Whether life actually has any meaning, or just that what we give to it, it’s easy for answers to be trite or perfunctory, cliched or empty of any real meaning.
But sometimes a quote can pop up that grabs me unawares and says something in a way that makes me stop and think. It doesn’t answer all questions, but it points the way to more interesting perspective.
In honour of Douglas Adams, are there 42 such quotes out there? I’ll put two in the comments.
1.“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here’s Tom with the Weather.” ― Bill Hicks
What does it say about me that I’m less interested in the philosophical content of that quote than I am in immediately saying “Other Shack albums are available”
That you’ve got your feet more planted on the ground than me, and your finger more on the pulse of AW sensibilities? I googled it, and there is a connection.
Both quotes start with matter and energy, then undercut themselves with references to everyday life, so you’re in sync with Bill and Graham.
“Bill Graham”! Oh fuck, there I go again
Bill, not Billy. Tchuh, who let you in?
2. “Matter is energy. In the universe, there are many energy fields which we cannot normally perceive. Some energies have a spiritual source which act upon a person’s soul. However, this soul does not exist ab initio, as orthodox Christianity teaches. It has to be brought into existence by a process of guided self-observation. However, this is rarely achieved, owing to man’s unique ability to be distracted from spiritual matters by everyday trivia” – Monty Python
“What is grief, if not love persevering?” The Vision.
This.
The desire to be a politician should bar you for life from ever becoming one.”
“Don’t vote. It just encourages them….
Billy Connolly
This goes up to 11.
Have a good time all of the time, that’s my philosophy Marty.
And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make
Except in tennis.
Adrian Edmondson’s Richie character in Bottom :
“You’re born…you keep your head down…and then you die”.
Wasn’t he a boy called Eddie?
Yes you’re right.
Just looked it up. The next line is “If you’re lucky”. That’s bleak.
Yeah, nobody wants to live for ever……
Never ever bloody anything ever.
JM Barrie’s first draft location for Peter Pan?
Second star on the right, straight on to Hounslow.
I believe in the afterlife but I will feel such a fool if it doesn’t exist.
My Favourite philosopher is H L Mencken.
The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.
Morality is doing what is right, no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, no matter what is right.
Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.
I could go on…
“Life’s a piece of shit/When you look at it” – A leper.
“Life… don’t talk to me about life” – Marvin The Paranoid Android.
“Life’s what you make it” – Mark Hollis
“Live is life, na naaa na na na” – Opus
“I’m not worried about the future. It’s the present that scares me.” Jac Holzman, Elektra Records founder
…for Kilgore Trout it was the past.
“What? Me worry?” – Alfred E. Neuman
This one is great. Very Zen. It’s all we have, isn’t it?
“He only drinks when he gets depressed.”
“Why does he get depressed?”
“Sometimes it’s because he hasn’t had a drink.”
“Life is like a sewer — what you get out of it depends on what you put into it.” — Tom Lehrer
“Life is strange. Compared to what?(Yeah)”
Steve Forbert
Has anyone else read The Princess Bride by William Goldman? Brilliant book. I’ve been looking for a snappy quote from it but unfortunately I can’t find one. The book has an overriding stoic message about the fact that life isn’t fair but we just have to put up with it, and it’s better than death after all. I remember this message really striking home when I first read it, and a lot of it also sums up fabulous approaches to problem-solving, honour and life-changing tragedies. The sub-plot about Inigo Montoya and how he dedicates his life to avenging his father is truly inspiring, but in a real way not a cheesy way. And the fire swamp dilemma is a great illustration of how to get over seemingly insurmountable problems by breaking them down into smaller issues.
Of all the works of fiction I have ever read, this one probably best sums up my attitude to life. It’s a very smart book.
But it must be more of a “you have to read the whole thing to get it” thing. Because I can’t find a snappy quote that sums it up.
So probably doesn’t belong on this thread… Anyway, thought I’d share that!
Of course it belongs here, Arthur. And you supply the quote –
“life isn’t fair but we just have to put up with it, and it’s better than death after all”
There’s a lot to be said for stoicism. Sometimes the hardest pear or quince bears the sweetest taste.
Stoicism is my middle name. It helps so much when you are surrounded by a crazy modern world.
“Inter faeces et urinam nascimur,”
Ohhh, there’s no decorum in the forum missus
‘Illigitimi nil carborundum’, is a pretty good life motto.
Here I go again on my own
Goin’ down the only road I’ve ever known
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
An’ I’ve made up my mind, I ain’t wasting no more time
🤘
Extra points for not putting “hobo”.
“Life’s too short to drink cheap wine.”
And from Douglas Adams,
“All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others.”
“Ted Rodgers’ brains boil in hell!”
I live by that one. It’s tattooed on my chest.
Sue your tattooist – there’s a spelling mistake.
The misplaced apostrophe has long since disappeared from view under a spectacularly luxurient covering of chest hair.
Spelling, not grammar. There’s a ‘d’ where there needn’t be.
Ah, you are assuming it’s Ted Rogers the comedian and quiz show presenter, but it’s actually Ted Rodgers, Professor of Psycholinguistics at the University of Hawaii since 1976. Obviously.
LOL
More fool me. Mark E. Smith must be even more deliberately cryptic and opaque than I had previously thought.
Also, thank you for taking my kneejerk pedantry in good spirit. I broke the site guidelines, and feel the rush of shame to my cheek.
“Drawing attention to grammatical and spelling errors contained in others’ posts is considered bad form. We request that you refrain from doing so”.
Sorry!
Think nothing of it, dear boy. To this day, the eminent Dr. Rodgers must wonder why people in the streets of Honolulu wiggle three fingers at him as he goes about his daily business.
Rodgers’s? Oh dear, it’s more confusing than a 3-2-1.
“The simplest way toexplain the behaviour of any bureaucratic organisation is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of it’s enemies.” – Robert Conquest’s third law of politics
Now there’s no more rough and tumble
Down Highway 199
Nothing lasts forever
I just miss it sometimes.
“It used to be you had the hard right on one side, the hard left on the other.
Nowadays they meet round the back.”
“What a life, a trick of light
Then everything returns to the sea
You can have whatever you want
But are you disciplined enough to be free? “
“Life is rife with strife, death bereft. Chose carefully”
(Arthur Mullard)
“Just remember. There’s a big difference between kneeling down and bending over.” (Zappa, again.)
Some days you’re the pigeon; some days you’re the statue.
“The bigger the wound, the better the scab you get to pick” – Emo Phillips
I’d rather be pissed off than pissed on.