It's The Way You Quote Them:

September 18, 2002 1:06 AM

It's The Way You Quote Them: Frosties is a cracking new collection of quotations from Ariga, expertly and eccentrically selected by one I.Frost, who defines himself as "friend, philosopher and jurist" . Unlike many online dictionaries, it includes generous helpings from its chosen authors; proper references; unexpected quotations (rather than the same old chestnuts) and, above all, personality. Bravo!
posted by MiguelCardoso (25 comments total)

Egad! There goes any chance for sleep this morn...

"All living souls welcome whatsoever they are ready to cope with; all else they ignore, or pronounce to be monstrous and wrong, or deny to be possible." - George Santanyana

"Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering." - Carl Jung

"Any time something is written against me, I not only share the sentiment but feel I could do the job far better myself. Perhaps I should advise would-be enemies to send me their grievances beforehand, with full assurance that they will receive my every aid and support. I have even secretly longed to write, under a pen name, a merciless tirade against myself." - Jorge Luis Borges.

"The wine urges me on, the bewitching wine, which sets even a wise man to singing and to laughing gently and rouses him up to dance and brings forth words which were better unspoken." - Homer

"Without alcohol, prohibition doesn't work." - Homer Simpson.

posted by fold_and_mutilate at 2:00 AM on September 18, 2002 [1 favorite]

And here's one for all the mefi crew, going out to you from George Sand:

The trade of authorship is a violent, and indestructible obsession.
posted by taz at 2:11 AM on September 18, 2002

They missed my all time favorite G.K.Chesterton quote:

"Fairy tales are not true, they are more than true. Not because they tell us that dragons exist; but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
posted by thatwhichfalls at 2:58 AM on September 18, 2002 [4 favorites]

"There is no hell. There is only France." - Frank Zappa
posted by hama7 at 3:03 AM on September 18, 2002

"Pave France Now... because Europe needs parking." -pave-france.org
posted by hama7 at 3:15 AM on September 18, 2002

"They're gggrreeeaatttt!" - Tony the Tiger
posted by jontyjago at 3:55 AM on September 18, 2002

They also missed my favourite Chesterton: Man is an exception, whatever else he is. If it is not true that a divine being fell, then we can only say that one of the animals went entirely off its head.
</offtopic>
posted by walrus at 5:37 AM on September 18, 2002

Love, by its very nature, is unworldly, and it is for this reason rather than its rarity that it is not only apolitical but anti-political, perhaps the most powerful of all anti-political human forces. -- Hannah Arendt

What a great collection of quotes! I could lose days in here... Thanks for the link, Miguel!
posted by Slithy_Tove at 6:12 AM on September 18, 2002

"For rarely are sons similar to their fathers: most are worse, and a few are better than their fathers." - Homer.
"I think the saddest day of my life was when I realised I could beat my Dad at most things, and Bart experienced that at the age of four." - Homer Simpson.

"We are quick to flare up, we races of men on the earth." -Homer.
"Shut up, Brain, or I'll stab you with a Q-tip!" - Homer Simpson.
posted by gottabefunky at 7:36 AM on September 18, 2002

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." - Dougals Adams

Suits me down to the ground.
posted by dash_slot- at 7:38 AM on September 18, 2002

Is this the origin of the "If it looks like a duck......" meme?

If so, it has clearly mutated somewhat, it hardly looks aquatic anymore...
posted by dash_slot- at 7:44 AM on September 18, 2002

This is a great resource, Miguel; thanks! But what's up with the Dickinson quotes? I'm pretty sure she didn't use ALL CAPS and double question marks:

The TRUTH must dazzle gradually
Or every MAN be blind ??
posted by languagehat at 8:11 AM on September 18, 2002

Homer: "There is a strength in the union even of very sorry men."

Homer Simpson: "Lisa, if you don't like your job, you don't strike! You just go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way".

(Following foldie's and gottabefunky's great new parlour game]
posted by MiguelCardoso at 8:24 AM on September 18, 2002

Homer: "Once harm has been done, even a fool understands it."

Homer Simpson: "I hope I didn't brain my damage."
posted by gottabefunky at 8:41 AM on September 18, 2002

If you want to get laid, go to college, but if you want an education, go to the library.

- Frank Zappa
posted by IshmaelGraves at 8:56 AM on September 18, 2002

Homer: Zeus does not bring all men's plans to fulfillment.

Homer Simpson: I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me, Superman.
posted by dash_slot- at 9:12 AM on September 18, 2002

What a selection: Heraclitus--oh boy, stop the presses!

The Dylan quotes are all from liner notes and song lyrics and quite often wrong--it's the geometry of innocent flesh on the bone, for instance. He actually has said some interesting things. But they're not listed here.

On a side note. I've heard a Frank Lloyd Wright quote listed here as Tip the world on its side and all the loose nuts and bolts will end up in Los Angeles, by Bill Griffith, of Zippy the Pinhead fame, is his Griffith's Observatory. (Side note side note: There's house not more than 3 blocks from me, designed by a disciple of his--his surviving designs are so few as to make a house by one of his few students an artifact rare enough to be on the Historic Register.)

And a listing of the quotes of TV characters? Boring and done better elsewhere..

This is a substandard post for you Miguel. Get back on the opera beat.
posted by y2karl at 9:19 AM on September 18, 2002

Homer: A young man is embarrassed to question an older one.

Homer Simpson: Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand.

y2karl: Get back on the opera beat.
Groucho Marx: Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 9:29 AM on September 18, 2002

Just about every Emily Dickinson poem can be sung to the tune of "The Yellow Rose of Texas". Try it with "Because I could not stop for Death". S'fun.

Totally off-topic, but just so's you'd know.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:18 AM on September 18, 2002

I've always been a Samuel Beckett fan...and now, Sam on how I feel about this new time sink, so wonderfully provided by our fave Miguel:

Vladimir: That passed the time.
Estragon: It would have passed in any case.
Vladimir: Yes, but not so rapidly.
---Waiting for Godot (1955)
posted by dejah420 at 11:05 AM on September 18, 2002

I, too, was bothered by the inadequacy of the Dylan quotes page. But I did like the Borge quotes.

Here's all the quotes you'll ever need.
posted by Hildago at 11:53 AM on September 18, 2002

"The multitude of fools is a protection for the wise"

-Cicero.

(i never liked that clown;)
posted by clavdivs at 12:39 PM on September 18, 2002

Marriage is a wonderful institution...if, of course, you like living in an institution.

A man's only as old as the woman he feels.

--Ah, Groucho Marx
posted by semmi at 9:53 PM on September 18, 2002

This looked like a pretty nice and unique set of quotations, despite quoting "Bart Simpson" and other fictional characters, but then I ran into the Kurt Vonnegut section. The "Sunscreen" article? Come on, everyone knows that wasn't Vonnegut.

And then there's the questionable Einstein quotations and the listing of characters from Seinfeld among the real authors...

This post is really nothing more than an excuse to mention my quotations site since I rarely get to talk about it here. It may not be a whole lot more accurate, but it's bigger. And it has been online since 1994, nyah nyah.

Back on topic, there are many quotation sites on the net that put "Frosties" to shame, and more of them should be mentioned on MeFi. Here's a big list of them.
posted by mmoncur at 5:51 AM on September 21, 2002

Great stuff. mmoncur - it does put Frosties to shame. Thanks!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:12 PM on September 21, 2002