“We excel on ice,” - Washington Generals owner Red Klotz
And now, for something completely different…
What do you do here, John?
You go for it, Pat. You have to.
But Falco’s been shut down by this defense all afternoon.
Yeah, but all it takes is one big play to get back in this ball game…
Another Churchill quote:
“Never in the course of human endeavour has so much been owed by so many to so few.”
*Come, my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. *
Ulysses, Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“My right is driven in, my center is giving way, the situation is excellent, I attack!”
Marshal Foch, Battle of the Marne, 1914
“More weight.” – Giles Corey
“Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht Anders tun. Gott hilfe mir. Amen.” (“Here I stand. I can do nothing else. God help me. Amen.”) – Martin Luther (attributed)
“Bearing ourselves humbly before God … we await undismayed the impending assault … be the ordeal sharp or long, or both, we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no parlay; we may show mercy – we shall ask for none.” – Winston Churchill
“My flanks are something for the enemy to worry about, not me. Before he finds out where my flanks are, I’ll be cutting the bastard’s throat.” – General George S. Patton
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
-Hunter S Thompson
Regards,
Shodan
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. "
- Teddy Roosevelt
As an aside, the Churchill quotes give me shivers every time I read them.
Yeah, but David kinda stole the bit about feeding flesh to the birds and the beasts from Goliath!
The story of David is my favorite biblical story though, so I’ll overlook that.
"Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad–why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. Valor pleases you, Crom… so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to HELL with you! "
Conan the Barbarian
“A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.”
- Jack Dempsey
“Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.”
- Muhammad Ali
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese proverb
My absolute favorite line of defiance of all time, spoken when the Borg were still a scary threat and not when Janeway “wrote the book” on them
“A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts.” - Steve Prefontaine
Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.
AT Bastogne, during the battle of the bulge
Germans had surrounded the town
and asked for the American surrender
Then Lieutenant Colonial Harry W.O. Kinnard
suggested as the reply.
“Nuts”
Paraphrased, because it’s been a while since I’ve listened to these tunes:
“Bleed me, beat me, kill me, take me now–before I change my mind.”
– Jesus, in Jesus Christ Superstar.
“For we couldn’t leave her there, you see, to crumble into scale
She’d saved our lives so many times, living through the gale
And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to a sorry grave
They won’t be laughing in another day.
And you to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.”
– Stan Rogers, “The Mary Ellen Carter.” It’s probably not well-known to most here, so I’ll explain. The song concerns a Nova Scotia fishing vessel that sank in a storm. The boat means a lot to the fishermen who worked on the vessel, and they want to raise the boat; they feel they owe it to the boat, which has seen them through some very difficult times. But the boat’s owners won’t let them and take the easy way out–they accept the insurance money, and leave the boat at the bottom of the sea. The fishermen decide to raise the boat anyway. Overall, the song is about defying those who tell you that you cannot do something, that you should at least make the effort regardless of what others say. We never learn from the lyrics if the fishermen were successful in raising the Mary Ellen Carter, but the point is that they try.
Stan Rogers. God, what a great musician he was!
They were afraid, never having learned what I taught myself: Defeat the fear of death and welcome the death of fear.
–G. Gordon Liddy
If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.
–David Livingstone
I will not live an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live, so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom, and that which came to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.
–Dawna Markova
I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind
Some come from ahead and some come from behind.
But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready you see.
Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!
–Dr. Seuss
When you have come to the edge of all the light you have and it’s time to take a step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is believing that one of two things will happen to you: either there will be something solid for you to stand on or you will learn to fly.
–Edward Teller
To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental,
To reach out to another is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self,
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss,
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk to failure.
But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.
Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
And the realist adjusts the sails.
–William Arthur Ward, “To Risk”
When you have reached a point at which you cannot see more, you must remember that there may be a point beyond this at which you can see everything.
–Mehmet Karagoz
Do it the hard way! Think ahead of your job. Then nothing in the world can keep the job ahead from reaching out for you. Do it better than it need be done. Next time doing it will be child’s play. Let no one or anything stand between you and the difficult task, let nothing deny you this rich chance to gain strength by adversity, confidence by mastery, success by deserving it. Do it better each time. Do it better than anyone else can do it. I know this sounds old-fashioned. It is, but it has built the world.
–Harlow H. Curtice
First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.
–Mahatma Gandhi
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.
–Phillips Brooks
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
–Thomas Paine
“The wise man in a storm prays to God not for safety from danger but for deliverance from fear.”–Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Never strike first. Strike second - and last.” - some sci-fi book whose title escapes me