December 17 Quotations

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2003

Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education. ~ Bertrand Russell

selected by Kalki

2004

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring,
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
~ "Arwen" in the film The Return of the King ~

selected by Kalki (in relation to the opening of the movie based upon The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien; In the novel The Lord of the Rings this statement first occurs in The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, Chapter 10, "Strider", in a letter by Gandalf to Frodo.)

2005

I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. ~ Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol (first published 17 December 1843)

proposed by UDScott

2006

To even mention all the things the bird must constantly keep in mind in order to fly securely through the air would take a considerable part of the evening... The bird has learned this art of equilibrium, and learned it so thoroughly that its skill is not apparent to our sight. We only learn to appreciate it when we try to imitate it. ~ Wilbur Wright (designed the Wright Flyer which flew on 17 December 1903)

proposed by Fys

2007

It is a queer and fantastic world. Why can't people have what they want? The things were all there to content everybody; yet everybody has got the wrong thing. Perhaps you can make head or tail of it; it is beyond me. ~ Ford Madox Ford

proposed by Kalki

2008

Alas for maiden, alas for Judge,
For rich repiner and household drudge!
God pity them both! and pity us all,
Who vainly the dreams of youth recall;
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been!"
~ John Greenleaf Whittier ~

proposed by Zarbon

2009

Suggestions

I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. ~ Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol, published that day.

2 ~ UDScott 23:09, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
1 - --Mister Six 11:10, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
0 Zarbon 19:39, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:58, 11 December 2008 (UTC) (but the publication date is actually 19 December 1843)

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Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess? ~ Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized December 17, 1770; his date of birth is unknown)

2. Fys. “Ta fys aym”. 00:17, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 07:27, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
2 Kalki 20:10, 16 December 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.
2 Zarbon 19:39, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

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Those who have served the cause of the revolution have plowed the sea. ~ Attributed to Simon Bolivar (died December 17, 1830)

3. Fys. “Ta fys aym”. 00:17, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 07:27, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
3 Kalki 20:10, 16 December 2007 (UTC) (though this is one of several variants attributed to him.)
2 Zarbon 19:39, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
3 Lyle 20:07, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

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Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. ~ Attributed to William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (died December 17, 1907, four years to the day after this prediction turned out to be untrue)

3. Fys. “Ta fys aym”. 00:17, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 07:27, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 19:39, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
0 It doesn't appear that William Thomas had anything to do with the pursuit of flight... Lyle 20:07, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

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When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. ~ Leonardo da Vinci, in honour of the Wright brothers' first flight on December 17, 1903.

2. Fys. “Ta fys aym”. 00:17, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
~~3 InvisibleSun 07:27, 15 December 2006 (UTC)~~
3 Kalki 20:10, 16 December 2007 (UTC)
3 but preferable on date of birth. Zarbon 19:39, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
3 Lyle 20:07, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

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For it is not unusual in human beings who have witnessed the sack of a city or the falling to pieces of a people to set down what they have witnessed for the benefit of unknown heirs or of generations infinitely remote; or, if you please, just to get the sight out of their heads. ~ Ford Madox Ford (born December 17, 1873)

3 InvisibleSun 07:27, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
3 Kalki 20:10, 16 December 2007 (UTC), might eventually give this a 4, but only if extended for context:

You may well ask why I write. And yet my reasons are quite many. For it is not unusual in human beings who have witnessed the sack of a city or the falling to pieces of a people to set down what they have witnessed for the benefit of unknown heirs or of generations infinitely remote; or, if you please, just to get the sight out of their heads. ~ Ford Madox Ford

1 Zarbon 19:39, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
2 Lyle 20:07, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

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We can do without any article of luxury we have never had; but when once obtained, it is not in human natur’ to surrender it voluntarily. ~ Thomas Chandler Haliburton

2 Zarbon 06:40, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:58, 11 December 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.
2 Cheers to the internet! Lyle 20:07, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 22:44, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

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Fortunately science, like that nature to which it belongs, is neither limited by time nor by space. It belongs to the world, and is of no country and of no age. The more we know, the more we feel our ignorance; the more we feel how much remains unknown; and in philosophy, the sentiment of the Macedonian hero can never apply,- there are always new worlds to conquer. ~ Humphry Davy

2 Zarbon 06:40, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 00:58, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
2 Lyle 20:07, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 22:44, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

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All he desired in life was that — that he could pick himself together again and go on with his daily occupations if — the girl, being five thousand miles away, would continue to love him. He wanted nothing more, He prayed his God for nothing more. ~ Ford Madox Ford

3 Kalki 00:58, 11 December 2008 (UTC) with a VERY strong lean toward 4.
2 Zarbon 05:26, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
4 Lyle 20:07, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 22:44, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

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In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism. ~ William Safire in a speech written for Spiro Agnew (Safire born on 17 December 1929)

3 Kalki 18:57, 13 October 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.

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Quoternity