Just thought of an interesting topic for a chain thing. You put forward your favorite quote or quotes and say why you like it. A lot of us use quotes in our signatures, but it’s always interesting to know why someone picks it. One last thing, quotes needn’t be English in origin, but a translation would be appreciated by the majority here I think .

I’ll start with the Quote I got in my signature.

“Der Herr Gott wÑŒrfelt nicht” (Albert Einstein on Quantum Mechanics)
or in English: “God doesn’t play dice”

Einstein made this remark on the discovery that quantum mechanics and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle implied that certain things couldn’t be known for sure.

‘The punters know that the horse named Morality rarely gets past the post, whereas the nag named Self-interest always runs a good race.’
- Gough Whitlam, prime minister of Australia, 1972-75.

I don’t even like this.  It’s just… true.
_________________
Mistress of Naughty: Just one of the Evil Girls Of The Mac Observerâ„¢

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Raena on 2001-12-22 18:51 ]</font>

(Lord, I could fill this thing up with Mencken quotes alone.)

“Work is the curse of the drinking classes.” - Oscar Wilde

[Edit: I don’t think any explanation is necessary.]

_________________
The Independent - “Reverend Spooner Arrested in Friar Tuck Incident.”
- I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, “Historical Headlines”

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: tbone1 on 2001-12-22 21:56 ]</font>

People, people, we can’t let this thread die.

“Enjoyed the party?! My dear, one more drink and I’d have been under the host!” - Dorothy Parker

From Saki (aka H.H. Munro):

Waldo is one of those people who would be enormously improved by death.

a quick trip to the fortune machine should help out this thread a bit…

The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on.
It is never any use to oneself.
          —Oscar Wilde

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly
what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly
disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and
inexplicable.  There is another theory which states that this has
already happened.
          —Douglas Adams, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

There’s no use being precise about something
when you don’t even know what you’re talking about.
          —John von Neumann

Intel CPUs are not defective, they just act that way.
          —Henry Spencer

Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?
          —Charlie McCarthy

Marriage is great. I think everyone should try it three or four times.
- Chick McGee, “The Bob and Tom Show”

Now that I’m here, we’ll turn this thing around 360 degrees.
- NBA star Jason Kidd, when he decided to attend Cal-Berkeley

Is our children learning?
—George W. Bush

I believe that the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.
—George W. Bush

Yes, I have opinions, strong opinions, but I don’t always agree with them.
—George H. W. Bush

I wish I’d studied my Latin harder when I went to school, because when I recently visited Latin America, I couldn’t communicate with the people there.
—Dan Quayle

Ok, that’s enough republican quotes. Here’s one last quote that is not from a republican.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
—Yogi Berra

 Question: If you could live forever, would you and why? Answer: “I
would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if
we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we
cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever.”
       * Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest

“Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the
world, I can’t help but cry. I mean I’d love to be skinny like that but
not with all
those flies and death and stuff.”
       * Mariah Carey

“Researchers have discovered that chocolate produces some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana. The researchers also discovered other similarities between the two, but can’t remember what they were.”
       * Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today show, August 22

“I haven’t committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the
law.”
       * David Dinkins, New York City Mayor, answering accusations that he failed to pay his taxes.

“Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of
your life.”
       * Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for a federal anti-smoking campaign

“I’ve never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body.”
       * Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward

“Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.”
       * Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, D.C.

“We’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees.”
       * Jason Kidd, upon his drafting to the Dallas Mavericks

“I’m not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president.”
       * Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents

“China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese.”
       * Former French President Charles De Gaulle

“That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a j@ck@$$, and I’m just the one to do it.”
       * A congressional candidate in Texas

“The government is not doing enough about cleaning up the environment. This is a good planet.”
       * Mr. New Jersey contestant when asked what he would do with a
million dollars.

“I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them.
There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.”
       * John Wayne

“Half this game is ninety percent mental.”
       * Philadelphia Phillies manager Danny Ozark

“It isn’t pollution that’s harming the environment. It’s the impurities
in our air and water that are doing it.”
       * Former U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle

“Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public
mind.”
       * General William Westmoreland

“If you let that sort of thing go on, your bread and butter will be cut
right out from under your feet.”
       * Former British foreign minister Ernest Bevin

“I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix.”
       * Former U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle

“The private enterprise system indicates that some people have higher incomes than others.”
       * Gerry Brown

“It’s no exaggeration to say that the undecideds could go one way or
another.”
       * George Bush, US President

“I have opinions of my own — strong opinions — but I don’t always agree with them.”
       * George Bush, US President

“Not only is he ambidextrous, but he can throw with either hand.”
       * Duffy Daugherty , football coach and sports analyst

“We’ve got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?”
       * Lee Iacocca

“Please provide the date of your death.”
       * from an IRS letter

“I was under medication when I made the decision to burn the tapes.”
       * Richard Nixon, US President

“I was provided with additional input that was radically different from
the truth. I assisted in furthering that version.”
       * Colonel Oliver North, from his Iran-Contra testimony

“We are sorry to announce that Mr. Albert Brown has been quite unwell, owing to his recent death, and is taking a short holiday to recover.”
       * Parish Magazine

“Men, I want you just thinking of one word all season. One word and one word only: Super Bowl.”
       * Bill Peterson, football coach

“Hawaii is a unique state. It is a small state. It is a state that is by
itself. It is a-it is different from the other 49 states. Well, all
states are different, but it’s got a particularly unique situation.”
       * Dan Quayle, US VP

“Be sure and put some of those neutrons on it.”
       * Mike Smith, baseball pitcher, ordering a salad at a restaurant

“We are not without accomplishment. We have managed to distribute
poverty equally.”
       * Nguyen Co Thatch, Vietnamese foreign minister

“The word “genius” isn’t applicable in football. A genius is a guy like
Norman Einstein.”
       * Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback and sports analyst

“Fiction writing is great. You can make up almost anything.”
       * Ivana Trump, upon finishing her first novel

“I’ve read about foreign policy and studied — I know the number of
continents.”
       * George Wallace, 1968 presidential campaign

“We don’t necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people.”
       * Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor

“If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure.”
       * Dan Quayle

“We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur.”
       * Dan Quayle

“Potatoe”
       * Dan Quayle

“The road of good intentions is paved with Hell.”
       * Spencer Ante

“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”
       * Anon

“Traditionally, most of Australia’s imports come from overseas.”
       * Keppel Enderbery

“The loss of life will be irreplaceable.”
       * Dan Quayle

“I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have
is that I didn’t study my Latin harder in school so I could converse
with those people.”
       * Dan Quayle

“What a waste it is to lose one’s mind. Or not to have a mind is being
very wasteful. How true that is.”
       * Dan Quayle

“A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”
       * Samuel Goldwyn

“It is wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago…”
       * Dan Quayle

“The people in the Navy look on motherhood as being compatible with being a woman.”
       * Rear Admiral James R. Hogg

“I stand by all the misstatements that I’ve made.”
       * Dan Quayle

“Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we
received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.”

       * Department of Social Services, Greenville, South Carolina

“We apologize for the error in last week’s paper in which we stated that Mr. Arnold Dogbody was a defective in the police force. We meant, of course, that Mr. Dogbody is a detective in the police farce.”
       * Correction Notice in the Ely Standard, a British newspaper

“If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as
they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And
the next morning, when they wake up dead, there’ll be a record.”
       * Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman

“Antidotes are what you take to prevent dotes.”
       * Anon

“One of their children, Cain, once asked, ‘Am I my brother’s son?’”
       * Student Bloopers

“Caution: Cape does not enable user to fly.”
       * Batman Costume warning label

I’ve taken more out of alcohol than it’s taken out of me.
- Winston Churchill