Your favourite saying?

[Revan]

Manyb saying and quotes have become famous over the course of human history... which one stick with you? Which ones means the most and why?

Here are some of my favourites:

F. Forrester Church:
Religion is the human response to being alive and having to die.

This one I often consider true, and have said so many times. Religion is Man's answer to death; so this is why I like this saying, why I agree with it.

James F. Bymes:
Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death

This again rings true to me... especially in the world we are living in today (We see it in America and Britian... laws beings changed to give us a more "Secure" lifestyle); some people are so focused on being safe, on being secure that they often forget themselves.

Well, they're just a couple of mine, I'll post more soon, what are yours?

[Lord Mhoram]

I am a huge fan of Heraclitus:

The ape apes find most beautiful looks apish to non-apes.

The river where you set your foot just now is gone - those waters giving way to this, now this.

The oneness of all wisdom may be found, or not, unde god.

I have an entire book of his fragments - they're awesome.

[Nathan]

To an American, 200 years seems like a long time. To an Englishman, 200 miles seems like a long way.

[Avatar]

I am a huge fan of Heraclitus...

]They told me, Heraclitus, they told me you were dead,
They brought me bitter news to hear and bitter tears to shed.
I wept as I remember'd how often you and I
Had tired the sun with talking and sent him down the sky.

And now that thou art lying, my dear old Carian guest,
A handful of grey ashes, long, long ago at rest,
Still are thy pleasant voices, thy nightingales, awake;
For Death, he taketh all away, but them he cannot take.

That poem has always struck a chord in me...I learned it years ago.

Like that one too Nathan.

Favourite sayings huh?

I'll have to think about it. Lots and lots really...

--A

[matrixman]

"Religion is the opium of the masses." - Karl Marx

Not sure I can forgive him for coming up with Communism (guess what, Karl, it doesn't work) but I'm in agreement with his view on religion (as applied to the organized kind, at any rate).

[aTOMiC]

"If you can't tell the difference what difference does is make?" - Tom Cummins

[matrixman]

Using your own quotes? Brilliant, TOM! I should try to think up something on my own too. Give me a few years...

[Worm of Despite]

And the day will come, when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as His Father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva, in the brain of Jupiter.
-Thomas Jefferson

Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.
-Robert A. Heinlein

To have a positive religion is not necessary. To be in harmony with yourself and the universe is what counts, and this is possible without positive and specific formulation in words.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.
-Peter O’Toole

[aTOMiC]

Using your own quotes? Brilliant, TOM! I should try to think up something on my own too. Give me a few years...

Thanks, MM. I think everyone has a personal saying that is just waiting to be released. You'll find yours. My saying ties into the Matrix quite well. I'd be one of the guys that would say. "Its all good. I don't wanna know. If I can't tell the difference, what difference does it make? Steak still tastes like steak so what do I care?"

[Prom_STar]

"Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." -- James 5:16

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but agaisnt the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." -- Ephesians 6:12

"And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses that the power of Christ may dwell in me, Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong" -- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (Emphasis mine)

And of course the two little tidbits in my sig (both of which I wrote )

The first translates "Whatever comes, this I know for sure: I am redeemed." -- what makes it cool is the word for redeemed there literally means "bought (purchased) back." Real cool Christ-parallels

The second translates: "If diamonds were plentiful they'd have no value. Real (or genuine or true) value does not come from beauty--it comes from rarity."

Why post them in German? Because I'm just that much of a nerd

[Worm of Despite]

I've gotten my bombastic atheist quotes out of the way. Onto the good stuff:

Natural, reckless, correct skill;
Yesterday's clarity is today's stupidity
The universe has dark and light, entrust oneself to change
One time, shade the eyes and gaze afar at the road of heaven.
Ikkyu

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

As the same fire assumes different shapes When it consumes objects differing in shape, So does the one Self take the shape Of every creature in whom he is present.
Marcus Aurelius

People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.
Epictetus

Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit.
Epictetus

[Revan]

To an American, 200 years seems like a long time. To an Englishman, 200 miles seems like a long way.

heh, good one. My dad went to America once, and when he asked where's the nearest bar, the America girl said around the corner, when my dad went to walk, she said "you're going there? It's 25 miles!" heh.

People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.
Epictetus

I like that one... it's similar with the "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" - so is fear.

1. I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.

[Worm of Despite]

Glad you liked the Epictetus quote, Darth. My favorite philosopher, by the way. I have his Discourses and Enchiridion.

Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast.
Epictetus

What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows.
Epictetus

When you close your doors, and make darkness within, remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone; nay, God is within, and your genius is within. And what need have they of light to see what you are doing?
Epictetus

[Prebe]

I'd join you on that one MM, but:

Not sure I can forgive him for coming up with Communism

He died a long time before his words were misconstrued.

[Worm of Despite]

I'd join you on that one MM, but:

Not sure I can forgive him for coming up with Communism

He died a long time before his words were misconstrued.

Yeah. Marx and Stalinist Russia = two very different worlds. Communism as Marx described it has never truly been implemented.

[High Lord Tolkien]

I'd join you on that one MM, but:

Not sure I can forgive him for coming up with Communism

He died a long time before his words were misconstrued.

Yeah. Marx and Stalinist Russia = two very different worlds. Communism as Marx described it has never truly been implemented.

They both suck.

[Prebe]

There, there HLT. There, there.

The commies are dead. And those left can't hurt you

[Zarathustra]

"Belief is the death of intelligence. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence." [Robert Anton Wilson on model agnosticism.]

I love that one, though it is hard to live up to. However, it is the foundational attitude of any good anarchist neophile.

"Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly." [Leviticus 25:44-46, NIV Bible.]

That's one of my favorite quotes from the Bible. I use it when people ask me why I don't think the Bible is the Word of God. Once, a black woman knocked on my door, peddling her religion, and this one left her speechless.

[onewyteduck]

So shallow, but here goes......"I yam wot I yam!"

[drew]

"Love Thy Neighbor as thyself."

It's in the Bible.
-and in lots of other teachings from most world religions.

We learned it in school as:

"Do on to others, as you would have them do on to you."