First, I'll tell you a bit about myself :)

 

 

 

I'm a Mechanical Engineering Major at the present time...drowning in a sea of math and science equations. I'm trying to graduate early, which unfortunately leaves me with little else but...math and science equations. So, I don't get the opportunity to read much good literature. However, I still enjoy and appreciate it, and every once in awhile, an excerpt just floors me. Perhaps, and hopefully, you've had a similar experience while reading...where an author overwhelms you with his/her respective manipulation of language and how effectively he/she conveys meaning in an elegantly employed fashion. Anyway, I have an example below, namely my favorite excerpt from literature. I'd appreciate it if you could include your own. :) Please and thank you,

 

 

 

Julio

 

 

 

--> From the Great Gatsby(By F. Scott Fitzgerald), "Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailorsÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ eyesÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ã

I'm not normally a huge fan of Shakespeare, but i'm studying Romeo and Juliet at school at the moment, and this little excerpt I found very powerful.

 

 

 

Romeo is describing his unrequited love for Rosaline to his friend Benvolio. I found the imagery so powerful.

 

 

 

Alas that love, whose view is muffled still, should without eyes see pathways to his will...Here's much to do with hate, but more with love. Why then, o brawling love, o loving hate, o any thing of nothing first create! O heavy lightness, serious vanity, mis-shapen chaos, of well seeming forms, feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, still waking sleep, that is not what it is! This love feel I, that feel no love in this.

 

 

 

He then goes on to say

 

 

 

Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs, being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers eyes, being vexed, a sea nourished with lovers tears, what is it else? A madness most discreet, a choking gall, and a preserving sweet.

 

 

 

Powerful stuff. :)

" its funny, Outside I was stright as an arrow, never doing anything wrong. I had to go to Prisen to become a Crook."

 

-Shawshank Repeption

 

That might not be it exactly but i do love it anyways.

" its funny, Outside I was stright as an arrow, never doing anything wrong. I had to go to Prisen to become a Crook."

 

-Shawshank Repeption

 

That might not be it exactly but i do love it anyways.

 

 

 

Best. Movie. Ever.

"Ash nazg durbatulÃÆÃâÃâûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulÃÆÃâÃâûk, agh burzum-ish krimpatul."

 

 

 

Which is of course, in the language of Mordor, 2 lines from the ubiquitous

 

"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

 

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

 

Nine for the Mortal Men doomed to die,

 

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne

 

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

 

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,

 

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

 

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."

 

 

 

I recently started reading the Silmarillion and have fallen back in love with Tolkien's literary linguistic and poetic genius.

 

 

 

 

 

I've also always been rather fond of this line from King Lear:

 

"But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter;

 

Or rather a disease that's in my flesh,

 

Which I must needs call mine: thou art a boil,

 

A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle,

 

In my corrupted blood." ~King Lear

The first paragraph of The Call of Cthulhu:

 

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

Zonorhc: I like it. What's the book about?

 

 

 

GSW, that King Lear quote is pretty vicious. Good stuff XD

 

 

 

Vashinred and Vito_Blade, there's a quote I really like from Shawshank:

 

 

 

We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men. Hell, we could have been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were the lords of all creation.

The soldier stood and faced God,

 

Which must always come to pass,

 

He hoped his shoes were shining,

 

Just as brightly as his brass.

 

"Step forward now, you soldier,

 

How shall I deal with you?

 

Have you always turned the other cheek?

 

To My Church have you been true?"

 

The soldier squared his shoulders and

 

said, "No, Lord, I guess I ain't,

 

Because those of us who carry guns,

 

Can't always be a saint.

 

I've had to work most Sundays,

 

And at times my talk was tough,

 

And sometimes I've been violent,

 

Because the world is awfully rough.

 

But, I never took a penny

 

That wasn't mine to keep...

 

Though I worked a lot of overtime

 

When the bills got just too steep,

 

And I never passed a cry for help,

 

Though at times I shook with fear,

 

And sometimes, God forgive me,

 

I've wept unmanly tears.

 

 

 

I know I don't deserve a place

 

Among the people here,

 

They never wanted me around,

 

Except to calm their fears.

 

 

 

If you've a place for me here, Lord,

 

It needn't be so grand,

 

I never expected or had too much,

 

But if you don't, I'll understand."

 

There was a silence all around the throne,

 

Where the saints had often trod,

 

As the soldier waited quietly,

 

For the judgment of his God.

 

 

 

"Step forward now, you soldier,

 

You've borne your burdens well,

 

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,

 

You've done your time in Hell."

 

 

 

Sgt. Joshua Helterbran

 

224th Engineer Battalion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just...WOW!

 

 

 

 

 

One sentence...

 

 

 

... and through the whispering rain he wept...

 

 

 

Just love it.

The soldier stood and faced God,

 

Which must always come to pass,

 

He hoped his shoes were shining,

 

Just as brightly as his brass.

 

"Step forward now, you soldier,

 

How shall I deal with you?

 

Have you always turned the other cheek?

 

To My Church have you been true?"

 

The soldier squared his shoulders and

 

said, "No, Lord, I guess I ain't,

 

Because those of us who carry guns,

 

Can't always be a saint.

 

I've had to work most Sundays,

 

And at times my talk was tough,

 

And sometimes I've been violent,

 

Because the world is awfully rough.

 

But, I never took a penny

 

That wasn't mine to keep...

 

Though I worked a lot of overtime

 

When the bills got just too steep,

 

And I never passed a cry for help,

 

Though at times I shook with fear,

 

And sometimes, God forgive me,

 

I've wept unmanly tears.

 

 

 

I know I don't deserve a place

 

Among the people here,

 

They never wanted me around,

 

Except to calm their fears.

 

 

 

If you've a place for me here, Lord,

 

It needn't be so grand,

 

I never expected or had too much,

 

But if you don't, I'll understand."

 

There was a silence all around the throne,

 

Where the saints had often trod,

 

As the soldier waited quietly,

 

For the judgment of his God.

 

 

 

"Step forward now, you soldier,

 

You've borne your burdens well,

 

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,

 

You've done your time in Hell."

 

 

 

Sgt. Joshua Helterbran

 

224th Engineer Battalion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just...WOW!

 

 

 

 

 

One sentence...

 

 

 

... and through the whispering rain he wept...

 

 

 

Just love it.

 

 

 

Wow :shock: . That could be the best poem ive ever read. Seriously.

 

 

 

What I came here to post was

 

The Road Goes Ever On

 

 

 

The Road goes ever on and on

 

Down from the door where it began.

 

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

 

And I must follow, if I can,

 

Pursuing it with eager feet,

 

Until it joins some larger way

 

Where many paths and errands meet.

 

And whither then? I cannot say.

 

 

 

-- J R R Tolkien

 

 

 

 

 

 

From LOTR and the Hobbit.

"Then said VairÃÆÃâÃâë:...there was a place of fair gardens in Valinor beside a silver sea. Now this place was near the confines of the realm but not far from KÃÆÃâÃâôr.... This was a time of joy to the children, for it was mostly at this hour that a new comrade would come down the lane called OlÃÆÃâÃâórÃÆÃâÃâë MallÃÆÃâÃâë or the Path of Dreams."

 

 

 

"Now in this place of gardens a high gate of lattice-work that shone golden in the dusk opened upon the lane of dreams, and from there led winding paths of high box to the fairest of all the gardens, and amidmost of the garden stood a white cottage. Of what it was built, nor when, no one knew, nor now knows, but it was said to me that it shone with a pale light, as it was of pearl, and its roof was a thatch, but a thatch of gold."

 

 

 

"Now the walls of the cottage were bent with age and its many small lattice windows were twisted into strange shapes. No one, 'tis said, dwelt in the cottage, which was however guarded secretly and jealously by the Eldar so that no harm came nigh it, and that yet might the children playing therein in freedom know of no guardian - ship."

 

 

 

"These too were the earliest children ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ã

Some of the last lines of animal farms.

 

Along the lines of...

 

 

 

"the pigs standing on their feet, and dressed began to fight with the men. Soon they were unable to tell the differance"

 

 

 

If yo uread it, you know. If you havent, you should read it.

Some of the last lines of animal farms.

 

Along the lines of...

 

 

 

"the pigs standing on their feet, and dressed began to fight with the men. Soon they were unable to tell the differance"

 

 

 

If yo uread it, you know. If you havent, you should read it.

 

 

 

The hidden intenitions of that book are well too overmasked by its childish nature. Anyway that is well before the ending. The ending is when the pigs change the name back to "Manor Farm"

The best argument against democracy is a 5-minute conversation with an average voter

 

 

 

The head of the Chinese olympic team coach Do Ping stated his team has a good chance of achieving medals this year

 

 

 

The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor roman, nor an empire.

 

 

 

Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.

 

 

 

If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.

 

 

 

Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.

A word to Bluelancer (and others):

 

 

 

The purpose of my post was not to enumerate a list of mere quotes. Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I should have been in my initial post. You see, Bluelancer, the quotes you've provided are short, succinct, and many of them dig at a point, presumably all of them are representative of your opinion. The nice thing about some of the other excerpts on this post is that you don't necessarily have to agree with the premise to appreciate the art in what's said. More important than the message is the method by which the author chose to get there.

 

 

 

An example: anyone can say, "It's a good thing humans are so naive", but the way H.P. Lovecraft wove language together for the paragraph Zonorhc presented to us is truely unique.

 

 

 

Please don't turn this into a post of quips and clever sayings. Try to confine your submissions to "verbal art", if I could be so bold as to call it that ;)

 

 

 

That being said, I guess you can post as you please, but as the author of this post, I'm just elaborating on my intent :)

 

 

 

Oh, and Insane, I haven't gotten to yours yet, I'll post later when I get a chance to read the full chapter :)

I know this isn't quite what you're looking for.

 

It's short.

 

But this makes me smile every single time I hear it.

 

It's the title of an Explosions In The Sky cd.

 

 

 

"The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place."

 

 

 

Weird how 8 words can change your mood completely.

There was one from the Illustrated Man that I can't remember exactly, but a man falling through the atmosphere said something along the lines of "I wonder if anyone will notice me"

 

 

 

I should try and find it later... :P

 

 

 

EDIT: Found it and another that I really liked from the same book

 

 

 

A man came by this small farm warning these people of the world which was getting destroyed (or something like that, can't remember totally). The farmer replied:

 

 

 

What do they mean, 'the world'?

 

 

 

This is the one about the guy falling through the atmosphere

 

 

 

When I hit the atmosphere, I'll burn like a meteor. "I wonder," he said, "if anyone will see me?"

Might not be as "poetic" as you like but I absolutely love it.

Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll give it a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Send in the marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a [cabbage]. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number was called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the [wagon]. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his [wagon] got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his [wagon] is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what do I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president.

A word to Bluelancer (and others):

 

 

 

The purpose of my post was not to enumerate a list of mere quotes. Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I should have been in my initial post. You see, Bluelancer, the quotes you've provided are short, succinct, and many of them dig at a point, presumably all of them are representative of your opinion. The nice thing about some of the other excerpts on this post is that you don't necessarily have to agree with the premise to appreciate the art in what's said. More important than the message is the method by which the author chose to get there.

 

 

 

An example: anyone can say, "It's a good thing humans are so naive", but the way H.P. Lovecraft wove language together for the paragraph Zonorhc presented to us is truely unique.

 

 

 

Please don't turn this into a post of quips and clever sayings. Try to confine your submissions to "verbal art", if I could be so bold as to call it that ;)

 

 

 

That being said, I guess you can post as you please, but as the author of this post, I'm just elaborating on my intent :)

 

 

 

Oh, and Insane, I haven't gotten to yours yet, I'll post later when I get a chance to read the full chapter :)

 

 

 

Duh, I know that. Just wanted some relief on such a dry thread, not to say some of these excerpts aren't good though. :)

 

 

 

Might not be as "poetic" as you like but I absolutely love it.

 

 

 

That's a real quote or just a random one written by someone? If it's real, I'm amazed at how honest somebody can be. The text is so true.

^^^Sorry, forgot to attribute it. It's from Good Will Hunting.^^^

Might not be as "poetic" as you like but I absolutely love it.

Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll give it a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Send in the marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a cabbage. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number was called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the wagon. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his wagon got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his wagon is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what do I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president.

 

 

 

Damn. That was a good one! :D

Logic's quote is from Good Will Hunting, as he said. Matt Damon is the one who says it, and he does a damn good job of it.

 

 

 

But anyways, is this topic supposed to include movie quotes? I know we've got a few, I was just wondering. There is already a topic about Movie quotes in M&M, so it seems to me like this should just be from novels and the like.

 

 

 

Having said that, my favourite quote would have to be John Galt's speech in Atlas Shrugged. I didn't post it here for the simple fact that it is 80+ pages long, but it is all one speech, with no interuptions. That counts as a quote, right?

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

 

 

 

"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.

 

 

 

"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.

Zonorhc: I like it. What's the book about?

 

The Call of Cthulhu is about forbidden knowledge and man's meddling in affairs that are beyond the limits of his imagination. It's heavy on the whole "things that exist that shouldn't" thing.

 

 

 

For any takers, you can find all of H.P. Lovecraft's work here.

". . . it don't never matter how poor you are as long as you've got something to love." - Mrs. Merrill from Anne of Windy Poplars by Lucy Maud Montgomery. =D>

 

Having said that, my favourite quote would have to be John Galt's speech in Atlas Shrugged. I didn't post it here for the simple fact that it is 80+ pages long, but it is all one speech, with no interuptions. That counts as a quote, right?

 

 

 

Ha, that's one intense speech. I was kind of bored by the end. I may have skipped a few bits... it was so repetitive. That said, John Galt was an incredibly sexy character. I'm serious, while reading both Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead I'd sometimes have to stop because I'd be turned on because the characters were so damn intriguing and attractive. :D

 

 

 

The Good Will Hunting quote is a classic too. Then again, that movie has a lot of classic quotes. It's one of the most well-written (and acted!) movies out there, IMO. :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for more literature quotes...

 

 

 

The entire Steppenwolf excerpt in Steppenwolf, by Hermann Hesse. Also, the entire section in the Magic Theater - so surreal! and brilliant! That book changed the way I think about life and the world immensely. In fact, I think it was upon reading Steppenwolf that I matured a huge amount as an individual.

 

 

 

For more "great lines," read "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. If you're too lazy for that, just look up Oscar Wilde quotes on google. They're so much fun :D Also, brilliant and intuitive about human nature.

 

 

 

mm.. I'll think of more later :D