looking at the tracks.
It is wise to keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final. – Roger Babson
The best way to secure a Windows box is to take a pair of scissors to the ethernet cable.
He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom – Gandalf the Grey
Computer Science is Applied Philosophy
“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.” -Robert Frost
So enthralled are we with the thrill of the chase that we often overlook the greater prizes that do not require pursuit.
Reality continues to ruin my life. -Calvin
Quantum mechanics: the dreams that stuff is made of. – David Moser
And root said rm -rf / ...... and there was nothing
'One Microsoft Way' is more than an address.
Tsar's Hypothesis: As the population of the Earth increases, the sum of human intelligence remains constant.
Please don't hurt me, I'm trying to reform myself.
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” –Albert Einstein
We can forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. - Plato
A man may sometimes be forgiven the kiss to which he is not entitled, but never the kiss he has not the initiative to claim.
I am not merely a “consumer” or a “taxpayer”. I am a Citizen of the United States of America
You cannot wash away blood with blood
Washington, D.C: Fifty square miles almost completely surrounded by reality.
“One must learn by doing the thing, for though you think you know it– you have no certainty until you try.” Sophocles, 5th Century BC
If government seeks to use clandestine and furtive methods to monitor citizen actions, it can ill afford to complain should the citizen insist on a method to effect his right to know he is under such surveillance. Judge Joseph Ryan, Superior Court, District of Columbia
The Macintosh may only have 5% of the market, but it is clearly the top 5%.
kernel, n.: A part of an operating system that preserves the medieval traditions of sorcery and black art.
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” - Albert Einstein
I can see it now… Microsoft meets Slashdot… Microdot, news for sheep, stuff that we think matters – Kiaser Zohsay
“Example is always more effacious than precept” – Samuel Johnson
logic kicks ass:
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)