# Great but obscure quotes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 15, 1999, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510 "1999-10-15T01:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/81 "2014-07-05T01:11:39Z")
“Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.” – Bertrand Russell ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/82 "2014-07-05T05:11:53Z")
Because my love for you is beyond words, I decided to shut up. Nizar Qabbani * * * ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/83 "2014-07-05T20:49:22Z")
Ripley: Where the hell is earth? Kane: Uh, you’re the navigator. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/84 "2014-07-05T23:16:23Z")
“I want to do something good instead of just trying not to do bad stuff all the time.” ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/85 "2014-07-05T23:40:30Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > “For every complex problem, there is a simple solution. . . and it is wrong.” > —John E. E. Dalberg-Acton, Lord Acton > For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism. — (I don’t know) > > * * * > > Tom~ > [@FXMastermind](#): > > “Sometimes, I just hate being a woman. Then I remember I have big boobs.” > –LauraRae, Straight Dope Message Boards Am I missing something, or is this post an exact quote of the message immediately preceding, from fourteen years ago? ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/86 "2014-07-06T01:12:57Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Am I missing something, or is this post an exact quote of the message immediately preceding, from fourteen years ago? No, you are exactly right. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/87 "2014-07-06T01:43:19Z")
Not sure how “obscure” it is, but my favorite Muir quote has to do with time spent in Glacier National Park. (but could just as easily apply to great friends and family) > [@](#): > > _“…The time will not be taken from the sum of your life. Instead of shortening, it will indefinitely lengthen it and make you truly immortal. Nevermore will time seem short or long, and cares will never again fall heavily on you, but gently and kindly as gifts from heaven.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/88 "2014-07-06T02:11:26Z")
“Enjoy every sandwich.”–Warren Zevon ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/89 "2014-07-06T04:27:47Z")
“I’ve seen it: it’s rubbish.” –a certain cybernetic organism ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/90 "2014-07-06T06:04:51Z")
“She’s puttin’ on canvas- she’ll sail to another one of her magic castles far away- an’ I yam glad she ain’t dead- even if she is a exter bad woman. Hah! If they wasn’t no bad women maybe we wouldn’t appreciate the good ones. Anyway, she yam what she yam.” ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/91 "2014-07-06T16:19:32Z")
_“The beatings will continue until morale improves.”_ Said to be anonymous, it’s apparently a fairly well-known quote, but I’ve only just become aware of it. _“You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.”_ Dave Barry _“Everything has a beginning, a middle and an end.”_ Probably very old and/or too basic to be attributed to a single person, but it was Robert Deniro’s response when asked how he manages to keep it (his acting) fresh. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/92 "2014-07-06T19:48:42Z")
If you’re passing the buck, don’t ask for change. David Gerrold ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/93 "2014-07-06T20:49:11Z")
“Someone has to be the grown-up.” - My mother Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/94 "2014-07-07T00:09:18Z")
> [@GeneralRipper](#): > > _The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds of one or the other about us in our minds wherever we go._ > > -Martha Washington Possibly to a woman dying in childbirth on the dirt floor of a slave hovel after mild curiosity led her to the source of the incessant screaming annoying her during luncheon, rather as a buzzing mosquito would. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/95 "2014-07-09T03:07:23Z")
Said to me by my wife, after I complained that a “long”, relatively thoughtful post on FB was completely ignored: “It’s Facebook, not Brainbook.” ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/96 "2014-07-09T03:27:05Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Said to me by my wife, after I complained that a “long”, relatively thoughtful post on FB was completely ignored: > > “It’s Facebook, not Brainbook.” That is actually brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/97 "2014-07-09T17:27:07Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > It is easier to love humanity as a one whole than to love one’s neighbor. - Eric Hoffer Ha ha, “I love mankind – it’s people I hate!”" —Linus from “Peanuts” ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/98 "2014-07-09T17:34:08Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Possibly to a woman dying in childbirth on the dirt floor of a slave hovel after mild curiosity led her to the source of the incessant screaming annoying her during luncheon, rather as a buzzing mosquito would. You have a valid point. However, many of us know at least one person (I know more) who is always complaining and whining even in the best of circumstances, with a lovely family, enough to eat, and nothing much wrong at all. You could have two people in identical lives, identical circumstances, and it’s possible that one of them would be content, and the other one sullen and resentful. I think happiness is a toolbox that not everyone gets. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/99 "2014-07-10T02:31:09Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Ripley: Where the hell is earth? > Kane: Uh, you’re the navigator. Ahem. \ ***Lambert:** Where the hell is Earth? Kane: You’re the navigator. Ripley: That’s not our system.\* ---
**Author:** ![shivmongoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@shivmongoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shivmongoose)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510/100 "2015-11-18T20:16:02Z")
No one is ever completely useless. One can always serve as a bad example.\*\*\*\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-but-obscure-quotes/9510.md?page=6)