Subject: Favorite Literary Quotes
Posted by: Lorvanwa
Date: Nov 19 11
I thought a favorite quotes thread might be fun, and after searching for an existing one to no avail, I decided to create one!
I have two:
1) "Dust, dust, how stubborn you are, how impudent! All delights of the eye decay in you. All pillars of light in the world you consume and pulverize. How insolent you are! ... Dust, dust, do not boast! The pillars of the world will not be surrendered to you." [Rabbi Hiyya, "Sefer ha-Zohar]
2)"In the deep places, He [Ulmo] gives thought to music great and terrible; and the echo of that music runs through all the veins of the world in sorrow and in joy; for if joyful is the fountain that rises in the sun, its springs are in the wells of sorrow unfathomed at the foundations of the Earth" [J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Silmarillion"]
Posted by: Lorvanwa
Date: Nov 19 11
I thought a favorite quotes thread might be fun, and after searching for an existing one to no avail, I decided to create one!
I have two:
1) "Dust, dust, how stubborn you are, how impudent! All delights of the eye decay in you. All pillars of light in the world you consume and pulverize. How insolent you are! ... Dust, dust, do not boast! The pillars of the world will not be surrendered to you." [Rabbi Hiyya, "Sefer ha-Zohar]
2)"In the deep places, He [Ulmo] gives thought to music great and terrible; and the echo of that music runs through all the veins of the world in sorrow and in joy; for if joyful is the fountain that rises in the sun, its springs are in the wells of sorrow unfathomed at the foundations of the Earth" [J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Silmarillion"]
50 replies. On page 2 of 3 pages. 1 2 3
daver852 
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You must cast the scholar off, And learn to court it like a gentleman. ’Tis not a black coat and a little band, A velvet-cap’d coat, fac’d before with serge, And smelling to a nosegay all the day, Or holding of a napkin in your hand, Or saying a long grace at a table’s end, Or making low legs to a nobleman, Or looking downward with your eyelids close, And saying, “Truly, an’t may please your honour,” Can get you any favour with great men; You must be proud, bold, pleasant, resolute, And now and then stab, as occasion serves. -Christopher Marlowe Reply #21. Aug 26 16, 11:21 AM |
Mixamatosis
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A great speech by Marlowe and a bit ironic on the "stab as the occasion serves" part. I'm sure it influenced this speech by Shakespeare in Hamlet and I know you think Shakespeare is really Marlowe in exile (but there'es a separate blog for anyone who wants to comment on that). Hamlet responds to his mother: "Seems, madam? nay, it is, I know not "seems." 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forc'd breath, No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected havior of the visage, Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, That can denote me truly. These indeed seem, For they are actions that a man might play; But I have that within which passes show, These but the trappings and the suits of woe." Reply #22. Aug 26 16, 12:50 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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P.S. The fun trivia blog for commenting on the Shakespeare authorship question is called "Equal Time for Marlowe". There must be lots of people with opinions on that. Reply #23. Aug 27 16, 2:17 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I love this section from "Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame (though I love all of Wind in the Willows too). "The Rat danced up and down in the road, simply transported with passion. 'You villains!' he shouted, shaking both fists, 'You scoundrels, you highwaymen, you— you— roadhogs!— I'll have the law of you! I'll report you! I'll take you through all the Courts!' His home-sickness had quite slipped away from him, and for the moment he was the skipper of the canary-coloured vessel driven on a shoal by the reckless jockeying of rival mariners, and he was trying to recollect all the fine and biting things he used to say to masters of steam-launches when their wash, as they drove too near the bank, used to flood his parlour- carpet at home. Toad sat straight down in the middle of the dusty road, his legs stretched out before him, and stared fixedly in the direction of the disappearing motor-car. He breathed short, his face wore a placid satisfied expression, and at intervals he faintly murmured 'Poop-poop!' The Mole was busy trying to quiet the horse, which he succeeded in doing after a time. Then he went to look at the cart, on its side in the ditch. It was indeed a sorry sight. Panels and windows smashed, axles hopelessly bent, one wheel off, sardine- tins scattered over the wide world, and the bird in the bird-cage sobbing pitifully and calling to be let out. The Rat came to help him, but their united efforts were not sufficient to right the cart. 'Hi! Toad!' they cried. 'Come and bear a hand, can't you!' The Toad never answered a word, or budged from his seat in the road; so they went to see what was the matter with him. They found him in a sort of a trance, a happy smile on his face, his eyes still fixed on the dusty wake of their destroyer. At intervals he was still heard to murmur 'Poop-poop!' The Rat shook him by the shoulder. 'Are you coming to help us, Toad?' he demanded sternly. 'Glorious, stirring sight!' murmured Toad, never offering to move. 'The poetry of motion! The real way to travel! The only way to travel! Here to-day— in next week to-morrow! Villages skipped, towns and cities jumped— always somebody else's horizon! O bliss! O poop-poop! O my! O my!' 'O stop being an ass, Toad!' cried the Mole despairingly. 'And to think I never knew!' went on the Toad in a dreamy monotone. 'All those wasted years that lie behind me, I never knew, never even dreamt! But now— but now that I know, now that I fully realise! O what a flowery track lies spread before me, henceforth! What dust-clouds shall spring up behind me as I speed on my reckless way! What carts I shall fling carelessly into the ditch in the wake of my magnificent onset! Horrid little carts— common carts— canary-coloured carts!' 'What are we to do with him?' asked the Mole of the Water Rat. 'Nothing at all,' replied the Rat firmly. 'Because there is really nothing to be done. You see, I know him from of old. He is now possessed. He has got a new craze, and it always takes him that way, in its first stage. He'll continue like that for days now, like an animal walking in a happy dream, quite useless for all practical purposes. Never mind him. Let's go and see what there is to be done about the cart.' Reply #24. Aug 27 16, 2:49 AM |
Mommakat
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I like the last verse of Rudyard Kipling's "If" If you can fill the unforgiving minute With 60 seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the earth and everything in it, And- which is more - You'll be a Man my son. Reply #25. Aug 27 16, 3:04 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I've just realised what the Toad in my Wind in the Willows extract reminds me of - the trance like state, the possession and obsession and talking to himself - it reminds me of Gollum from "Lord of the Rings". I wonder whether Tolkien was consciously or unconsciously influenced by Toad in "The Wind in the Willows". Reply #26. Aug 31 16, 12:45 PM |
| daver852
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“Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen and I was three.” -Billie Holiday Reply #27. Aug 31 16, 4:10 PM |
rayven80
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"Verrari, Karthani, and Lashani nod knowingly when they hear this story. They assume it to be apocryphal, but it confirms something they claim to know in their hearts—that Camorri are all gods-damned crazy. Camorri, on the other hand, regard it as a valuable reminder against procrastinating in matters of revenge—or, if one cannot take satisfaction immediately, on the virtue of having a long memory." "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch Reply #28. Aug 31 16, 10:31 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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Judge to Mae West "Are you trying to show contempt for this Court?" Mae West "No, I'm doing my best to hide it". Reply #29. Sep 25 16, 4:16 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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Mervyn Peake was an artist, poet and writer who sadly died too early from dementia. This is a poem of his from his Gormenghast Trilogy of Books (Gormenghast) which Dr Prunesquallor recites to his sister Irma as he slips a sedative into her drink. It's a great poem to say because of the sounds of the words."O osseus 'orse". “Come, flick the ulna juggler-wise And twang the tibia for me! O Osseous ‘orse, the future lies Like serum on the sea. Green fields and buttercups no more Regale you with delight, no, no! The tonic tempests leap and pour Through your white pelvis ever so. Come, clap your scapulae and twitch The pale pagoda of your spine, Removed from life’s eternal itch What need for iodine? The Osseous ‘orse sat up at once And clanged his ribs in Biblic pride. I fear I looked at him askance Though he had naught to hide.... No hide at all....just...” He trails off at this point. Reply #30. Oct 05 16, 4:34 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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"The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it". George Orwell. Reply #31. Dec 12 16, 2:27 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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In an episode of "Minder", George Cole plays a dodgy geezer. When disbelieved he swears he's telling the truth. The normal form to assert the truth is to swear "on my life", but George Cole swears "on my landlord's life". Reply #32. Dec 16 16, 4:28 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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"Dad's Army" was a very well written and popular comedy series. When the Home Guard stripped off for some physical exercises exposing various strange combinations of underwear, Captain Mainwaring, in charge, had to deal with a cheeky boy heckling from the sides. "You wouldn't be laughing like that if the Nazis were here" he said to the boy - to which the boy replied "No but the Nazis would". Reply #33. Feb 18 17, 2:44 PM |
hekawi
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"Grandpa said that they was so many trying to git control, it was a continual dogfight all the time anyhow. He said the worst thing wrong with Washington City was it had so many damn politicians in it." The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter Reply #34. Feb 22 17, 12:58 PM |
| hekawi
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"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tradegy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." ~~~Illusions - Richard Bach Reply #35. Feb 28 17, 6:28 PM |
| hekawi
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"There are people who will say that this whole account is a lie, but a thing isn't necessarily a lie even if it didn't necessarily happen." ---John Steinbeck ~~ Sweet Thursday Reply #36. Mar 08 17, 1:40 PM |
| daver852
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"There are two ways to dislike poetry. One is to dislike it; the other is to read Pope." - Oscar Wilde Reply #37. Mar 08 17, 3:31 PM |
| rayven80
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“Let others determine your worth and you're already lost, because no one wants people worth more than themselves.” ? Peter V. Brett, The Warded Man Reply #38. Mar 21 17, 2:17 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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Wish I knew the meaning of a line from "Morning Glory" by Oasis. "Tomorrow never knows what it doesn't know too soon". Reply #39. Apr 05 17, 9:12 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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A poem by Liverpool poet Roger McGough (reflecting scouse humour) Everyday, I think about dying. About disease, starvation, violence, terrorism, war, the end of the world. It helps keep my mind off things. Reply #40. Jun 08 17, 2:09 PM |
50 replies. On page 2 of 3 pages. 1 2 3
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