“First you will be baked, and then there will be…cake.” - Glados
" Bobby: Which way we goin’, then?
Lewis: Well, downstream would be a good idea."
“He’s got a real pretty mouth on him, don’t he?”
from Deliverance (1972)
“Somewhere, just out of sight, the unicorns are gathering.”
– Message-button sometimes seen at SF cons.
“You can’t outrun that bear!”
“I don’t have to outrun him. I just have to outrun you.”
– Up a Creek
PRIVATE BALDRICK: What if I step on a mine?
CAPTAIN BLACKADDER: The usual procedure, Baldrick, is to leap straight up in the air and disperse yourself over a wide area.
– Blackadder Goes Forth
And I suspect hand gestures may have been involved ![]()
They’re BEARS. Why are they being so secretive? Why don’t they allow outsiders at their gatherings? What are they hiding?
(alright, how about this)
"It’s raining in Washington tonight.
Plump, warm summer rain that covers the sidewalks with leopard spots. Downtown, elderly ladies carry their houseplants out to set them on the fire escapes, as if they were infirm relatives or boy kings.
I like that.
My name is Jason Woodrue. Doctor Jason Woodrue. I’m here in my apartment. I’m watching the rain . . .
…and I’m thinking about the old man.
He’ll be pounding on the glass right about now . . . or maybe not now. Maybe in a while.
But he’ll be pounding, and . . . and will there be blood? I like to imagine so. Yes, I rather think there will be blood.
Lots of blood.
Blood in extraordinary quantities."
—the first lines of “The Anatomy Lesson”, from the beginning of Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing
“Taylor, I’m really happy for you. I’ll let you finish, but …"
Oooh, thanks, I hadn’t thought of this one. Great quote, especially when you’re on a rampage in TF2 and have it readily macroed.
“The press, the machine, the railway, the telegraph are premises whose thousand-year conclusion no one has yet dared to draw.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“They gon’ go medieval on his ass!”
– Pulp Fiction
An unknown US Army officer describing his unit’s goal: “Kill the enemy and break all his shit.”
SYNDROME–
Oh, I’m real. Real enough to defeat you! And I did it
without your precious gifts, your oh-so-special powers. I’ll give them heroics.
I’ll give them the most spectacular heroics anyone’s ever seen! And when I’m
old and I’ve had my fun, I’ll sell my inventions so that everyone can be
superheroes. Everyone can be super. And when everyone’s super…no one will be.
Ah, yes, Nietzsche is very good for ominous quotes. For instance, “Most higher culture is based on cruelty.” (From A Fish Called Wanda, quoted by dumbass Otto so who knows if it’s authentic. Regardless, I have resolved, if I ever become a schoolteacher, I will make sure to write that on the blackboard the first day of class. :D)
Quoted from memory from some short story, so it’s probably not completely accurate.
“Have you ever heard the joke, ‘Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil - because I’m the meanest SOB in the Valley’ ? Well, we humans are in the position we are today because we were the meanest SOBs in our valley. So keep in mind when we meet these aliens; they are in the position they are, because they were the meanest SOBs in their valley.”
From a short story named Fractal Paisley; the protagonist has been fooling with a magic-tech limited AI device stolen from a time traveller; something that apparently can do almost anything. He finally screws up and creates this all consuming mirrored spheroid that’s just absorbing everything it’s coming into contact with. Which leads to this exchange:
Protagonist: “How big is that thing going to get ?”
AI: “I’m not sure. How big is this planet ?”
From Modern Warfare 2, the part which always unnerves me the most is bolded:
“PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY RESIDENTS ARE INSTRUCTED TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT AT 147 KIRKWOOD AVE. PICK-UPS EVERY 15 MINUTES FROM COMMUNITY COLLEGE CAMPUS IN UNIVERSITY TOWN. /// EMERGENCY EVACUATION IN PROGRESS. /// HEAD IMMEDIATELY TO YOUR NEAREST SERVICE SHELTER. TROOPS WILL BE THERE TO MEET YOU. BRING A PHOTO ID AND NO MORE THAN ONE BAGGAGE ITEM PER PERSON. /// BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS. REMAIN ALERT.”
— Emergency Broadcast System
Of course, this all has to do with who is being addressed.
In terms of games, I don’t think anything has ever topped Fallout’s “War. War never changes.” in ominosity.
“What’s he building in there?
What the hell is he building in there?”
Also, Discworld’s DEATH has a couple of nice ones.
“I AM DEATH, NOT TAXES. I TURN UP ONLY ONCE.”
“WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?
The Death of Rats looked up from his feast of potato.
SQUEAK, he said.
Death waved a hand dismissively. WELL, YES, OBVIOUSLY ME, he said. I JUST WONDERED IF THERE WAS ANYONE ELSE.”
“I meant,” said Iplsore bitterly, “what is there in this world that makes living worthwhile?” Death thought about it. “CATS,” he said eventually, “CATS ARE NICE.”