Help-me-find-that-quote-filter - along the lines of "over the next thousand years the struggle between machines and humankind will be a close run race but ultimately humankind will emerge triumphant"?
[more inside]
posted by Albondiga
on May 12, 2013 -
0 answers
I remember reading something, somewhere from one of the founding fathers about the original intent of legislators to NOT be a political class. To serve a term or two and go home so that people from outside could contribute and people inside didn't get too jaded. Though maybe I'm adding a lot of subtext. Is there anything from any of the FF's on this that rings a bell? Do you have a quote or two?
posted by rileyray3000
on May 10, 2013 -
3 answers
Quentin Tarantino, in an interview, said something along the lines of, "The medium that I work in is the audience's emotions." I think that the interview was relatively recent, either about Inglourious Basterds or Django, and it may even have been referenced on Metafilter, but now that I'm looking for it, I can't find it.
So, did he actually say something to this effect? If yes, where did he say it and what was the actual statement?
posted by frimble
on May 10, 2013 -
3 answers
I'm searching for a quotation that was paraphrased to me as
Talking about sustainability should not be like doing taxes, it must be like writing a love letter.
The person (architect, with interest in sustainable design) who paraphrased this to me is certain this is not the actual quotation and citation, and believes it came to her attention within the past seven years.
posted by Prince_of_Cups
on Apr 15, 2013 -
2 answers
[novel filter] I'm searching the recesses of my mind to locate a half-remembered passage from a fictional novel which provides a beautiful meditation on the fact that all humans are essentially the same; and not getting very far. What I can remember is that one of the characters is projecting themselves into the shoes of others (or one particular 'bad' person? I can't recall) - murderers, rapists, etc - and noting that there is little that separates him or her personally, or good people in general, from those we deem the evil. Any ideas?
[more inside]
posted by mrme
on Feb 23, 2013 -
7 answers
Can anyone give me a original source for this (almost certainly garbled) quote?
"History is divided into two roughly equal parts -- that which probably never happened and that which doesn't matter much anyway". [more inside]
posted by unSane
on Feb 19, 2013 -
2 answers
Back in 2005, I visited St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York with a friend of mine. Recently he asked if I remembered a quote engraved on the floor, something to the effect of, "Forget the [...], take up the chorus". While this sounds very familiar to me, I can't recall the full quote or the source. I remember it was part of a series of quotes engraved on the floor, mostly from (I believe) 20th-century writers and thinkers. Other than that, I'm stuck.
posted by Yiggs
on Jan 31, 2013 -
4 answers
Paraphrased: "It's not that that half of your visitors will be on mobile devices, it's that all your visitors will be on mobile devices half the time." Who said it? I saw it on Twitter a few weeks ago and can't find it anywhere.
posted by furtive
on Jan 21, 2013 -
1 answer
I read, somewhere, a quote about poets to the effect that even successful poets have day jobs, collect disability payments or come from money. I vaguely recall that this was said (or written) by a woman who was a successful [poet? writer? editor?] in her own right, and who would have had a reasonable sample size on which to base the statement. What quote am I thinking of? Who wrote or said it? My googles have been uncharacteristically ineffective in locating the quote or identifying the source.
posted by dersins
on Jan 11, 2013 -
2 answers
I read a quote the other day, and now I can't find it. It was about mapping how different forms of disease spread. It wasn't here, where would I have seen it?
[more inside]
posted by Marky
on Jan 4, 2013 -
2 answers
Person bumped into me in parking lot, wants to give me check instead of filing insurance, is this kosher?
[more inside]
posted by Mr. Gunn
on Dec 27, 2012 -
20 answers
My mechanic says the leak from my car looks like it is because a wash plug between the gear box and engine block needs replacing. He says it's not a simple job because he'll have to remove the gearbox. He is quoting me "at least" $600. (Bearing in mind that in this city mechanic labour alone is around $80-100 an hour) does that sound reasonable?
[more inside]
posted by lollusc
on Dec 19, 2012 -
17 answers
Movie Quote Filter: Where is this quotation/scene from? I'm very hazy on the details. Two characters (I think). One is having a meltdown, hitting, yelling, crying. The other is standing there, just taking it in with a look of solemn acceptance, and keeps repeating "I forgive you... I forgive you...."
[more inside]
posted by ariela
on Dec 2, 2012 -
6 answers
"She believed she could, so she did." I'm starting to see this aphorism (?) a bit all over the place. Where does this phrase come from? Is this a quote? What's the source? (Thanks hive-mind!)
posted by ruelle
on Oct 16, 2012 -
9 answers
Is there a book blurb search engine, or something that will let me see if someone has ever written a book blurb, and what it was? (Or some clever way of googling Amazon's Editorial Reviews sections)
[more inside]
posted by sdis
on Oct 11, 2012 -
3 answers
Does this figure of speech from Spartan have a real-life antecedent/basis in military or law enforcement vernacular?
[more inside]
posted by j_curiouser
on Oct 2, 2012 -
6 answers
I'm looking for a quote by architect Jeanne Gang I read in an article about her last year, and my Google-fu is failing me. Help me, hivemind.
[more inside]
posted by dw
on Sep 28, 2012 -
3 answers
Looking for a quote or passage about the dogs a man has throughout his lifetime... help pull this mental sliver for me.
[more inside]
posted by BagOTricks
on Aug 10, 2012 -
2 answers
Years ago -- perhaps the mid-80s? -- I came across a prediction to the effect that "Technology will never again advance as slowly as it is advancing today."
[more inside]
posted by peakcomm
on Jun 29, 2012 -
2 answers
Looking for a good motto, quote, or possibly a graphic related to space exploration/research, intended to be engraved on a gift pocketknife. I need ideas!
[more inside]
posted by 2N2222
on Jun 20, 2012 -
21 answers
Want to find a quote I heard recently about writing good characters. The idea was that a character should be really good at something, but constantly put upon, so that nothing goes their way. Indiana Jones was held up as being a perfect example.
[more inside]
posted by mumblingmynah
on Jun 11, 2012 -
10 answers
I need a reputable source for the surgical maxim that suggests that a good surgeon knows when not to cut.
[more inside]
posted by roofus
on May 23, 2012 -
2 answers
What is the source of the assertion (that goes something like) "When you ask kids what they want to be when they grow up, they say famous, but not famous for something" ?
[more inside]
posted by bytewrite
on Apr 26, 2012 -
5 answers
"And those who were seen dancing were thought insane by those who could not hear the music." Did Nietzsche actually say this? What work is it from?
[more inside]
posted by vanitas
on Apr 11, 2012 -
3 answers
Quotation/Proverb: returning to the drudge of work after holidays is so painful that it's better not to take holidays, just plough on. Has someone said this in a more well-known/profound/general way? Maybe something about caged birds being happy because they've never known freedom?
posted by Gomoryhu
on Feb 22, 2012 -
2 answers
I'm trying to remember the origin and full quote of a part of a book I read - it mentions 4AM being "the witching hour".
[more inside]
posted by jitterbug perfume
on Feb 16, 2012 -
13 answers
"When she sat across from the philosopher the hour glass flipped in her mind and the sand started to fall." Where is this quote from?
[more inside]
posted by everydayanewday
on Feb 11, 2012 -
4 answers
This quote is driving me batty, where is it from? "Is this about the snake farm? Because I can explain! I'm going to raise and sell snakes."
[more inside]
posted by supercrayon
on Jan 26, 2012 -
3 answers
"Why did I do it? If I hadn't, how could I ever have listened to music again?" Who said this, or something like it?
[more inside]
posted by decagon
on Jan 5, 2012 -
3 answers
Help me find the primary source for Tommy Franks' assertion that the press represented the "fourth front" in the Iraq war.
[more inside]
posted by compartment
on Jan 4, 2012 -
2 answers
What's the source for the quote about England conquering the world while asleep?
[more inside]
posted by mmmbacon
on Dec 16, 2011 -
3 answers
Looking for a quote along the lines of "every extremist was once a romantic."
[more inside]
posted by vanitas
on Dec 8, 2011 -
9 answers
Who said this: If comedians really ran their own show, every sketch would end with a hanging, a dead baby, or an uncomfortable silence.
[more inside]
posted by brownbat
on Dec 8, 2011 -
6 answers
Programmers soon learn that
“Any code of your own that you haven't looked at for six or more months might as well have been written by someone else.”
This maxim, generally cited as “Eagleson's Law [of Programming]” (and often extended “Eagleson is an optimist; the real number is more like 3 weeks”) has been floating around the internet for ages
*. But who is Eagleson, and where did this notion originally appear?
[more inside]
posted by Songdog
on Nov 14, 2011 -
2 answers
Please help me find this quote! If I remember correctly, it says something to the affect of that if you write something and you don't provoke some sort of negative response or disagreement, than what you've written wasn't worth writing?
[more inside]
posted by kylej
on Oct 30, 2011 -
7 answers
I'm trying to find a particular quote from Ursula le Guin's "Left Hand of Darkness".
[more inside]
posted by chmmr
on Oct 1, 2011 -
6 answers
Has anybody ever heard of a quote, supposedly attributed to Samuel Adams during the lead-up to the American Revolution, about how "the revolution will need exactly three martyrs; Less than three won't have enough effect, and more than three is a sanitation problem"?
I can't find any evidence of it online even though I thought I might find a Snopes/misattribution article on the topic. Anybody heard of it before -- maybe attributed to somebody else?
posted by destro
on Sep 22, 2011 -
8 answers
I'm trying to remember a quote from a book about relationships where the man tells the woman he can be her rock so that she can be free as a feather or something to that effect.
[more inside]
posted by Cogito
on Sep 12, 2011 -
2 answers
I am the best man for an upcoming wedding. I think I have the toast down (don't worry, keeping it short) and I'm really looking for a quote/saying or short poem to end it with. Suggestions?
[more inside]
posted by anonymous
on Aug 3, 2011 -
15 answers
Looking for a quote! Its something along the lines of "keep it short and simple" or "1 page of quality writing is better than 10" (obviously more eloquently worded) I Think it was Wilde or Poe but my google-fu has failed me
[more inside]
posted by freddymetz
on Jul 14, 2011 -
17 answers