From Asimov’s Foundation and Empire (quote from memory, not verbatim):
BRODRIG (to Foundation merchant Lathan Devers): Riose has been much too gentle with you. If you were my prisoner, I would have had your abdomen slit open and strangled you with your own intestines.
Michael Moorcock, via Hawkwind:
“…thou shalt see me at Philippi.”
Caesar’s ghost to Brutus, JULIUS CÆSAR, Act IV scene iii
“Death solves all problems. No man, no problem.”—Stalin
“At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth in their military chests; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in the trial of a thousand years.
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”
—Abraham Lincoln
"The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown.
The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘Save us!’…
… and I’ll look down, and whisper ‘No.’"
-Rorschach, Watchmen
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
— H. L. Mencken
:smack: Sorry, Rubystreak. I was looking for a good Mencken nugget and was even wondering where I’d read that one before. I offer instead the following:
The cynics are right nine times out of ten. –H.L.M.
My favorite Poe quote always sends a chill down my spine.
“Out—out are the lights—out all!
And over each quivering form,
The curtain, a funeral pall,
Comes down with the rush of a storm,
And the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy, “Man,”
And its hero the Conqueror Worm.”
From Ligeia
I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat and snicker
And in short, I was afraid.
I have no idea who said this or where, but it does send chills down my spine.
Any ideas where it comes from?
It appeared in a similar thread to this one. IIRC, I found it on e-budo.com,
Regards,
Shodan
From Twin Peaks, the Giant to Agent Cooper: “It is happening again.”
When that particular episode was first aired I slept with the lights on.
If we’re talking poetry, then it’s got to be Larkin:-
And so it stays just on the edge of vision,
A small, unfocused blur, a standing chill
That slows each impulse down to indecision.
Most things may never happen: this one will,
And realisation of it rages out
In furnace-fear when we are caught without
People or drink. Courage is no good:
It means not scaring others. Being brave
Lets no one off the grave.
Death is no different whined at than withstood. (From ‘Aubade’)
“My mother? , Let me tell you about my mother” -Bladerunner
Even better (IMHO):
“Perhaps you think you’re being treated unfairly?”
Norman Bates, “She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven’t you?”
But those behind cried, “Forward!”
And those before cried, “Back!”
Thomas Macaulay, Horatius
“But what good came of it at last?”
Quoth little Peterkin.
“Why, that I cannot tell,” said he,
“But 'twas a famous victory.”
Robert Southey, The Battle of Blenheim
And some more Goering…
Hopefully no one has already posted this; From Chrono Trigger, by Square, for the Super NES and Super Famicom.
-Janus Zeal, aka The Magus
Said in a soliloquoy before he confronts the main villain in one of the game’s alternate endings. He actually has a lot of good quotes, like;
when the heroes confront him.
CT centered on time travel, and Magus is a major character who, obsessed with thoughts of revenge, ends up becoming the game’s second most important villain. His own civilization was wiped out by Lavos, and he was sent to another time, where he leads a bloody war of hatred against humanity while seeking a way to kill Lavos, an almost immortal destroyer of worlds. Later in the game, he is sent back to his homeland’s final days, but fails to get his revenge.
He has always been a favorite character of mine, because he’s bad without being totally evil; he joins the good guys, but never repents or turns good himself; and because while he is a dark and tragic figure, he never comes across as some whiney, pretentious, gothic mary-sue like so many other attempts at the archetype do. He always remains cold, aristocratic, and sinister; a ruthless menace lurking in the shadows.
“But why do you always speak in riddles?”
“When our children were dying you did nothing to help. Now God help your children.”
“This does not bode well.”–Howard the Duck
“Michael, why are the drapes open?”–Kay Adams Corleon
(Very not verbatim)
From The Naming by Alison Croggon:
She fainted, unaware of the commotion.
The walls of Pellinor were falling.