Who said goodbye best?

August 12, 2010 7:28 PM

What's a not-too-sappy quotation for a going away card?

A good friend of mine is leaving the country to teach English in Korea. I'm looking for a suitable quotation to include in her going away card, preferably something witty that avoids the usual maudlin tropes.

posted by Gin and Comics to Writing & Language (13 answers total)

Where is the good in goodbye? ~Meredith Willson (from "The Music Man")
posted by inturnaround at 7:33 PM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

"See you in another life."
posted by two lights above the sea at 7:49 PM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

Hey, hey, hey, hey-now. Don't be mean; we don't have to be mean, cuz, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
posted by porpoise at 7:53 PM on August 12, 2010

Time isn't holding us. Time isn't after us. Time isn't holding us. Time doesn't hold you back.
-"Once In A Lifetime", Talking Heads
posted by apophenia at 7:57 PM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

Here's a thought: whatever you find, find someone who speaks Korean and have them translate and write it down on the card so she'll have to solve it when she gets there.
posted by holterbarbour at 8:01 PM on August 12, 2010

"Farewell. Hello. Farewell. Hello."

— Billy Pilgrim's final words (at least "final" for those of us who are not unstuck in time), Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:44 PM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

If you leave me now you'll take away the biggest part of me. Ooo oh, no, baby please don't go. And if you leave me now you'll take away the very heart of me. Ooo oh, no, baby please don't go.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 8:54 PM on August 12, 2010

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain...
posted by uncanny hengeman at 9:01 PM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

Tennessee Williams used to always write "En Evant!" in his letters. I think it basically means "onward!"
posted by hermitosis at 9:54 PM on August 12, 2010

"An Irish proverb:

See a penny,
pick it up,
and all day long
you'll have a penny."
posted by twirlypen at 10:47 PM on August 12, 2010

No tears, no fears
Remember, there's always tomorrow
So what if we have to part?
We'll be together again

Your kiss, your smile
are memories I'll treasure forever
so try thinking with your heart
We'll be together again

Times when I know you'll be lonesome
times when I know you'll be sad
don't let temptation surround you
don't let the blues make you bad

Some day, some way
we both have a lifetime before us
for parting is not goodbye
We'll be together again
posted by trip and a half at 4:46 AM on August 13, 2010

Don't say 'Goodbye.' Say 'I changed my mind. I'm not leaving!'
posted by Mom at 5:59 AM on August 13, 2010

Best answer: "I learned this, at least, by my experiment;
that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,
he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

Thoreau
posted by nickjadlowe at 8:34 AM on August 13, 2010 [2 favorites]