# The one line that sold you... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2006, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125 "2006-06-02T08:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/81 "2006-06-05T22:30:58Z")
> [@ArrMatey!](#): > > “His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a g-d. He prefered to drop the Maha and Atman, however, and just call himself Sam. He never claimed to be a g-d, but then again, he never claimed not to be…” > -The opening of _Lords of Light_ by Zelazny. One of the first ‘adult’ sci-fi’s I ever read. You beat me to it. One of the best novels ever. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/82 "2006-06-07T12:21:25Z")
The first line of Robert Heinlein’s Double Star has always struck me as a classic for setting up a whole world, and the character, as well: > [@](#): > > If a man walks in dressed like a hick and acting as if he owned the place, he’s a space man. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/83 "2006-06-07T14:18:49Z")
> [@](#): > > I need to prove to my friends that I’m worth a damn. Sometimes, that means dying, sometimes, that means killing a whole bunch of people. Sin City > [@](#): > > When I was little, I used to think of killing my daddy. the first line of the book _Ellen Foster_. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/84 "2006-06-07T14:53:17Z")
Entertaining thread! A few I can think of: Like a few other posters, **Arrested Development** just about had me from hello. Lucille and Michael’s initial exchange was hilarious. “Look what the homosexuals have done to me.” “Can’t you just comb it out and re-set it?” After hearing an interview with John Krasinski on the radio, I decided to finally check out **The Office**. The first episode I saw was _The Injury_, when Michael accidentally burned his foot on his George Foreman grill. The scene with Michael, Jim, and Dwight in the van on the way to the hospital was one of the funniest things I’ve seen on TV in a long long time, and within two weeks I had downloaded the whole season from iTunes to catch up. \*“You can’t fire me I don’t work in this van!” \* And to toss one musical selection in, how about _Winter_ by **Tori Amos**. I had been familiar with her stuff for a while, but didn’t really get into her until _A Sorta Fairy Tale_ came along. But I became an instant die-hard fan when I heard _Winter_. _When you gonna make up your mind? When you gonna love you as much as I do? When you gonna make up your mind? Cause things are gonna change so fast All the white horses have gone ahead I tell you that I’ll always want you near You say that things change my dear_ Now that I have a daughter it makes me cry like a baby when I hear it, but it’s still one of my favorite songs. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/85 "2006-06-07T14:58:26Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > The first line of Robert Heinlein’s Double Star has always struck me as a classic for setting up a whole world, and the character, as well: I’d forgotten that line; it reminds me why Heinlein was more than just another science fiction writer. And another thing thatwas so powerful about that single line is that it allows you to create a complete mental picture of what such a character would look like and how he would act. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/86 "2006-06-07T17:37:57Z")
I was feeeling a little meh about the first Liz Phair album _Exile In Guyville_ until I got to the last song, “Strange Loop”. In the second refrain: “I always wanted you/But I only wanted more than I knew” Then, when got to the end of her second, _Whip-Smart_, in “May Queen”: “Got any what?/Disease, hashish, a mind?” I really identified with the spirit of the first example, and dug the attitude (that I heard, at least) in her voice in the second. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/87 "2006-06-07T18:14:13Z")
**Mission of Burma** : \*That’s when I reach for my revolver That’s when it all gets blown away \* ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/88 "2006-06-07T18:31:56Z")
m standin at the crossroads Tryin to read the signs To tell me which way I should Go to find the answer And all the time I know Let your love and let it grow. _Let It Grow_ by Clapton ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/89 "2006-06-07T18:49:50Z")
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Gallaxy got me early on with this line (from memory so forgive me I know it is a bit off) > [@close aproximation of what Douglas Adams wrote in H2G2](#): > > …one Thursday 2000 years after a man had been nailed to a tree for saying “wouldn’t it be great if everyone were nice to everyone for a change” a girl sitting on her own in a cafe in London had the answer. This time it was right, it would work and nobody would have to get nailed to anything. > > This is not her story. I had been a casual fan of Bob Dylan for a while, but when I heard this line from It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue I was hooked. It’s still one of my favorite songs. > [@Bob Dylan](#): > > Yonder stands your orphan, with his gun > Crying like a fire in the sun. Same with Pink Floyd’s song Wish You Were Here > [@](#): > > Did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a leading role in a cage ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/90 "2006-06-07T18:52:48Z")
I remember saying something like["I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive…"](http://www.amazon.com/gp/sitbv3/reader/ref=sib_fs_bod/103-8681848-7603001?%5Fencoding=UTF8&pageID=S00E&asin=0679785892&checkSum=Hi2gYlymFZ92R2Q9Z22qOMwrRVzepM5BvtFuhyohlho%3D) and suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/91 "2006-06-07T19:09:22Z")
The line that got me hooked on the show and reinspired me to buy the DVDs all over again when I saw a few episodes this weekend in Philly? “Mr. McGee, don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” _The First_ is one of the best episodes of that show. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/92 "2006-06-07T19:23:33Z")
The first episode of “24” I ever tried was the premiere of Season 2. And it had what’s still one of Jack’s best lines ever – and I knew I would love the series. “I’m gonna need a hacksaw.” (Context, for non-24 fans: He’d just shot a guy in witness protection, a criminal due to testify against another baddie. Reason – to quickly re-establish himself undercover with this baddie. Reason for hacksaw? He needed to take the guy’s head to the baddie to prove he’d killed the witness). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/93 "2006-06-07T20:05:34Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > Like a few other posters, **Arrested Development** just about had me from hello. Lucille and Michael’s initial exchange was hilarious. > > “Look what the homosexuals have done to me.” > “Can’t you just comb it out and re-set it?” I can’t even pick with _Arrested Development_, but the line that got me might have been “And so Tobias boarded a van full of homosexuals.” > [@](#): > > how about _Winter_ by **Tori Amos**. That’s a wonderful passage and I feel pretty much the same way about it. I always quote the following bit when we do “best lyrics” threads, and even though I already liked Tori at this point, it still floors me: _Give me life Give me pain Give me my self again_ ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/94 "2006-06-07T21:40:29Z")
From Buffy first season ep, “The Pack”, the first time I saw the show. Giles: Xander’s taken to teasing the less fortunate? Buffy: Uh-huh. Giles: And, there’s been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor? Buffy: Yes. Giles: And, well, otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles. Buffy: It’s bad, isn’t it. Giles: It’s devastating. He’s turned into a sixteen-year-old boy. ‘Course, you’ll have to kill him. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/95 "2006-06-07T22:03:05Z")
My favorite book while I was growing up was _The Westing Game_, by Ellen Raskin. I must’ve read it 50 or 60 times. I was hooked from the first line… > [@](#): > > The sun sets in the west. Just about everybody knows that. But Sunset Towers faced east. Strange! ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/96 "2006-06-08T00:56:30Z")
He said it’s all in your head, I said so’s everything, but he didn’t get it . . . **Fiona Apple** , written pre Matrix even. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/97 "2006-06-08T03:50:59Z")
“Teppic had learned how not to move stealthily. Millions of years of being eaten by creatures that know how to move stealthily has made humanity very good at spotting stealthy movement. Nor was it enough to make no noise, because little moving patches of silence always aroused suspicion. The trick was to glide through the night with a quiet reassurance, just like the air did.” –Pyramids, Terry Pratchett About half the book Small Gods by the same author consists of great lines. The first lines of most William Gibson stories or books. He writes some of the best openers. “I ache for the touch of your lips, dear But much more for the touch of your whips, dear” – Masochism Tango, Tom Lehrer “The man in black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed.” – The Gunslinger, Stephen King The first page of Barry Ween, boy genius #2. It made me laugh so hard that my stomach hurt and immediately made me want to find the others. “It is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters’-and-rabbits’ wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea.” – Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas “I’d rather die Than give you control” – Head Like a Hole, Nine Inch Nails “Father William saved her from the streets She drank the lifeblood from the savior’s feet She’s Sister Mary now, eyes as cold as ice He takes her once a week On the alter like a sacrifice” – Spreading the Disease, Queensryche “Drive another nail in Got enough guilt to start My own religion” – Crucify, Tori Amos Lots of other favorites, like Lord of Light have already been mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125/98 "2006-06-08T04:46:11Z")
I’m a huge Leonard Cohen fan so it’s pretty tough to choose the lines that really hooked me, but from _Last Year’s Man_: > [@](#): > > I came upon a wedding that old families had contrived; > Bethlehem the bridegroom, > Babylon the bride. > Great Babylon was naked, oh she stood there trembling for me, > and Bethlehem inflamed us both > like the shy one at some orgy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-line-that-sold-you/359125.md?page=4)