What is the greatest sentence ever written in human history?

3 months ago by stermy4u to c/asklemmy

baronvonj 127 points 3 months ago

"A Florida woman has been accused of entering the penguin enclosure to teach them to tap dance, using a live alligator as her partner."

path: 0 24548810, hotness: undefined, score: 127, children: 10
Remember_the_tooth 60 points 3 months ago

I can't fix her. She's already perfect.

path: 0 24548810 24550804, hotness: undefined, score: 60, children: 4
Cherry 7 points 3 months ago

I know. I do wish I was her.

path: 0 24548810 24550804 24553591, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 2
Remember_the_tooth 11 points 3 months ago

Don't let your dreams stay dreams. I'm not saying it will be easy. Get an alligator and a pineapple costume. Sign up for tap lessons and bring them along. Volunteer as a docent at your local zoo. Success isn't guaranteed, but I bet you'll be surprised with how far you get.

path: 0 24548810 24550804 24553591 24553745, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 1
Cherry 8 points 3 months ago

Thank you for your faith,…the alligator is likely to be my biggest challenge. Maybe a baby croc…or a Winnie dog in an alligator outfit…..it’s the same thing really. I don’t suppose I even have to learn tap to teach it. So there’s a few hurdles down.

path: 0 24548810 24550804 24553591 24553745 24553788, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 0
SaveTheTuaHawk 5 points 3 months ago

Does she have a sister?

path: 0 24548810 24550804 24556607, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 0
tal 26 points 3 months ago path: 0 24548810 24549458, hotness: undefined, score: 26, children: 1
baronvonj 11 points 3 months ago

I mean, fake or not, it's just such a great sentence.

path: 0 24548810 24549458 24551932, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 0
kibblebits 4 points 3 months ago

I need this pineapple costume.

path: 0 24548810 24549085, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
kirop 3 points 3 months ago

I believe we have a winner lmfao

path: 0 24548810 24552002, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
ksh 0 points 3 months ago

I like her

path: 0 24548810 24565734, hotness: undefined, score: 0, children: 0
CelloMike 89 points 3 months ago

"In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very unhappy and has been widely regarded as a bad move."

path: 0 24553554, hotness: undefined, score: 89, children: 8
EvilHankVenture 27 points 3 months ago

I'd agree, but that's 2 sentences.

path: 0 24553554 24554501, hotness: undefined, score: 27, children: 7
CelloMike 21 points 3 months ago

Dammit

Okay imagine there's a semicolon there instead

path: 0 24553554 24554501 24555508, hotness: undefined, score: 21, children: 6
MajorMajormajormajor 24 points 3 months ago

"In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very unhappy and has been widely regarded as a bad move.";

Still doesn't work.

path: 0 24553554 24554501 24555508 24557330, hotness: undefined, score: 24, children: 4
Motorheadbanger 29 points 3 months ago

At least now it compiles

path: 0 24553554 24554501 24555508 24557330 24559456, hotness: undefined, score: 29, children: 3
fyzzlefry 2 points 3 months ago

Em dash that bastard

path: 0 24553554 24554501 24555508 24570955, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
superduperpirate 45 points 3 months ago

Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.

path: 0 24548736, hotness: undefined, score: 45, children: 1
Asafum 4 points 3 months ago

Every time I unzip my pants to go pee the fruit flies laugh at me. It's not my fault they never saw a banana this small before.

path: 0 24548736 24548848, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
Adderbox76 44 points 3 months ago

"This too shall pass"

If something good happens, it's a cautionary warning to stay humble.

If something bad happens, it's a comforting reminder that things will get better.

path: 0 24558807, hotness: undefined, score: 44, children: 3
Bruncvik 8 points 3 months ago

I saw this quote on the desk of a proctologist I once visited.

path: 0 24558807 24573584, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 0
LadyButterfly 6 points 3 months ago

Good point

path: 0 24558807 24563084, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 0
ViscloReader 4 points 3 months ago

I've also heard "Everything ends"

path: 0 24558807 24565526, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
areakode 38 points 3 months ago

They don't think it be like it is, but it do.

path: 0 24551451, hotness: undefined, score: 38, children: 0
moldyringwald 38 points 3 months ago path: 0 24549933, hotness: undefined, score: 38, children: 19
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In -1 points 3 months ago

Buffalo buffalo WHICH Buffalo buffalo, buffalo buffalo Buffalo

It annoys me that the quoted sentence misses out essential words.

path: 0 24549933 24554134, hotness: undefined, score: -1, children: 18
FinjaminPoach 6 points 3 months ago

Not an essential word if you the listener have context! It's just that understanding this phrase is reliant on reader knowing context (i..e either that buffalo tend to buffalo buffalo OR just the theory/gimmick of the sentence itself.)

Also i believe OP made some effort to indicate via Capitalisation that one repeated buffalo is a proper noun. (Place name)

See: Buffalo(pl) buffalo(an) Buffalo(pl) buffalo(an) buffalo(vrb), buffalo(vrb) Buffalo(pl) buffalo(an)

pl: place, an: animal, vrb: verb.

path: 0 24549933 24554134 24562081, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 17
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In 0 points 3 months ago

Washington cats [missing] florida rats chase, annoy Vegas whores.

There needs to be a which, that, who or something in that missing space for a proper sentence structure.

path: 0 24549933 24554134 24562081 24565039, hotness: undefined, score: 0, children: 16
tigeruppercut 4 points 3 months ago

Here's some discussion of omitting "that" after a noun. I don't agree with Grammar Girl on what sounds awkward but she acknowledges that sentences can sound awkward but not be "wrong".

The Packers haven’t drafted a quarterback despite rumors they were interested in doing so.

Again, these sentences aren’t wrong, but they would sound a lot better with “that” inserted after the nouns “allegations” and “rumors.”

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/...

path: 0 24549933 24554134 24562081 24565039 24567539, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 11
FinjaminPoach 3 points 3 months ago

Nope, that makes perfect sense to me without which that or who.

"Washington cats florida rats chase annoy vegas whores"

  1. The washington cats 2. Which florida rats chase 3. They annoy vegas whores

It's a question of where you put pauses and intonation, when sounding it out in your head (or to another person). If you read it monotone it makes little sense. Unfortunately, knowing how its said requires deciphering it first. A lot of english novels have stuff like this, you'll probably find - you have to read sentences twice to understand what it means

path: 0 24549933 24554134 24562081 24565039 24566172, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 3
ikidd 35 points 3 months ago

"In the beginning the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move".

path: 0 24571382, hotness: undefined, score: 35, children: 1
GutterRat42 4 points 3 months ago

I'll read this phrase but I won't enjoy it

path: 0 24571382 24574055, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
neidu3 33 points 3 months ago

The chinese poem "The Story of Mr. Shi Eating Lions"

Shíshì shī shì shǐ shì, shì shǐ, shī shì, shì shí shí shī. Shī sì shì shī. Shǐ shì shè sì, shì shī shì, shǐ shī shì shí shī shī, shì shí shí, shǐ shí shìshì. Shǐ shǐ shì shì shì shì, shì shī shì. Shì shì shì shì.

https://en.wikipedia.org/...

path: 0 24566740, hotness: undefined, score: 33, children: 2
Zacryon 2 points 3 months ago

I wouldn't label it as "the greates sentence ever", rather as a great example why chinese is a highly cumbersome and impractical language.

path: 0 24566740 24573074, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
VAVHV 2 points 3 months ago

Look at what "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" needs to mimic a fraction of that power

path: 0 24566740 24620704, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
the_armchair_potato 30 points 3 months ago

"I look both ways when I cross a one way street, because that's how much faith I have in humanity."

path: 0 24567878, hotness: undefined, score: 30, children: 1
GutterRat42 8 points 3 months ago

I live on a one way street. The amount of vehicles that zoom by in the wrong direction is ridiculous

path: 0 24567878 24574121, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 0
portnull 27 points 3 months ago

"That's one of the remarkable things about life. It's never so bad that it can't get worse"

Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes

path: 0 24564454, hotness: undefined, score: 27, children: 0
agent_nycto 25 points 3 months ago

"Do you think... God stays in heaven because he, too, lives in fear of what he's created, here on Earth? "

Dr Romero, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, written by Robert Rodriguez.

path: 0 24568223, hotness: undefined, score: 25, children: 1
GutterRat42 2 points 3 months ago

I thought this was his character in Con Air

path: 0 24568223 24574064, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
stolig 25 points 3 months ago

People don’t think it be like it is, but it do

path: 0 24549725, hotness: undefined, score: 25, children: 0
fruitycoder 23 points 3 months ago
Tiān gāo, huángdì yuǎn
Heaven is high and the emperor is far away

Is one of my favorite.

Another is the a misattributed quote:

Les hommes ne seront jamais libres tant que le dernier roi ne sera pas étranglé avec les entrailles du dernier prêtre.

Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.

Though the apparent original is good too.

Je ne veux ni donner ni recevoir de lois.
Et ses mains ourdiraient les entrailles du prêtre,
Au défaut d'un cordon pour étrangler les rois.

I seek neither to rule nor to serve.
And its hands would weave the entrails of the priest,
For the lack of a cord with which to strangle kings.

The second line from the US declaration of indpenedce is a banger too:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

John Brown's:

I cannot remember a night so dark as to have hindered the coming day.

Is also really good.

path: 0 24558808, hotness: undefined, score: 23, children: 5
FinjaminPoach 5 points 3 months ago
I seek neither to rule nor to serve.
And its hands would weave the entrails of the priest,
For the lack of a cord with which to strangle kings.

What does that even mean? What thing's hands are we talking aboit by the second line?

path: 0 24558808 24561951, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 2
dustyData 12 points 3 months ago

It's a truncated quote from Diderot. The full verse is:

J’en atteste les temps ; j’en appelle à tout âge ;
Jamais au public avantage
L’homme n’a franchement sacrifié ses droits ;
S’il osait de son cœur n’écouter que la voix,
Changeant tout à coup de langage,
Il nous dirait, comme l’hôte des bois :
« La nature n’a fait ni serviteur ni maître;
« Je ne veux ni donner ni recevoir de lois. »
Et ses mains ourdiraient les entrailles du prêtre,
Au défaut d'un cordon pour étrangler les rois.

A slightly better translation would be:

I bear witness to the times; I appeal to all ages;
Never, for the public good,
Has man willingly sacrificed his rights;
If he dared to listen only to the voice of his heart,
Suddenly changing his tone,
He would say to us, like the dweller of the woods:
“Nature has created neither servant nor master;
“I wish neither to give nor to receive laws.” 
And his hands would tear out the priest’s entrails,
For lack of a cord to strangle kings.

It is the voice of the forest, dweller of the woods being a stand in for anarchists. So the hands strangling kings with priest's entrails are those of the man realizing the importance of rights and freedom. Diderot elaborates across the poem about the character of political order. Declaring that no law or political rule is sacred or natural. Mankind makes sociopolitical structures, they are not natural, and thus nature will gladly unmake them, as a king dying, for example. Essentially, he says that no elevated, supernatural, or godly power exists that will stop the hands of a person who has chosen to defy political oppression. It was extremely controversial in the XVIII century, a liberal cry for revolution against political systems that still stood over the pillars of a god given right of monarchs to rule. It's called Les éleuthéromanes, I'm not gonna try to translate that, but the full text can be found freely.

path: 0 24558808 24561951 24565641, hotness: undefined, score: 12, children: 1
nik9000 4 points 3 months ago

That one's so good it makes me want to learn French.

path: 0 24558808 24561951 24565641 24574817, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
Zacryon 3 points 3 months ago

I seek neither to rule nor to serve. And its hands would weave the entrails of the priest, For the lack of a cord with which to strangle kings.

That's two sentences.

path: 0 24558808 24573097, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 1
fruitycoder 1 point 3 months ago

Worse yet it's missing some good context that dustyData shared in this thread. I just included it in reference to the quote I thought of

path: 0 24558808 24573097 24596136, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
Apeman42 20 points 3 months ago

Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice skate uphill.

path: 0 24550634, hotness: undefined, score: 20, children: 0
melsaskca 20 points 3 months ago

"Black Friday Sale! This Thursday only!".

path: 0 24555690, hotness: undefined, score: 20, children: 0
officerdwn 19 points 3 months ago

Despite all our accomplishments, we all own our existence to a 6 inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.

I found it somewere on the Internet and can Not forget it.

path: 0 24565723, hotness: undefined, score: 19, children: 1
Mediocre_Bard_Redeux 1 point 3 months ago

I read that too. Good one.

path: 0 24565723 24577558, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In 17 points 3 months ago

Spoken, not written:-

I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly

path: 0 24554145, hotness: undefined, score: 17, children: 3
kureta 8 points 3 months ago

This is one of the stupidest, most 14-year-old sentences I've ever heard, and still a lot of people love it :)

path: 0 24554145 24561228, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 2
fyzzlefry 2 points 3 months ago

That's a thing. We've gotten so low brow that sounds like an educated quip. Real subtlety has been lost.

path: 0 24554145 24561228 24570988, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 1
kureta 1 point 3 months ago

Yeah, but this is not something new. That's a quote some people loved since the day it was said.

path: 0 24554145 24561228 24570988 24575383, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
BC_viper 16 points 3 months ago

This isn't the greatest sentence, this is just a tribute.

path: 0 24578815, hotness: undefined, score: 16, children: 0
SaveTheTuaHawk 16 points 3 months ago

"It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times...stupid monkey!"

path: 0 24563020, hotness: undefined, score: 16, children: 1
GutterRat42 2 points 3 months ago

Boo-urns. Boo-urns

path: 0 24563020 24574140, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
WoodScientist 16 points 3 months ago

We apologize for the inconvenience.

path: 0 24566431, hotness: undefined, score: 16, children: 1
GutterRat42 4 points 3 months ago

I am reading this, but I am not enjoying it, and I thought you should know

path: 0 24566431 24574128, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
Comrade_Squid 15 points 3 months ago

You have nothing to loose but your chains

path: 0 24571682, hotness: undefined, score: 15, children: 0
jordanlund 15 points 3 months ago

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed."

path: 0 24571224, hotness: undefined, score: 15, children: 1
almizilero 3 points 3 months ago

"Long days and pleasant nights."

path: 0 24571224 24572912, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
lonefighter 13 points 3 months ago

"The man in black fled into the desert, and the gunslinger followed"

  • opening line for the Dark Tower novels by Stephen King, which is an absolutely phenomenal series that blends western and sci-fi elements with just a tad of fantasy and horror for flavor.
path: 0 24552347, hotness: undefined, score: 13, children: 1
Crackhappy 3 points 3 months ago

By far my favorite Stephen King books. There are some rough parts for sure, but overall they're very good. That reminds me I haven't read them for a few years.

path: 0 24552347 24559340, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
Onyxonblack 12 points 3 months ago

The cost of living is dying, and everyone pays.

path: 0 24552676, hotness: undefined, score: 12, children: 0
GutterRat42 12 points 3 months ago

"He who fights monsters must see that he doesn't become a monster himself. For when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you."

Friedrich Nietzsche

path: 0 24574106, hotness: undefined, score: 12, children: 3
Smeagol666 3 points 3 months ago

I hate how often I see this quote without attribution.

Also: "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

Friedrich Nietzsche

path: 0 24574106 24578653, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 2
hansolo 2 points 3 months ago

Ummm

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

Yeah, that's Kelly Clarkson, m'kay?

path: 0 24574106 24578653 24582812, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 1
GutterRat42 3 points 3 months ago

"What doesn't kill you, makes you crippled"

Gregory House

path: 0 24574106 24578653 24582812 24587337, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
silly_goose 12 points 3 months ago

It's over 9000!

path: 0 24552725, hotness: undefined, score: 12, children: 3
HexagonSun 8 points 3 months ago

Was shocked to discover very recently that it’s meant to be “It’s over 8000!”, and 9000 was a mistranslation

path: 0 24552725 24555221, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 2
MajorMajormajormajor 5 points 3 months ago

Wait, really? My whole life is a lie.

path: 0 24552725 24555221 24557597, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 1
HexagonSun 7 points 3 months ago

Yeah, in the Dragon Ball Z Kai English dub, Vegeta now says 8000!

path: 0 24552725 24555221 24557597 24558468, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 0
Cowbee 12 points 3 months ago

Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.

Perhaps the best, most succinct explanation of historical materialism.

Full Quote

Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living. And just as they seem to be occupied with revolutionizing themselves and things, creating something that did not exist before, precisely in such epochs of revolutionary crisis they anxiously conjure up the spirits of the past to their service, borrowing from them names, battle slogans, and costumes in order to present this new scene in world history in time-honored disguise and borrowed language.

path: 0 24559722, hotness: undefined, score: 12, children: 0
dontgogettingtooclever 11 points 3 months ago

love that with such a broad sample pool, what we get here are some quips, in English, from the last few decades

path: 0 24553430, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 6
MajorMajormajormajor 12 points 3 months ago

Here's some really profound writing you might enjoy, really brings a tear to the eye.

path: 0 24553430 24557585, hotness: undefined, score: 12, children: 3
neidu3 6 points 3 months ago

Mesopotamian administrative record keeping in Cuneiform is my favorite kind of poetry.

path: 0 24553430 24557585 24566602, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 0
dontgogettingtooclever 4 points 3 months ago

honestly, I always felt like this passage was heavy handed. Sort of manipulating us to feel something rather than earning it, you know?

path: 0 24553430 24557585 24563092, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
LadyButterfly 4 points 3 months ago

They're such powerful words...

path: 0 24553430 24557585 24563104, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
tigeruppercut 2 points 3 months ago

猿も木から落ちる

path: 0 24553430 24567325, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 1
dontgogettingtooclever 2 points 3 months ago

Ja. Selbst der beste Schütze verfehlt sein Ziel

path: 0 24553430 24567325 24571703, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
Feadanaigh 11 points 3 months ago
path: 0 24565933, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 1
Colonel_Panic_ 2 points 3 months ago

A wall is but a bridge built wrongly.

path: 0 24565933 24583425, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
fleebleneeble 11 points 3 months ago

If you're gonna be stupid, be smart about it.

path: 0 24549236, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 0
anon_8675309 11 points 3 months ago

*Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?"

I think we are at that point again but with “AI”.

path: 0 24567933, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 0
ClassifiedPancake 10 points 3 months ago

"Money can't buy happiness, but it's better to cry in a taxi than on a bus." - Marcel Reich-Ranicki (German literary critic)

I changed the last word in the translation to bus for the US readers. It should be tram or streetcar but I assumed bus is more common and widely known.

path: 0 24573068, hotness: undefined, score: 10, children: 0
radiofreebc 9 points 3 months ago

Be good...or be good at it.

path: 0 24548804, hotness: undefined, score: 9, children: 0
anarchy79 9 points 3 months ago

In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god's blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my intelligence.

path: 0 24564088, hotness: undefined, score: 9, children: 2
Feathercrown 5 points 3 months ago

path: 0 24564088 24567474, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 0
dreadbeef 2 points 3 months ago

ball knower

path: 0 24564088 24576222, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
Kolanaki 9 points 3 months ago

Cellar door.

path: 0 24549107, hotness: undefined, score: 9, children: 1
HubertManne 2 points 3 months ago

you know. you should never open it.

path: 0 24549107 24550367, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
imrighthere 8 points 3 months ago

Hand me that piano.

path: 0 24548728, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 0
tigeruppercut 8 points 3 months ago

Mrs. Higgins’ body was found in the pantry, bludgeoned with a potato ricer and lying atop a fifty-pound sack of Yukon golds, her favorite for making gnocchi, though some people consider them too moist for this purpose.

-Joel Phillips

https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/about

path: 0 24567270, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 0
abc 8 points 3 months ago

All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

path: 0 24580174, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 1
wet_bones 3 points 3 months ago

Somewhat famously this line (the entire soliloquy actually) was improvised by Rutger Hauer in the moment, so not strictly written down. Just taking the piss mate, best fucking movie ever!

path: 0 24580174 24583145, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
nylo 8 points 3 months ago

“Let every dirty, lousy tramp arm himself with a revolver or a knife, and lay in wait on the steps of the palaces of the rich and stab or shoot the owners as they come out.”

- Lucy Parsons

path: 0 24578695, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 0
thesohoriots 7 points 3 months ago

Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.

path: 0 24550010, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 0
GratefullyGodless 7 points 3 months ago

Never half ass two things, instead whole ass one thing.

path: 0 24574456, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 1
ivanafterall 1 point 3 months ago
path: 0 24574456 24583436, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
Snapz 7 points 3 months ago

"Welcome to Costco, I love you"

path: 0 24578288, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 0
theywilleatthestars 7 points 3 months ago

"I have a hawk and it's trained to kill cops"

path: 0 24568021, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 0
Entertainmeonly 7 points 3 months ago

The problem is, or rather one of the problems, for there are many, a sizeable proportion of which are continually clogging up the civil, commercial, and criminal courts in all areas of the Galaxy, and especially, where possible, the more corrupt ones, this.

path: 0 24566352, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 0
jaycifer 7 points 3 months ago

“ The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” -Teddy Roosevelt

path: 0 24560536, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 2
sangriaferret 4 points 3 months ago

That's a long sentence.

path: 0 24560536 24566532, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 1
jaycifer 3 points 3 months ago

Yeah, I did not plan on that. At first I was going to just put the first sentence, “It is not the critic who counts,” but then I started reading, and on the third sentence I kept reading and not finding a period, which I thought was funny so I shared that.

I’m also now realizing that, while I typically read it, this quote was originally from a speech and not a piece of writing, therefore not technically qualifying for this post at all!

But you know what, it’s what I thought of, and at least I hopped in the comment arena and gave something.

path: 0 24560536 24566532 24567599, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
Melobol 6 points 3 months ago

Peoplez iz Peoplez.

Quote from the Muppets.

path: 0 24550113, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 0
DioramaOfShit 6 points 3 months ago

It has not been written yet. But it will be soon. Look in the obituary sections.

path: 0 24576322, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 0
demonmariner 6 points 3 months ago

"Elaine, if I'd a knowed that you'd a wanted to went, I'd a seen that you'd a got to get to go."

path: 0 24583140, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 0
ArchEngel 5 points 3 months ago

"A traveller from an antique land who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert."

OZYMANDIAS

  • PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

These words have ways stuck with me, reminding me of the rest of the poem, but mainly reminding me that even vast, expensive and truly effortful things that many once cared about will eventually decay and become forgotten. Similar to the other post that this too shall pass.

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

path: 0 24569155, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 3
rmuk 4 points 3 months ago

path: 0 24569155 24573822, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
ilinamorato 4 points 3 months ago

You left out the most poignant part of the verse: "Nothing beside remains." Look on your works? They all turned to dust.

path: 0 24569155 24573177, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
Colonel_Panic_ 2 points 3 months ago

I memorized the whole thing in school. I've forgotten parts, but it really has stuck with me since. But it took a decade or so before the real true impact of it hit home.

Like, as a teen I understand it, King built a statue, was a powerful proud king, had everything, blah blah, now it's all but gone and only pieces of a statue even remain.

But, the impact of it hit as an adult.

Not even the greatest of kings or warriors or sages can escape the slow erosion of time and sand and all things crumble to dust.

It's both depressing and empty feeling, but also freeing in a way. Optimistic Nihilism I guess? It's all going to be dust one day, so be nice and have fun and be whimsical and silly and do what you want.

It does at least give me comfort that even the big evil rulers of our age will one day be long forgotten and but a crumbled relic and some lines in a rotting history book that no one bothers to read anymore.

path: 0 24569155 24583537, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
grandel 5 points 3 months ago

Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance

path: 0 24552591, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 0
luthis 5 points 3 months ago

Being a person, even though you're just a blob of goo, is the most profound thing you could ever do.

path: 0 24550748, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 0
snooggums 4 points 3 months ago

No.

path: 0 24552756, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
MehBlah 4 points 3 months ago

Hold my beer!

path: 0 24574570, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
KhanLee 4 points 3 months ago

The end.

path: 0 24566394, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
RBWells 3 points 3 months ago

I can't imagine I've read enough to know that but have always loved this one, from St Augustine, of all people.

Dance is a transformation of space, of time, of people, who are in constant danger of becoming all brain, will, or feeling.

The whole poem is amazing.

path: 0 24559033, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
ghen 3 points 3 months ago

I think, therefore I am.

-Descartes

path: 0 24580154, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
dxnny801 2 points 3 months ago
path: 0 24552457, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
darklamer 2 points 3 months ago

αἴκα

path: 0 24550610, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
ace_garp 2 points 3 months ago

"The course of human progress staggers like a drunk"

-- Freeze Up by Operation Ivy (1989)

path: 0 24565883, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
Someonelol 2 points 3 months ago

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

Shakespeare

path: 0 24583101, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
Hellified 2 points 3 months ago

"I ain't afeared a going where I never been after." -Mountain Jack from Grizzly Adams

path: 0 24583781, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
wabafee 2 points 3 months ago

Personally I think the golden rule, it has many variations.

e.g. What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.

Then another is from V for Vendetta

Beneath this mask, there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask, there is an idea, Mr Creedy. And ideas are bullet-proof!

path: 0 24575680, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
RBWells 1 point 3 months ago

I also would say Hayes Carll, in the American Dream song (though it's partly the delivery)

"Nothing changes, even if it wants to."

path: 0 24581392, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
Berlinblades 1 point 3 months ago

Even through the darkest day, this fire burns, always.

path: 0 24582898, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
Balinares 1 point 3 months ago

This, too, shall pass.

path: 0 24583728, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
BeardededSquidward 1 point 3 months ago

"The end."

path: 0 24583025, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
rob_t_firefly 1 point 3 months ago

No.

path: 0 24559548, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
WanderWisley 1 point 3 months ago

You either die a hero, or you live long enough to become the villain.

path: 0 24576352, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
SethTaylor 1 point 3 months ago

"When you're here, you're family" (Fast and the Furious)

path: 0 24599138, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
asklemmy
asklemmy

@lemmy.world

login for more options
41814
9881
8963

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.

Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !uspolitics@lemmy.world


7) No Hit-and-Run questions.

Please don't delete your post for no apparent reason. If you plan on deleting a question later, say so in the post, or if you feel that you have a good reason to remove it, message a mod beforehand. It's not fair to the ones who took their time to answer, and it's not in the spirit of the community.


8) No Bots.

Posts or comments from bots, LLM's, AIs, Neural Networks, Transformers, or Marvin the Paranoid Android are not welcome in AskLemmy. Real humans only please.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


go to feed...