Asklemmy

Hitchens on the death of Jerry Falwell: "If they gave his corpse an enema, they could bury him in a matchbox."

We have liberated Europe from fascism, but they will never forgive us for it

• Marshal Georgy Zhukov

"Someone once said that love is the best medicine. He was wrong, though; its crack." Source Unknown

Not so much a quote as a poem, but it's brief so here's the whole thing:

They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn By fools in old-style hats and coats, Who half the time were soppy-stern And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man, It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can, And don't have any kids yourself.

• "This Be the Verse" by Philip Larkin

As for what it means to me, I think it speaks for itself. It's bleak and devastating, yet beautiful. I love the elegance and simplicity of the writing. It's the only poem I have memorized because it's so aesthetically pleasing and emotionally resonant. It has stuck with me since I first heard it over 10 years ago.

"Like they should have stopped Hitler at Munich, they should never let him get away with that, they was just asking for bad trouble." Peter Clemenza, The Godfather

Oh and there's also this one ftom H2G2 :

Slartibartfast: Perhaps I'm old and tired, but I think that the chances of finding out what's actually going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say, "Hang the sense of it," and keep yourself busy. I'd much rather be happy than right any day. Arthur Dent: And are you? Slartibartfast: Ah, no. [laughs, snorts] Slartibartfast: Well, that's where it all falls down, of course

"When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all." -A clump of talking stars in Futurama I look at it like being a good custodian or someone who takes pride in the smallest details of their work, regardless of whether or not you receive recognition for them. Most people don't notice the effort being put in when things are running smoothly. The work of the people behind the scenes is directly responsible for successes in the spotlight.

"History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake" - Stephen Daedalus in Ulysses by James Joyce.

"True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country." ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.

George Orwell, 1984

It is said that cameras don't lie, but we must remember that liars use cameras. - Michael Parenti

This is a statement on the bias of all media, i like to use the same quote regarding statistics too.

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt" - Often wrongly attributed to Mark Twain or Abraham Lincoln but the earliest record is Maurice Switzer

"Feelings are like children, you can't let them drive, but you can't put them in the trunk."

But I feel that one has a ¨spiritual parent¨:

"Educate a child so you don't have to reprimand an adult."

and a ¨spiritual sibling¨:

"If your only tool is a Hammer then every problem looks like a Nail."

“No matter where you go, there you are.”

Made absolutely no sense to me when I was younger. Now, I get that it means changing one’s location or situation in an effort to avoid something doesn’t work. You’re still you, you’re there, and the problem still exists. Obviously some situations can be improved by leaving them, so the statement isn’t completely correct, but there’s plenty of truth to it.

“You can never go home again” also used to bug me, because of course you can physically return to the places you grew up. But if you’ve been away a good while the place you grew up in might have changed, the people will have changed, and you will also have changed. Home will be where you have made a new life. Your old home will be like trying to put on a shoe you haven’t worn in a few years. Yeah, it fits, but it doesn’t feel right. It’s not comfortable like it used to feel. Home isn’t there anymore. I kinda envy some people that I know who never left my hometown. They have the same friends, been hanging out for years, still get together for family stuff…but at the same time I’ve experienced a shitload more than they have. My original home doesn’t exist for me anymore.

"we are born alone, we live alone, and we die alone. it is only through love and relationships that we create the illusion that we are not alone"

Comparison is the thief of joy. I think a lot of people could do with that one.

Don't be upsetti, eat some spaghetti.

Sounds silly but genuinely helps me not get too upset about things I don't hold much power over. At the end of the day I can still make a pot of spaghetti and enjoy it. I like spaghetti.

Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.

The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those who sang best

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.

Earl Nightingale

Someone shared the phrase "The time will pass anyway" with me back when I was working on getting healthier. It was a constant reminder that there was no "best" day to start my journey and that anytime I was set back, I could pick things back up right away.

I don't necessarily think it's underrated because it's the underpinning of a major religion, but;

Existence is suffering.

The first noble truth of Buddhism that I don't think enough people really grasp.

On first read, those three words sound like an angsty teen being all sad, but a deeper exploration tells us that to expect a life of ease and unending contentment is to set ourselves up for continued disappointment and anguish.

When I first really absorbed the meaning of this it actually made me feel incredible. I am alive, therefore my knee hurts. I am alive, so I'm worried for the welfare of those I love. And when I considered it even further I began to understand that this is something that connects us all, regardless of our status in the world. From the most powerful kings and presidents to those sleeping rough begging for change; we are all fundamentally the same.

For me, it's really helped me to push through boundaries that have stopped me being more assertive with those who are more powerful than I am; managers, bosses and such. My boss worries about stuff the same way I do. It's probably different stuff, sure, but he's still experiencing existential pain.

I am not a Buddhist, nor am I particularly spiritual. But I take a lot of inspiration from that phrase.

Wen in dbt breath deep

No matter how many books , videos you see , you cannot learn how to swim without entering the pool.

Be excellent to each other and party on dudes.

Genuinely how I try to live my life, be kind and helpful to others and enjoy myself doing it.

"Who's 'we', paleface?"

It's from a silly joke, so it's not meant to be taken seriously. But I remember it every time some politician or Internet dweller or anything in between uses "we" to describe a position, an opinion, etc. Who's 'we'? Do you dream to speak for others, for me? In my stead?

Creative minds are uneven, and the best of fabrics have their dull spots.

H.P. Lovecraft

A evergreen quote:

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

"(S)cience tends to progress through younger people, and old ideas tend to die with the originators of those ideas. through this cynical view, science progresses one coffin at a time."

the Sting of the wild p142, J.O. Schmidt

"Hurt people hurt people"

Ever since I heard this, I became relatively more compassionate towards people, even if they piss me off.

“It only ever ends once, everything before that is just progress” -Jacob from lost lol

The less you know about your history, the easier it is to imagine you'd always be on the right side of it.