# Non-sensical, "profound" quotes, I pit thee. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 17, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586 "2004-05-17T12:56:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/21 "2004-05-18T10:36:08Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > “Hoooow do you aaaaaahsk a maaaaaaaaahn to be the laaaaaaahst maaaaaahn to diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie in Viet Naaaaaaahm?” If you’re quoting John Kerry, it’s “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” > [@Podkayne](#): > > There’s a reason that people have been quoting it for almost two hundred years. Yes, there is: it’s short. Also, it’s easy to remember and it sounds good. I can see why it’s popular, but I can’t say it strikes me as very deep. My personal un-favorite is any quote that begins “There are only two kinds of people in the world…” My own version is “There are only two kinds of people in the world: people who think there are only two kinds of people in the world, and people who aren’t idiots.” ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/22 "2004-05-18T11:00:04Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > “What if the Hokey Kokey really IS what it’s all about?” I don’t know about your strange country, but we had the hokey pokey :dubious: I love this, “There a 10 types of people in the world, those that understand binary and those that don’t.”… now that’s a quote that proves itself true! (“that’s only 2 people moron!”) The one I really hate is, “It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven.” WTF? Did anyone not notice this made no sense? It’s been a misquote for centuries. The real quote is, “it’s easier for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle…” Now there’s a quote that kinda makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/23 "2004-05-18T12:22:02Z")
> [@Who Stole My Name?](#): > > “There a 10 types of people in the world, those that understand binary and those that don’t.”… now that’s a quote that proves itself true! (“that’s only 2 people moron!”) heh heh…you so crayzay! ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/24 "2004-05-18T12:52:49Z")
Every damn word Derrida ever wrote. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/25 "2004-05-18T13:46:24Z")
There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who know trinary, those who don’t, and those who think it’s binary. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/26 "2004-05-18T13:53:40Z")
“Ah, they’re 1920’s style “death rays”.” ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/27 "2004-05-18T15:07:31Z")
> [@Michael Ellis](#): > > “Ah, they’re 1920’s style “death rays”.” If we’re going to include overused board clichees, this thread needs more cowbell. ---
**Author:** ![griffen2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce7236/32.png) [@griffen2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffen2)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/28 "2004-05-18T16:32:52Z")
The works of Barthes, Foucault, Derrida and Lacan are frigging goldmines for this sort of bullshit. Meaningless critical wankery, every word of it. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/29 "2004-05-18T16:56:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > My personal un-favorite is any quote that begins “There are only two kinds of people in the world…” My own version is “There are only two kinds of people in the world: people who think there are only two kinds of people in the world, and people who aren’t idiots.” “There are only two kinds of people in the world: Those who divide people into two different kinds, and those who don’t.” [Here](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mrichman.html) and [here](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mrichma2.html) are the SDSAB’s take on the “camel … eye … needle” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/30 "2004-05-18T17:12:34Z")
> [@Who Stole My Name?](#): > > I love this, “There a 10 types of people in the world, those that understand binary and those that don’t.”… now that’s a quote that proves itself true! (“that’s only 2 people moron!”) Damn! Now I have to change my sig for the first time in over a year. 😃 Time to start looking for something else. (it was due for a change anyway) ---
**Author:** ![Tiggrkitty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tiggrkitty/32/17966_2.png) [@Tiggrkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiggrkitty)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/31 "2004-05-18T18:05:22Z")
> [@Who Stole My Name](#): > > “There a 10 types of people in the world, those that understand binary and those that don’t.”… now that’s a quote that proves itself true! (“that’s only 2 people moron!”) Unless of course the 1 and 0 are representing two people and not ten. 🙂 It’s all in how you read it. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/32 "2004-05-18T18:07:06Z")
Who Stole My Name, who stole your name? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/33 "2004-05-18T18:50:13Z")
> [@jsleek](#): > > One bit of nonsense that irritates me is “Those who don’t know history will repeat it”. > > History does a lot of repeating, whether you know anything about it or not. Actually, it’s one of the very few quotes from a philosopher that makes sense. “Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana The reason it repeats is because of the idiots who don’t learn from the previous mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/34 "2004-05-18T18:52:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > My own version is “There are only two kinds of people in the world: people who think there are only two kinds of people in the world, and people who aren’t idiots.” Actually, there are three kinds of people in the world: those who can count and those who can’t. ;j ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/35 "2004-05-18T18:55:05Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > However, a little cold reflection, and it’s meaningless jibberish. Poetry doesn’t lend itself well to “cold reflection.” It’s about human beings and our emotions and how we relate to the world. This is not the logical expression “TRUTH = BEAUTY,” it’s a line of poetry. You also have to take into account that it’s the work of a romantic poet, and romantic poets are given to hyperbole and swooning and focusing on the ideal rather than the practical, and whatnot. And most importantly, you have to recognize that this is not the whole poem. I suggest a compromise: Taken out of context, and interpreted literally, it is indeed, obviously meaningless. Perhaps some people are ignorant of its origin and repeat it because they think it’s literally true or because they think it makes them look smart to quote it because it sounds all high-falutin’ and fancy, and it’s all well and good to look down your nose at people who do this. However, part of cultural literacy is supposed to be that a quote from a famous poem should just be a touchstone remind you of a larger poetic work. This is why they make you read all this junk in high school. You’re not supposed to think, “TAUTOLOGY! TAUTOLOGY! FALSE STATEMENT! TRUTH CAN BE UGLY! DOES NOT COMPUTE! FALSE STATEMENT! THIS IS NOT ALL YOU NEED KNOW!” You’re supposed to think, “Ah, yes, ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn,’” or at least, “Isn’t that Shakespeare or something?” If you are inclined to investigate further, perhaps you could Google and get a little more context: > [@](#): > > Thou [the urn] shalt remain, in midst of other woe > Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st, > ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all > Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.’ I interpret this to mean that when you behold a thing of beauty, it can, at least for a moment, open a window to the truth, and become, for a moment, the only truth that matters. That the experience of beauty allows human beings to have an experience of the truth in a manner that may not be acheivable by intellectual effort. Conversely, I also read into it that sometimes apprehending a great truth will give one an experience of beauty, as **Shade** says. Keats seems to be emphasizing that understanding a great truth and beholding something beautiful can give you the same feeling. I see something profound in that. You are, of course, free to disagree. Maybe it _is_ nothing but a crock. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/36 "2004-05-18T23:37:13Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Who Stole My Name, who stole your name? Whoever Go You Big Red Fire Engine is stole it… Hey, how did you change yours? ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/37 "2004-05-18T23:41:20Z")
> [@av8rmike](#): > > [Here](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mrichman.html) and [here](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mrichma2.html) are the SDSAB’s take on the “camel … eye … needle” thing. Hmmm… maybe I’ll never again trust the Reader’s Digest book of Strange Stories, Amazing facts! (strange but true!) ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/38 "2004-05-19T00:51:03Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Keats seems to be emphasizing that understanding a great truth and beholding something beautiful can give you the same feeling. > > I see something profound in that. You are, of course, free to disagree. Maybe it _is_ nothing but a crock. Or perhaps Keats is taking a more subversive approach here and actually decrying those who deem truth = beauty, and that’s all they need to know. It’s just an urn, after all, and really what does _it_ know? Basically what he said it does. My take on it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/39 "2004-05-19T01:49:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > If you’re quoting John Kerry, it’s “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” > **[How Do You Ask a Man to Be the Last Man to Die in Vietnam? | History News ...](http://hnn.us/articles/3631.html)** > > \\“One day he’s saying that we were shooting civilians, cutting off their ears, cutting off their heads, throwing away his medals or his ribbons,” Dole said. “The next day he’s standing there, ‘I want to be president because I’m a... Neener, neener, neener. Although, in all honesty, this was before he adopted the thundering, condescending droning that passes for his voice. Back then it was a much more subdued Northeastern faux-British accent. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586/40 "2004-05-19T14:04:44Z")
> [@Alma](#): > > Or perhaps Keats is taking a more subversive approach here and actually decrying those who deem truth = beauty, and that’s all they need to know. It’s just an urn, after all, and really what does _it_ know? Basically what he said it does. > > My take on it anyway. Is there anything particular in the text that leads you to this interpretation? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-sensical-profound-quotes-i-pit-thee/245586.md?page=3)