text:
Talk:John F. Kennedy

Removing Quote
I am removing a quote that I couldnt find any source for other than this article I'm never through with a girl until I've had her three ways I've never heard that quote attributed to him before, I looked it up. I own books of Kennedy quotations, so I am removing it --Kev62nesl 10:17, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I took it from here. Unlikely that you'll find such a quote in books of Kennedy quotations. Probably some newspaper reporters wrote that they heard Kennedy say it, without a confirmation. So if we knew the newspaper in which it appeared, we could cite it and put it back in the attributed section. Perhaps the rotten.com people know where it's from. iddo999 17:25, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

This quote is found in "The Funniest Thing You Never Said" by Rosemarie Jarski (2004) p.27 and attributed to JFK. Some great quotes regarding Kennedy's views about the national Security of the United States here.

Also, refer to the book "Presidential Passions - The Love Affairs of America's Presidents" 1991, Michael John Sullivan

A highly unlikely, and almost certainly spurious "quotation"

 * "The high office of the President has been used to foment a plot to destroy America's freedom and before I leave this office, I must inform the citizens of their plight."
 * Statement purportedly made at Columbia University, November 12, 1963

I am strongly against the total censorship of even the most absurd propositions, but was strongly impelled to remove this from the main quote page and paste it here instead, as unworthy to be included as if there actually were some reasonable likelihood of its authenticity. I recommend similar response to future additions to quote pages that extensive research indicate are probably spurious. I originally simply made a footnote saying see "BS Alert", but do not feel that is a strong enough response in this case. The following notes trace some points of my research prior to making that decision:

A quote-mark enclosed google search for a key portion of this passage, provided less than 50 hits for this quote… nearly all of them on simple message boards about either a right-wing or left-wing conspiracy. All using the same snippet, and NONE stating in what context the statement was supposed to have been made, or why a President of the United States would make such a statement publicly without giving a clear context.

Further searching did turn up another variant which seems even more absurdly worded: ""The presidential bureau has been used to set up a plot to annihilate American People's freedom; and before I leave this bureau, I must inform the citizens of this critical state."

Extensive but not exhaustive searching of Google, and the Columbia University site gave no further indication of the precise origins of the supposed statement.

Another use of the "quote" actually provided a "Sourse" [sic] which was simply another conspiracy page using the same "quote".

ANYONE of any political or delusional persuasion who can actually provide ANY indication of an AUTHORATATIVE source for this quote is invited to do so.

It may simply be a case of someone, somewhen, endeavoring to tell a big enough lie, that they knew many would be eager to believe, and would come to be endlessly repeated by those who actually believe it. Until there is more evidence than quotations of other persons "quotations" the accuracy and actuality of this particular statement must be treated with extreme skepticism. Moby 15:24, 6 Dec 2003 (UTC)

I am intensely interested in honesty, accuracy, and fairness… and after using up many hours in searches, and going through all manner of conspiracy sites from all ranges of the political and lunatic spectrum, the most that I can come up with is the same quotation with no sources or references, and some discussions concerning it on message boards declaring that even among prominent researchers into various conspiracy theories, who have regularly encounterd the supposed statement there are several who flat out assert: there are NO reliable indications and NO documented evidence that President Kennedy even spoke at Columbia University at anytime between mid to late 1963 in any of the official presidential papers, nor are their any that I can find in any of Columbia's online Records, though an interesting dialog with Malcolm X is documented to have occured there on November 20th, 1963, just two days before the assassination. My personal assessment: this "quote" is total BUNK. Moby 04:14, 7 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Addition: 2/27/2005 Excellent analysis above. Concerned by such a quote, I have constructed a timeline of Kennedy's whereabouts for November 1963. No single source I have researched indicates Kennedy was at Columbia University in 1963. One such source includes direct contact with Columbia University officials, who agree there is no record of such a visit. In fact, historical records place Kennedy in the Oval Office on Tuesday November 12, 1963 during which time he met with Cartha DeLoach, the then new FBI Liason to the White House ("The Kennedy Men" by Lawrence Leamer, page 730).

Another source (James K. Galbraith, "Exit Strategy: In 1963, JFK ordered a complete withdrawal from Vietnam," Boston Review, October/November, 2003 ) indicates Kennedy also gave a press conference on Vietnam on 11/12/63 but makes no mention of Columbia University.

Kennedy's public whereabouts are very much public record. Had such a quote been made at Columbia University, it like all of his real speeches and quotes would be immortalized in hundreds of documents and websites around the world. Yet, there are a few small references to this "speech", whose citations are circular within those few small websites. Cover up? Get real - there are millions of people alive right now that were around in 1963. NOBODY has a recollection of this speech. NO VERIFIABLE RECORDS exist of this speech. However, there are ample witnesses and documents that accurately record the events of November 12, 1963 - and they all agree there was no speech given at Columbia University.

COMMENT on preceding paragraph by one of those witnesses, George J. Leonard, now Prof of Humanities at San Francisco State University: I was a Freshman residing in the dorms (John Jay Hall) at Columbia College on that date. He was not at Columbia. I am an eye witness. The claim is preposterous. Had President Kennedy honored Columbia with a visit, it would have been the greatest event of the year-- if not our lives, given our hero worship for him. We Freshmen were let out of class once just to shake hands with Peter, Paul and Mary that term, who had stopped by the Sundial for a photo op. If a sitting president had arrived for any reason? Just before his martyrdom? (You don't know Columbia's fierce dedication to its claims to fame. They'd call it "Kennedy's Columbia Address" and have a bronze plaque on the site by now. The King of England's visit rated a mural in the Library.) As an eyewitness, I can absolutely state he never came. Moreover, I stayed at Columbia for another 9 years, until my Ph.D, and never heard a single reference to this non-event. Today, when I encountered this webpage, was the first I ever heard of it. We may reasonably infer that the quotation is as bogus as the event. --G. J. Leonard, August 18, 2005.

Addition: 3/17/05 I have long been interested in JFK and his Presidency, and have read quite a bit about him. I also collect quotations, and have never come across this particular quotation before now. I strongly agree that it is spurious. I presume, judging from the purported dating (just ten days before President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas), that whoever wrote it was trying to imply that Kennedy was silenced by those whose "plot" he was about to expose.

""Addition: 10/19/06" I stumbled upon this talk page, but remember seeing this quote years ago as cited as a letter from Kennedy to someone at Columbia... I have no sources, of course, but i figured I'd share what I remember.

Addition: 04/20/07 I am assuming that this statement from the JFK Library can be taken as a somewhat authoritative source debunking the existence of this quote/speech:

Columbia University "Speech" President Kennedy's supposed speech at Columbia University, November, 1963.

''Many references to this fictitious speech exist in assassination theorist material. Supposedly, the President was discussing changes in the Federal Reserve and the gold standard, and this topic was somehow linked to his assassination. Others also claim he said, "The high office of President has been used to foment a plot to destroy American freedom, and before I leave office I must inform the citizen of his plight." But the simple fact is that President John F. Kennedy did not speak at Columbia University in November of 1963.''

''Those who believe in the "fact" of President Kennedy having made such a speech, either at Columbia or some other place, will simply deny this denial. At best, they will say that because "all or most records" have been destroyed, we simply don't know the truth; at worst, they will claim that there is a conspiracy to keep this issue silent. If someone chooses to believe in the existence of this speech, he or she does so as a matter of faith, which is fine, as long as that person realizes that it is religion and not history in which he or she is dealing.''

The above quote from the official JFK library website can still be viewed in archive format here. -

This quotation is clearly a hoax, it is known that Kennedy did not speak at Columbia University at any time during November of 1963.

As stated above, the date of the alleged quote implies that Kennedy was silenced by conspirators he was about to expose. There are only two possible motivates for somebody to spread such disinformation:

A) It was fabricated by someone who derives some sort of perverse pleasure from the act of deceiving others.

OR

B) It was fabricated by someone for the purpose of discrediting accusations about the assassination. Any so called 'conspiracy theory' citing this quote could be easily discredited using verifiable documentation that the event never happened.

It would be reasonable to assume that motive "A" is correct if it was an isolated event. Unfortunately it is not an isolated event, there are a number of such "hoaxes" that can be found on the internet regarding Kennedy. - This alone does not warrant suspicion.

What does warrant suspicion is the absence of any references in the official archives to several very important events that took place during the Kennedy administration:

Example #1

Kennedy did make similar statements during his speech to nsnews on February 12, 1960, the following are a few selected quotes from that speech: [CORRECTION of DATE AND OFFICIAL SOURCE]: this speech was made 27 April 1961, 10 DAYS AFTER the Bay of Pigs failed invasion where the CIA deceit the President Full Audio and transcript.

"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings"

"there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment"

"Our way of life is under attack" (sound familiar?)

"we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations" source

It has been asserted by some that Kennedy was referring to communism, this is very unlikely: 1) Secret societies are not permitted in communist countries.

2) a foreign power could not announce the need for increasing our security, doing so would require legislation, such as the "patriot act"

3) The last quote is a very accurate description of the Council on Foreign Relations, which every president we have had since Woodrow Wilson has been a member of. Except for Kennedy and Reagan - who was also shot by a 'lone gunman"

Example #2

Kennedy fired Allen W. Dulles and vowed to break the corrupt CIA "into 1,000 pieces". He also sent the FBI and local law agencies to close down the agency's training camps in Florida (Jupiter Island) and Louisiana. The following National Security Action Memorandums were filed for implementing the necessary changes in protocol:

NSAM No. 55, June 28, 1961

NSAM No. 56, June 28, 1961

NSAM No. 57, June 28, 1961

In addition to these omissions: Allen W. Dulles was among those appointed to the Warren commission, a clear conflict of interest considering Kennedy had just fired him. Some of the files from the Warren commission were withheld from the public, for "national security" reasons.

Example #3

Kennedy issued Executive Order 11110, requiring the Treasury Department to start printing and issuing silver certificates for the silver then remaining in the US Treasury. That same day, Kennedy signed a bill changing the backing of one and two dollar bills from silver to gold, adding strength to the weakened U.S. currency. After his assassination, the silver certificates were pulled from circulation without any explanation.

Example #4

The official web site still perpetuates the claim that Oswald acted alone in Kennedy's assassination.

1) It has been proven that Oswald could not have acted alone and the police in charge latter admitted they could find no evidence that Oswald had fired a gun that day (negative GSR test). Not to mention the fact that if Oswald had left the rifle upstairs, he could not have possibly shot the police officer who was not visible from the window.

2) Several of the witnesses who were interviewed by the Warren commission were threatened or intimidated to change their stories, other witnesses died under mysterious circumstances. By the way, The Zapruder film of the assassination shows an unidentified man holding up an open, black umbrella standing alongside the motorcade on Elm Street, even though the weather was sunny and warm. He was standing in front and to the right of Kennedy's car at the moment Kennedy was struck in the throat.

Col. Fletcher L. Prouty identified the man as Gen. Edward G. Lansdale, who he had known for years, Lansdale was a known CIA assassin..

I've been looking up on this quote and found two Internet sources from 1999. Both seem to say November 13th of 1963 at Columbus University, not Columbia. However, one of these sources misquotes it as being 10 days before JFK's assassination, when it's really nine. So it seems the origin of this quote is supposed to be something said at a Columbus University on the 13th. However another few sources from the 80's repeat the Columbia 10 days before assassination source. There also seems to be no real agreement on what was actually said. It's possible he did say something like this but it was paraphrased or misstated. When these kinds of quotes pop up there's almost always a real source for it, but it may be completely different from that which is claimed and the specific statement may be different from what is commonly stated now.

Columbia University says he never spoke there, but another individual here said it may have been a letter. There's also the possibility it was actually said at Columbus University nine days before his assassination, though the records seem to show no such visit on either day it is possible there was some communication to one or the other. With Columbus University one interesting area of exploration would be Catholic University of America, which had merged a law school called Columbus University into it. Columbus state in Louisiana had moved its location in 1963 and may have received some communication from JFK.

The former actually seems to a very good avenue for exploration because the Columbus University merged with CUA was formed by a group called the Knights of Columbus and JFK was apparently a member of this society. The Knights of Columbus were apparently a very active lobbying group which got "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and apparently the adoption of Columbus Day as a national holiday. Communication between JFK and a fellow member of the group may have actually led to confusion between the group and its university and subsequent confusion with Columbia University.--69.179.151.249 22:43, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

A famous misattribution
Kennedy once said that "Dante said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis maintain their neutrality." In fact Dante said nothing of the sort. Is there any way to put this in the article? 209.149.235.254 15:40, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * This has been added, with the link to Bartleby's that you provided here. I would say Kennedy's summation of Dante's ideas were indicative of his intent, even if they were not entirely accurate. ~ Kalki 16:25, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Did JFK say this?
Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

Yes, but it is edited.
 * "Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
 * Yale University Commencement June 11, 1962

TLSG 18:49, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.

Hope I am right to add my question to this section: Did JFK say: "There is only one thing more expensive than education: no education"? It floats through Pinterest and made it in a German translation into my University Change Management textbook, but I could not find any reference that confirms it. --Claudia Owala (talk) 15:43, 6 August 2018 (UTC)

"Ask not..."
When Kennedy said in his 1961 inaugural speech, "ask not what your country can do for you --ask what you can do for your country." He was quoting Lebanese-American writer Khalil Gibran. Khalil Gibran is the one who wrote this famous saying! How come Khalil Gibran never gets aknowledged for making this great saying?
 * yea

Reply:

It has been reported at various places on the internet that in JFK's Inaugural address, the famous line "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country", was inspired by, or even a direct quotation of the famous and much esteemed writer and poet Khalil Gibran. Gibran in 1925 wrote in Arabic a line that has been translated as:

 * Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country?
 * If you are the first, then you are a parasite; if the second, then you are an oasis in a desert.''

However, this translation of Gibran is one that occurred over a decade after Kennedy's 1961 speech, appearing in A Third Treasury of Kahlil Gibran (1975) edited by Andrew Dib Sherfan, and the translator most likely drew upon Kennedy's famous words in expressing Gibran's prior ideas. A translation by Anthony R. Ferris in The Voice of the Master (1958) exists that could conceivably have been used as an inspiration, but it is less strikingly similar:

 * Are you a politician who says to himself: "I will use my country for my own benefit"? If so, you are naught but a parasite living on the flesh of others. Or are you a devoted patriot, who whispers into the ear of his inner self: "I love to serve my country as a faithful servant." If so, you are an oasis in the desert, ready to quench the thirst of the wayfarer.

The title of Gibran's essay has been translated as The New Deal, or The New Frontier.

Other even earlier occurences of similar expressions or ideas are also known to exist, and have sometimes been cited as possible sources of inspiration:

 * It is now the moment when by common consent we pause to become conscious of our national life and to rejoice in it, to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for our country in return. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Memorial Day speech in Keene, New Hampshire (30 May 1884)

 * As has often been said, the youth who loves his Alma Mater will always ask, not "What can she do for me?" but "What can I do for her?" ~ Lee Baron Russel Briggs, in "College Life", Routine and Ideals (1904)

 * In the great fulfillment we must have a citizenship less concerned about what the government can do for it, and more anxious about what it can do for the nation. ~ Warren G. Harding Speech at the Republican National Convention, Chicago, Illinois (7 June, 1916)

Occasionally it has also been stated that JFK was quoting, paraphrasing, or adapting a statement of the ancient Roman orator Cicero, but with no example provided, and research done for Wikiquote as yet indicates no clear sources or definite citations as to when or where Cicero made any such expressions. ~ Kalki 22:33, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Quotation about Thomas Jefferson?
Does anyone have a source for the quotation attributed to JFK when he hosted Nobel laureates at the White House for dinner (paraphrasing), "At no time in the history of mankind has so much intellect been gathered in this building—save when Thomas Jefferson dined alone"? 74.12.84.30 06:04, 24 January 2007 (UTC) This can be found easily...it was probably on video too...

29 April 1962 Dinner for Nobel Prize Winners of the Western Hemisphere, Kennedy Library Archives

Thanks, Neal Hurwitz Columbia University 1962-1977

The First time I heard the Kennedy quote re: "High office of the President.." was on an old John Birch Society VHS program entitled "Overview of Our World," John F. McManus (currently the JBS President I think). But it wasn't Columbia... McManus said on the video, if I remember right, that it was Annapolis, at the Naval Academy. McManus I think mentions on the video that he was told by one or more naval officers who attended the AUGUST 1st speech, that it wasn't part of the actual prepared speech, but that Kennedy added that statement during the address. Might be an avenue to research to try and pin down whether or not Kennedy made such a statement anywhere, Columbia or no.

Naval service
i recall a statement by jfk to the effect that when a man comes to the end of his life he could hold that life as worthwhile if all he could say was 'i served in the united states navy'. does anyone else know of this quote? if so, i think it merits inclusion.Toyokuni3 15:31, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

"I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy.'"

President John F. Kennedy, 1 August 1963, in Bancroft Hall at the U. S. Naval Academy. [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, January 1 to November 22, 1963 (Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1964), 620]

"Miseducated"
The quotation "A child miseducated is a child lost" is noted in the Misattributed section, attributed to Umaru Tanko Al-Makura in 2013. This quotation is frequently attributed to JFK, but usually citing either his 3rd (1963) or 2nd (1962) State of the Union address, though it shows up in the official transcript (and audio recordings) of neither.

However, it does clearly show up in a transcript of the 2nd SotU speech in Vital Speeches & Documents of the Day, Volume 2 (1961). There are some other slight variations of the text there (from what I can see in Snippet view). My suspicion is that this version was that given to the press beforehand, which was further refined or modified at the podium by Kennedy (which is why the official transcript does not included it).

Before change is made, though, does anyone have any further thoughts (or another confirming text)? ~ (Davehill47 (talk) 16:35, 1 June 2016 (UTC))

Unsourced
Many are commonly known and appear to be legitimate. Jmiche
 * That isn't actually the point. They have not been sourced, and while originally unsourced quotes were permitted in the articles, this has been increasingly discouraged, and placing them there without sourcing them is agains current policy. ~ Kalki 12:24, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

 * "Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others."

 * "The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly."

 * "The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence."

 * Second sentence is corruption of text of 1962 Yale address. --R. S. Shaw (talk) 08:53, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

 * http://www.conservativeforum.org/authquot.asp?ID=143 sources it to "Jun. 11, 1962 - from a speech at Yale University".
 * http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03Berkeley03231962.htm claims to be a JFK speech at Berkeley, March 23, 1962 with a very similar quote.

--Gwern 10:02, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

 * "There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction."

 * Reputable source attribution: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QOgzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=g4HAAAAIBAJ&dq=americans+for+democratic+action&pg=7056%2C2944411

 * "We stand for freedom. That is our conviction for ourselves; that is our only commitment to others."

 * "When we got into office, the thing that surprised me the most was that things were as bad as we'd been saying they were."

 * "...probably the greatest concentration of talent and genius in this house except for perhaps those times when Thomas Jefferson ate alone."

 * "For in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal."

Some of the above are actually now on the page as sourced quotes; I am adding this last set of unsourced quotes to this section:

 * I was never accepted into certain parts of New England society because my grandfather was an Irish barkeep.

 * Our labor unions are not narrow, self-seeking groups. They have raised wages, shortened hours and provides supplemental benefits. Through collective bargaining and grievance procedures, they have brought justice and democracy to the shop floor. But their work goes beyond their own job, and even beyond our borders. For the labor movement is people. Our unions have brought millions of men and women together ... and given them common tools for common goals.

 * Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all. ~ John F. Kennedy's remarks upon presenting the NASA Distinguished Service Medal to astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, in the Flower Garden, at the White House, Washington, D.C. (21 May 1963). From John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online].

 * Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
 * - combines words of two non-adjacent sentences, Yale 1962; meaning not much distorted, though.

 * When I read that we will fight the Japs for years if necessary and will sacrifice hundreds of thousands if we must, I always like to check from where he's talking: it's seldom out here.  (While on Naval duty in the Pacific, 1943; quoted by Paul Fussell.)

 * Domestic policy can only defeat us; foreign policy can kill us.

 * It is not our wealth that built our Roads, but it is our roads that built our wealth.

 * It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing to war.

 * Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.

 * speaking in Fort Worth, Texas, on November 22, 1963, just a few hours before his assassination: Two years ago, I introduced myself in Paris by saying that I was the man who had accompanied Mrs. Kennedy to Paris. I'm getting somewhat that same sensation as I travel around Texas. No one wonders what Lyndon and I wear!

 * So, you want this rotten job? (To Barry Goldwater, visiting him in the Oval Office)

 * When we got into office, the one thing that surprised me most was to find that things were just as bad as we'd been saying they were.

 * We must remember. The French have always been there...when they needed us most.

 * Victory has a thousand fathers; but defeat is an orphan.
 * Perhaps http://www.jfklibrary.org/white%20house%20diary/1961/April/21 --Gwern 10:08, 22 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Kennedy called it an "old saying" when he used it in a 1961 press conference about the Bay of Pigs fiasco. (Ralph Keyes, The Quote Verifier (2006), p. 234). The exact wording used by Kennedy (it was a hundred, not a thousand) had appeared in the 1951 film The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (William Safire, Safire's New Political Dictionary (1993), pp 841–842). The earliest known occurrence is Galeazzo Ciano, Diary 1937-1943, entry for 9 September 1942 ("La victoria trova cento padri, e nessuno vuole riconoscere l'insuccesso."), but it may have older origins. ~ Ningauble 15:12, 22 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Yup! Tacitus: “Iniquissima haec bellorum condicio est: prospera omnes sibi vindicant, adversa uni imputantur.” Friday afternoon in the year 98. Grey Geezer (talk) 12:49, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

when where was the "The Solon quote" made?
When and where was this quote made?

"That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy"

 * The President and the Press: Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association
 * President John F. Kennedy
 * Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
 * New York City, April 27, 1961
 * http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03NewspaperPublishers04271961.htm
 * 95.16.145.102 23:31, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Quote frequently attributed to JFK but no good ref can be found
Where there's smoke, there is usually a smoke-making machine.

The oldest source I've been able to find is from 1991, to wit: Venice West: the Beat Generation in Southern California, by John Arthur Maynard, p. 20.

See: http://books.google.com/books?id=aGOVgiSR7oEC&lpg=PA20&dq=%22where%20there's%20smoke%22%20%22smoke%20making%20machine%22&pg=PA20#v=onepage&q=%22where%20there's%20smoke%22%20%22smoke%20making%20machine%22&f=false

MEMcNeil 19:27, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Columbia Speech redux
The quote purported to have been given by JFK at Columbia - aside from (apparently) having no supporting historical information which would confirm even the occurrence of said speech - doesn't sound like something he would have SAID; it sounds like something he WROTE to someone in a letter (as is mentioned above).

I tend to believe that the quote is real but that the letter is perhaps in private hands and remains undisclosed. This, however, is only my BELIEF; I also have no supporting information to justify this belief.

Doninsbca (talk) 13:40, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

Kennedy's last words?
Should Kennedy's last words be mentioned here? "No, you certainly can't"; This was said in reply to Nellie Connally, wife of Governor John Connelly, commenting "You certainly can't say that the people of Dallas haven't given you a nice welcome, Mr. President." Kennedy said his last words just after the Main-to-Houston Street turn (with photos and films even showing him leaning in towards Mrs. Connally on Houston Street to reply to her). Look at 0:24 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo6ik2Zti6k

"One Person Can Make a Difference..."
The JFK Library says its doubtful JFK said that https://jfk.blogs.archives.gov/2019/10/28/make-a-difference-quote/ WhisperToMe (talk) 20:32, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

"We're going to do it, and we're going to do it right, the first time"
JFK said this at a televised news conference in 1961, shortly after his address to Congress (May 25, 1961) in which he set the national goal of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

I saw this on a video (= "film") clip that was used as part of a documentary on the Apollo program. (It was almost an "offhand" addition to an answer to a reporter's question.)

I'm posting this here rather than on the page itself because I do not have an exact date, nor a link to a source. . . but JFK did say this. 178.148.12.88 18:08, 19 June 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:John F. Kennedy


text:
Paul Begala

Paul Begala (born 12 May 1961) is a political consultant, commentator and was an advisor to President Bill Clinton.

Quotes

 * I am actually pro-cursing. I think it's good. I think we should teach kids to curse, so they don't use drugs. It doesn't rot your brain. It doesn't get you pregnant. It doesn't kill you, like tobacco.
 * Source: CNN Crossfire, December 8, 2003.

 * Stroke of the pen. Law of the Land. Kinda cool.
 * Source: The New York Times, July 5, 1998, referring to executive orders.

 * What he has spent it on, apparently, is just hiring a bunch of staff people to wander around Utah and Mississippi and pick their nose.
 * Source: CNN, May 11, 2006, speaking of Howard Dean and the 50-State Strategy.

 * Will we lift our sights to meet his vision?
 * Source: CNN "Larry King Live", January 22, 2009, appearing with Dee Dee Meyers, on America's ability to support President Obama's ultimate success.

 * I am a proud progressive Democrat, someone who believes affordable, quality health care is an economic necessity and a moral imperative. As a longtime Democratic political strategist, I am skeptical, at best, of the Washington elite's worship of bipartisanship -- as if the truth always lies halfway between Rush Limbaugh and Michael Moore
 * "A Health-Care Goal for Progressives: Progress Not Perfection" (August 13, 2009)

 * Two Corinthians walk into a bar...
 * About Donald Trump saying "two Corinthians" instead of "Second Corinthians" during a speech at . (January 18, 2016)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Paul Begala


text:
Japanese proverbs

Japanese proverbs (諺 kotowaza) take the form of short sayings, idiomatic phrases and four-character idioms.

Sayings

 * 猿も木から落ちる
 * Saru mo ki kara ochiru.
 * Even monkeys fall from trees.
 * English equivalent: It is a good horse that never stumbles.

 * 井の中の蛙大海を知らず
 * I no naka no kawazu taikai-o shirazu.
 * A frog in a well does not know the great ocean.
 * Chinese equivalent: 井底之蛙.
 * "Do not associate with a fool because he will beautify his actions before you and long that you too be like him."
 * Ali, Nahj al-Balagha, Hadith n. 293, at the . (7th-8th century)

 * 二兎を追う者は一兎も得ず
 * Nito-o ou mono wa itto mo ezu.
 * Who chases two rabbits catches neither.
 * Italian equivalent: Chi troppo vuole, nulla stringe.
 * English equivalents: You must not run after two hares at the same time. donkey can starve choosing between two bales of hay.

 * 良薬口に苦し
 * Ryooyaku Kuchi ni Nigashi.
 * Translation: Good medicine is bitter to the mouth.
 * English equivalent: The truth hurts.
 * Chinese equivalent: 良藥苦口.

 * 角を矯めて牛を殺す
 * Tsuno-o tamete ushi-o korosu.
 * Translation: To kill a bull by straightening its horns.

 * 継続は力なり
 * Keizoku wa chikara nari.
 * Translation: To continue is power.

 * 鳥なき里の蝙蝠
 * Tori naki sato no koumori.
 * Translation: A bat in a village without birds.

 * 苦あれば楽あり
 * Ku areba raku ari.
 * Translation: There are hardships and there are delights.
 * English equivalent: After rain comes fair weather; No pain, no gain; March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers.
 * Chinese equivalent: 苦盡甘来.

 * 毒食わば皿まで
 * Doku kuwaba sara made.
 * Translation: When poisoned, one might as well swallow the plate.
 * English equivalent: "In for a penny, in for a pound."
 * Yiddish equivalent: "If you're going to eat pork, eat it till your mouth drips."

 * 早起きは三文の徳
 * Haya oki wa sanmon no toku.
 * Translation: Early rising benefits you three pence.
 * English equivalent: The early bird gets the worm.

 * 愚公山を移す
 * Gukou yama-o utsusu.
 * Translation: Yugong moves a mountain.
 * English equivalent: Faith can move mountains; where there's a will, there's a way.
 * Chinese equivalent: 愚公移山.
 * "愚公移山" is a Chinese fable from the book  (《列子》).
 * "Nothing is impossible to those who have sufficient faith; applied not only to religious faith, but to any strong belief in a cause or objective."

 * 井戸の中の独言も三年たてば知れる
 * Ido no naka no hitori-goto mo san'nen tateba shireru.
 * Translation: Even the mutterings of a man in a well are widely known after three years.

 * 亀の甲より年の功
 * Kame no kou yori toshi no kou.
 * Translation: Wisdom gotten from age is better than the shell of a tortoise.
 * English equivalent 1: Years know more than books.
 * English equivalent 2: "Experience is the mother of wisdom."
 * "Prudence is the footprint of Wisdom."
 * Amos Bronson Alcott, Orphic Sayings (1840)

 * 一盲衆を引く
 * Ichi mou shuu-o hiku.
 * Translation: One blind man leads the crowd.
 * English equivalent: If the BLIND lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
 * "Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l'admire.
 * Translation: A fool always finds one still more foolish to admire him.
 * Variant A fool always finds a greater fool to admire him."
 * Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, L'Art Poétique (The Art of Poetry), Canto I, l. 232 (1674).

 * 一寸先は闇
 * Issun saki wa yami.
 * Translation: It is dark one inch ahead of you.
 * English equivalent 1: Who can see in the future?
 * English equivalent 2: Expect the unexpected.

 * 出る釘は打たれる
 * Deru kugi wa utareru.
 * Translation: The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
 * Chinese equivalent: 棒打出頭鳥.
 * Note: While kui (杭, stake) is sometimes used in place of kugi (釘, nail) some purists point to the incongruity of using "kui" since, in traditional Japanese post and beam house construction, it is physically impossible to hammer a stake flush with the wood, and a stake in the ground would have no structural function.
 * "It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from the sense of inadequacy and impotence. They hate not wickedness but weakness. When it is their power to do so, the weak destroy weakness wherever they see it."
 * Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State Of Mind, and Other Aphorisms (1955)
 * Roku Okada, Japanese Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, Japan Travel Bureau, Tokyo 1955, page 28

 * 艱難にあって初めて真友を知る
 * Kannan ni atte hajimete shinyū-o shiru.
 * Translation: Friends are known first in hardships.
 * English equivalent: A friend in need is a friend indeed.
 * Chinese equivalent: 患難見真情.

 * 虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず
 * Koketsu ni irazunba koji-o ezu.
 * Translation: If you do not enter the tiger's cave, you will not catch its cub.
 * English equivalent: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
 * Chinese equivalent: 不入虎穴，焉得虎子.
 * "If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be."
 * Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth (1988)
 * Meaning: "Nothing can be achieved without effort, suffering or hardship."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:

 * 木の実は元へ落つる
 * Kinomi wa moto e otsuru.
 * Translation: A berry falls to (its tree's) roots.
 * English equivalent: The apple does not fall far from the tree.
 * "Children observe daily and — in their behaviour — often follow the example of their parents."

 * 七転び八起き
 * Nana korobi ya oki.
 * Translation: Fall down seven times, get up eight.
 * English equivalent: If at first you don't succeed try, try again.

 * 能ある鷹は爪を隠す
 * Nou aru taka wa tsume-o kakusu.
 * Translation: The smart hawk hides its talons.
 * Meaning: One should hide his best abilities until the time comes to show them.
 * Closest English equivalent: "Still water runs deep."

 * 小打も積もれば大木を倒す
 * Shouda mo tsumoreba taiboku-o taosu.
 * Translation: With many little strokes a large tree is felled.
 * English equivalent: Little strokes fell great oaks.
 * Meaning: "A difficult task, e. g. removing a person/group from a strong position, or changing established ideas cannot be done quickly. It can be achieved gradually, by small steps, a little at a time."

 * 立つ鳥跡を濁さず
 * Tatsu tori ato-o nigosazu.
 * Translation: A leaving bird does not leave a mess.
 * English equivalent: It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest; Don't wash your dirty linen in public.
 * Meaning: "Why wantonly proclaim one's own disgrace, or expose the faults or weaknesses of one's kindred or people?"
 * Meaning 2: "It is considered contemptible to defy the rule of solidarity by revealing facts harmful to the group one belongs to."

 * この父にしてこの子あり
 * Kono chichi ni shite kono ko ari.
 * Translation: With such father there is such a child.
 * English equivalent: Like father, like son.
 * Chinese equivalent: 有其父，必有其子.
 * Meaning: "Sons may look and behave like their fathers. This is due to inheritance and the example observed closely and daily."

 * 酒は本心を表す
 * Sake-wa honshin-o arawasu.
 * Translation: Sake [in other words alcohol], reveals the true heart.
 * English equivalent: In wine there is truth; In vino veritas.
 * Chinese equivalent: 酒後吐真言.
 * Meaning: "Alcohol consumed removes the inhibition against telling the truth that occasionally one would like to keep secret."

 * 目は口ほどに物を言う
 * Me-wa kuchi hodo mono-o iu.
 * English equivalent: The eyes are sometimes a true index of the heart.

 * 義は険しい山よりも重く、死は大鳥の羽よりも軽い
 * Duty is weightier than a mountain, while death is lighter than a feather.
 *  (1882), as quoted in

Idiomatic phrases

 * 水に流す
 * Mizu ni nagasu.
 * Translation: let the water flow.
 * English equivalent: Forgive and forget; water under the bridge.
 * "I never take vengeance unless I am forced to do so by an oath or in self-protection. I believe that evil is its own punishment."
 * Claudius (later Caesar/Emperor of the Roman Empire), in Robert Graves' historical novel I, Claudius (1934).

 * 石の上にも三年
 * Ishi no ue nimo san nen.
 * Translation: [To stay] three years on a rock.
 * Meaning: "This proverb teaches the principle of perseverance by encouraging one to see an enterprise through to its conclusion."

 * 乗りかかった船
 * Nori-kakatta fune.
 * Translation: A ship that you are already partially in.
 * English equivalent: In for a penny, in for a pound.

 * 竜頭蛇尾
 * Ryuto-dabi
 * Translation: A dragon's head, a serpent's tail.
 * English equivalentː A good Start often means a bad finish.

title: Japanese proverbs


text:
Joss Whedon

Joseph "Joss" Hill Whedon (born 23 June 1964) is an American screenwriter, film and television director, film and television producer, comic book author, composer and actor whose works have emphasized themes of feminism, anti-authoritarianism, existentialism and absurdism.
 * See also:
 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992 film)
 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 - 2003)
 * Angel (1999 - 2004)
 * Firefly (2002 - 2003)
 * Astonishing X-Men (2004 - 2008)
 * Serenity (2005 film)
 * The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
 * The Avengers (2012 film)
 * Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Quotes

 * The first thing I ever thought of when I thought of Buffy, the movie, was the little...blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed, in every horror movie. The idea of Buffy was to subvert that idea, that image, and create someone who was a hero where she had always been a victim. That element of surprise … genre-busting is very much at the heart of both the movie and the series.
 * Welcome to the Hellmouth (1997) DVD Commentary

 * I think there's a lot of people out there who say we must not have horror in any form, we must not say scary things to children because it will make them evil and disturbed... That offends me deeply, because the world is a scary and horrifying place, and everyone's going to get old and die, if they're that lucky. To set children up to think that everything is sunshine and roses is doing them a great disservice. Children need horror because there are things they don't understand. It helps them to codify it if it is mythologized, if it's put into the context of a story, whether the story has a happy ending or not. If it scares them and shows them a little bit of the dark side of the world that is there and always will be, it's helping them out when they have to face it as adults.
 * Said to Michael Silverberg of NPR; quote featured in the Buffy Monster Book (2000)

 * I believe we are the only sentient beings in the universe, and I believe that 500 years from now, we will still be the only sentient beings around. … Aliens are something everyone else is doing.
 * As quoted in "Whedon creates space cowboys in 'Firefly'" in Post-Gazette (22 July 2002)

 * Very occasionally, if you really pay attention, life doesn’t suck.
 * Liner notes to the cast album Once More, with Feeling (2002)

 * You can either watch TV or you can make TV.
 * Underground Online, interview by Michael Patrick Sullivan

 * Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn.
 * Bronze Beta web message board, (14 February 2004) ; after Whedon's discovery that The WB had cancelled Angel. Compare: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference." Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken" (1916).

 * The network called up and said 'We piggybacked you on the deal for another show,' I'm like 'Okay, so what you're saying to my writers is that they weren't picked up when they thought they were and now that they are it was because of something that has nothing to do with them. Okay. Great. Stop calling'.
 * Underground Online, interview by Michael Patrick Sullivan
 * Note: This is in reference to the WB network announcing that Angel had been confirmed for a full fifth season of 22 episodes, when Mutant Enemy Productions had already assumed that to be so.

 * My visions of the future are always pretty much standard issue. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer... and there are flying cars.
 * TV Guide (27 December – 2 January 2004), and Foreword to Fray

 * The English Language is my bitch. Or I don't speak it very well. Whatever.

 * Let freedom ring, unless it's on vibrate.

 * Veronica solves little puzzles because she, like all of us, cannot unravel the bigger ones.
 * Veronica Mars: The Complete First Season Reviewed by Joss Whedon|111120||0_0_,00.html

 * I don't actually have anything against anybody, unless their belief precludes everybody else's. … I am an atheist and an absurdist and I have been for many years. I've actually taken a huge amount of flack for that.
 * "Joss Whedon: Atheist & Absurdist", comments made in a Q&A-session in Australia, while promoting his movie Serenity (2005)

 * I believe the only reality is how we treat each other. The morality comes from the absence of any grander scheme, not from the presence of any grander scheme.
 * "Joss Whedon: Atheist & Absurdist", comments made in a Q&A-session in Australia, while promoting his movie Serenity (2005)

 * If I made a series of lectures on PBS on why there should be feminism, no one would be coming to the party, and it would be boring. The idea of changing culture is important to me, and it can only be done in a popular medium.
 * "We Don’t Say Indian" in Slay Age (2005); also quoted in Ink-stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology (2010) by Jennifer K. Stuller

 * Stay crunchy, even in milk.
 * "Joss to never learn how to work site! Man is complete Melvin! Mock him!" at ''Whedonesque.com (9 November 2005)

 * I know there's been some debate about the DVD art. Just remember it's what's INside that counts, as I used to remind girls in high school constantly. CONSTANTLY — until I realized that I was empty inside. Empty and homely. Man, that's a rough combo.
 * "Joss to never learn how to work site! Man is complete Melvin! Mock him!" at ''Whedonesque.com (9 November 2005)

 * The actors can make up their dialogue. I'm bushed, and they're all funny, and the hell with it. Maybe I'll give them a premise to work off of, like "You're all in trouble" or "Wash has a thing". They could maybe light it too.
 * "This explains Joss perfectly." at ''Whedonesque.com (15 February 2006)

 * People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don't like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy.
 * "This explains Joss perfectly." at ''Whedonesque.com (15 February 2006)

 * People with real power never fear of losing it. People with control think of little else.
 * "Mom, He's Doing It Again..", at Whedonesque.com (10 November 2007)

 * SENTINEL: Is dead Buffy actually a robot?
 * Joss: Um, no. Dead Buffy's a Buffy. But a dead one.
 * As quoted in The Orlando Sentinel (24 May 2001)

 * Get out of my BRAIN!
 * From "The Green Clan" on Serenity (film)

 * The greatest expression of rebellion is joy.
 * Acceptance speech for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog at the Creative Art Emmys

 * There is nothing more painful in the world than Aly when she makes her big eyes. She makes her big hurt eyes, there's nothing you can do.  She just kills you.
 * DVD commentary for Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode 2-14 "Innocence"

 * I think that people need two kinds of fulfillment — one in which you give and one in which you hold back. Part of fulfillment is need, is longing, is being unfulfilled, that’s the nature of tragedy and a lot of drama. Very often, what the fans want, they get. But very often, what they want, they can’t quite have, because we want them to feel the way our characters felt...
 * "Joss Whedon on life, love, and leaving 'Buffy' behind", Stanford Daily (16 May 2003)

 * Hello, I'm the writer and director. Now take your clothes off and get on top of Morena.
 * Reportedly said on the set of Serenity to Phillip Sternborg on his first day of filming, as quoted in the DVD commentary of Firefly boxset (2003).

 * Q: So, why do you write these strong female characters? A: Because you’re still asking me that question.
 * "American Rhetoric: Joss Whedon - Equality Now Address" (15 May 2006)

 * I have had a dream my whole life... and it was not this good.
 * On being attached to direct The Avengers at the San Diego Comic-Con 2010

 * All worthy work is open to interpretations the author did not intend. Art isn't your pet — it's your kid. It grows up and talks back to you.
 * Reddit IAmA (c. April 2012)

 * If I ever did a rom-com, it'd be about an orgy. I cannot do anything except ensemble-pieces. It's awful!
 * Interview with Joss Whedon and Elizabeth Olsen about Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

 * We’re talking about a malevolent force, We’re talking about a bad actor in both senses.
 * About Ray Fisher

Misattributed

 * If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.
 * Tim Minear, in Epiphany", episode 16 of season 2 of Angel; also mentioned in the DVD commentary for the Firefly episode, "Objects in Space".

Quotes about Joss Whedon

 * You only have to look at the chubby little goblin and you see Gamma face. Puffy and pinched with sunken piggy eyes.  The Germans have a word, Backpfeifengesicht, a face in need of a fist. Just looking at a picture of Whedon and any normal man feels his fingers instinctively start to clench.
 * Arkhaven Comics, The Gamma Boss: Joss Whedon February 13, 2021

 * Whedon as man appears to have inspired no loyalty at all from the people that worked for him.
 * Arkhaven Comics, The Gamma Boss: Joss Whedon February 13, 2021

 * Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions while working together on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. While he found his misconduct amusing, it only served to intensify my performance anxiety, disempower me, and alienate me from my peers. The disturbing incidents triggered a chronic physical condition from which I still suffer. It is with a beating, heavy heart that I say I coped in isolation and, at times, destructively. Last summer, when Ray Fisher publicly accused Joss of abusive and unprofessional behaviour toward the cast and crew during reshoots on the Justice League set in 2017, it gutted me. Joss has a history of being casually cruel. He has created hostile and toxic work environments since his early career. I know because I experienced it first-hand. Repeatedly.
 * Charisma Carpenter, twitter, 3:20 AM · Feb 11, 2021 (part one)

 * Joss intentionally refused multiple calls from my agents making it impossible to connect with him to tell him the news that I was pregnant. Finally, once Joss was apprised of the situation, he requested a meeting with me. In that closed-door meeting, he asked me if I was "going to keep it" and manipulatively weaponized my womanhood and faith against me. He proceeded to attack my character, mock my religious beliefs, accuse me of sabotaging the show, and then unceremoniously fired me the following season once I gave birth.

 * It is abundantly evident that Joss has persisted in his harmful actions, continuing to create wreckage in his wake. My hope now, by finally coming forward about these experiences, is to create space for the healing of others who I know have experienced similar serialized abuses of power.
 * Charisma Carpenter, twitter, 3:20 AM · Feb 11, 2021 (part two)

title: Joss Whedon


text:
Talk:H. P. Lovecraft

I remembered reading, somewhere, this quote from Lovecraft: "Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane".

A Google search reveals a similar quote from Marcus Tullius Cicero: "Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit", which translates to "Almost nobody dances sober, unless he happens to be insane". Lovecraft's quotation is suspiciously similar.

Most likely, since Lovecraft was well versed in classical literature, he dropped a paraphrase of Cicero's statement in a letter somewhere, knowingly or not. Trouble is, I don't recall where Lovecraft's quote was transcribed—whether it was quoted from a letter of his, for example, and whether its exact source was cited. Does anyone know? Chris Roy 21:26, 11 Dec 2003 (UTC)
 * When he was seven, his mother tried to get him interested in dancing lessons; that is what he replied. 70.186.172.214 10:50, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Where are all the quotes where he calls black people less than human? He wrote more than just fiction, you know.
 * I added one from p. 102 of L. Sprague De Camp's biography of him Lovecraft: A Biography . . . he was quoting from The Conservative, Volume I, Number 2, published in July of 1915. 70.186.172.214 15:12, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

"I remembered reading, somewhere, this quote from Lovecraft: "Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane"."

I searched through the collected works of Lovecraft, and this quote never appears.

trying to confirm a quote - source and date if possible
Does anyone know if H.P. Lovecraft really said, "At night, when the objective world has slunk back into its cavern and left dreamers to their own, there come inspirations and capabilities impossible at any less magical and quiet hour. No one knows whether or not he is a writer unless he has tried writing at night"?

I see this on general quote pages, but would like to know if Lovecraft really said it and if so, when and in what source.

Thank you. 152.160.38.203 21:31, 20 July 2014 (UTC)Crystal Hayduk, July 20, 2014

title: Talk:H. P. Lovecraft


text:
User:Chris Roy~enwikiquote

My main profile can be found here.

title: User:Chris Roy~enwikiquote


text:
American Beauty (1999 film)

American Beauty is a 1999 film about a husband and father who is going through a mid-life crisis, and how his newfound quest for love, freedom and self-liberation impacts on his family and neighbours.
 * Directed by Sam Mendes. Written by Alan Ball.

...look closer.

Lester Burnham

 * My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood. This is my street. This is my life. I am 42 years old. In less than a year, I will be dead. Of course, I don't know that yet, and in a way, I'm dead already. Look at me, jerking off in the shower. This will be the highlight of my day. It's all downhill from here. That's my wife Carolyn. See the way the handle on those pruning shears match her gardening clogs? That's not an accident. That's our neighbor, Jim, and that's his lover, Jim. Man, I get exhausted just watching her. She wasn't always like this. She used to be happy. We used to be happy. My daughter, Jane. Only child. Janie's a pretty typical teenager–angry, insecure, confused. I wish I could tell her that's all going to pass, but I don't want to lie to her. Both my wife and daughter think I'm this gigantic loser. And they're right. I have lost something. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I know I didn't always feel this ... sedated. But you know what? It's never too late to get it back.
 * It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. Makes you wonder what else you can do that you've forgotten about.
 * Remember those posters that said, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life"? Well, that's true of every day but one - the day you die.
 * You better watch yourself, Janie, or you're gonna turn into a real bitch, just like your mother.
 * I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all. It stretches on forever, like an ocean of time. For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout Camp, watching falling stars. [Gunshot] And yellow leaves from the maple trees that lined our street. [Gunshot] Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper. And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird. And Janie, and Janie. And Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain, and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry. You will someday.

Carolyn Burnham

 * [To Janie] Honey, I'm so proud of you. I watched you very closely! You didn't screw up once!
 * [To herself] Stop it! Shut up! You’re weak! You baby! Shut up!

Ricky Fitts

 * Welcome to America's weirdest home videos.
 * My dad thinks I paid for all this with catering jobs. Never underestimate the power of denial.
 * [to Janie] Do you want to see the most beautiful thing I've ever filmed? It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing, and there was this electricity in the air. You can almost hear it. Right? And this bag was just, dancing with me, like a little kid beggin' me to play with it - for fifteen minutes. That's the day I realized that there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know that there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember - I need to remember. Sometimes, there's so much beauty in the world - I feel like I can't take it, like my heart is just going to cave in.

Angela Hayes

 * It's OK. I'm used to guys drooling over me. It started when I was about twelve, I'd go to dinner with my parents. Every Thursday night, Red Lobster. And every guy there would stare at me when I walked in. And I knew what they were thinking. Just like I knew guys at school thought about me when they jerked off...I liked it. And I still like it. If people I don't even know look at me and want to fuck me, it means I really have a shot at being a model. Which is great, because there's nothing worse in life than being ordinary.

Dialogue

 * Janie: I need a father who's a role model, not some horny geek-boy who's gonna spray his shorts whenever I bring a girlfriend home from school. What a lame-o. Somebody really should just put him out of his misery.
 * Ricky: Want me to kill him for you?
 * Janie: Yeah, would you?

 * Lester: You don't think it's kinda weird and fascist?
 * Carolyn: Possibly, but you don't want to be unemployed.
 * Lester: Oh well, all right, let's all sell our souls and work for Satan because it's more convenient that way.

 * Janie: Dad. Mom's waiting for you.
 * Lester: Well, it was very nice meeting you, Angela. Any friend of Janie's is a friend of mine. Well, I'll be seeing you around, then.
 * Janie: Could he be any more pathetic?
 * Angela: I think it's sweet. And I think he and your mother have not had sex in a long time.

 * Angela: And then he just pulled down his pants, you know, like say hello to Mr. Happy.
 * Teenage girl #1: Gross.
 * Angela: It wasn't gross. It was kind of cool.
 * Teenage girl #2: So did you do it with him?
 * Angela: Of course I did! He's a really well-known photographer. He shoots for Elle on like, a regular basis. It would've been so majorly stupid of me to turn him down.
 * Teenage girl #1: You are a total prostitute.
 * Angela: Hey, that's how things really are. You just don't know cause you're this pampered little suburban chick.
 * Teenage girl #1: So are you! You've only been in Seventeen once, and you looked fat, so stop acting like you're god damn Christy Turlington! [walks away]
 * Angela: Cunt! I am so sick of people taking their insecurities out on me.

 * Carolyn: What are you doing?
 * Lester: Nothing.
 * Carolyn: You were masturbating!
 * Lester: I was not.
 * Carolyn: Yes you were!
 * Lester: Oh, all right! So shoot me, I was whacking off! That's right, I was choking the bishop, chafing the carrot, you know, saying "hi" to my monster!
 * Carolyn: That's disgusting!
 * Lester: Well forgive me, but some of us still have blood pumping through our veins.
 * Carolyn: So do I.
 * Lester: Really?! Well, I'm the only one who seems to be doing anything about it!
 * Carolyn: Lester, I refuse to live like this! This is not a marriage!
 * Lester Burnham: This hasn't been a marriage, for years, but you were happy as long as I kept my mouth shut. Well, guess what, I've changed! And the new me whacks off when he feels horny, because you're obviously not gonna help me out in that department!
 * Carolyn: Oh, I see. You think you're the only one who's sexually frustrated here?
 * Lester: I'm not? Well, then, come on, baby, I'm ready!
 * Carolyn: Don't you mess with me, mister, or I'll divorce you so fast it'll make your head spin!
 * Lester: On what grounds? I'm not a drunk, I don't fuck other women, I've never hit you, I don't mistreat you... I don't even try to touch you since you've made it so abundantly clear how unnecessary you consider me to be! But I did support you when you got your license, and some people might think that entitles me to half of what's yours. So, turn off the light when you come to bed!

 * Carolyn: I see you're smoking pot now. I'm so glad. I think using illegal psychotropic substances is a very positive example to set for our daughter.
 * Lester: You're one to talk, you bloodless, money grubbing freak.
 * Carolyn: Lester. You have such hostility in you!...Lester, you will not get away with this. You can be sure of that!

 * Brad: [reading Lester's job description] "My job consists of basically masking my contempt for the assholes in charge, and, at least once a day, retiring to the men's room so I can jerk off while I fantasize about a life that doesn't so closely resemble Hell." Well, you have absolutely no interest in saving yourself.
 * Lester: Brad, for 14 years I've been a whore for the advertising industry. The only way I could save myself now is if I start firebombing.
 * Brad: Whatever. Management wants you gone by the end of the day.
 * Lester: Well, just what sort of severance package is management prepared to offer me? Considering the information I have about our Editorial Director buying pussy with company money - which, I think, would interest the I.R.S., since it technically constitutes fraud; and I'm sure that some of our advertisers and rival publications might like to know about it as well. Not to mention, [grins] Craig's wife!
 * Brad: What do you want?
 * Lester: One year's salary, with benefits.
 * Brad: That's not going to happen.
 * Lester: Well, what do you say I throw in a little sexual harassment charge, to boot?
 * Brad: [chuckles in disbelief] Against who?
 * Lester: [he chuckles right back] Against YOU. Can you prove that you didn't offer to save my job if I let you blow me?
 * Brad: Man, you are one twisted fuck.
 * Lester: Nope; I'm just an ordinary guy with nothing to lose.

 * Ricky: [about a dead homeless woman he filmed] When you see something like that, it's like God is looking right at you, just for a second. And if you're careful, you can look right back.
 * Jane: And what do you see?
 * Ricky: Beauty.

 * Janie: Sorry I'm late.
 * Carolyn: No, that's quite all right, dear. Your father and I were just discussing his day at work. [to Lester] Why don't you tell our daughter about it, honey?
 * Lester: Janie, today I quit my job.
 * Carolyn: [laughs]
 * Lester: And then I told my boss to go fuck himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus.
 * Carolyn: [laughing] Your father seems to think this kind of behavior is something to be proud of!
 * Lester: And your mother seems to prefer I go through life like a fucking prisoner while she keeps my dick in a Mason jar under the sink.
 * Carolyn: How dare you speak to me that way in front of her. And I marvel that you can be so contemptuous of me, on the same day that you lose your job.
 * Lester: I didn't lose it. It's not like, "Whoops! Where'd my job go?" I quit! Pass the asparagus.
 * Carolyn: Oh! Oh! Oh! And I want to thank you for putting me under the added pressure of being the sole breadwinner now!
 * Lester: I already have a job.
 * Carolyn: No, no, don't give a second thought as to who's gonna pay the mortgage. We'll just leave it all up to Carolyn! You mean you're gonna take care of everything now, Carolyn? Yes. I don't mind, I really don't. You mean everything? You don't mind having the sole responsibility, your husband feels he can just quit his job and you don't--
 * Lester: [overlapping] Will someone please pass me the fucking asparagus?
 * Jane: [standing] Okay, guys, I'm not gonna be a part of this.
 * Lester: Sit down! [Janie sits. Lester stands up, walks to the other side of the table, picks up the plate of asparagus, then sits back down] I am sick and tired of being treated like I don't exist. You two do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it, and I don't complain. Now all I want is the same--
 * Carolyn: [interrupting] Oh, you don't complain? Oh please! Excuse me! Excuse me! I must be psychotic, then! If you don't complain, what is this? [Lester stands with the asparagus plate in his hand] Yeah, let's bring in the laugh-meter and see how loud it gets on that one. You don't compl--
 * Lester: [throws the asparagus plate at the wall] [Casually looking a stunned Carolyn in the eyes] Don't interrupt me, honey. [sits back down to eat, looking up at the background music in disdain] Oh, and another thing, from now on we're going to alternate our dinner music, because, frankly--and I don't think I'm alone here-- [looks in Jane's direction] I'm really tired of this Lawrence Welk shit!

 * Mr. Smiley's Manager: I don't think you'd fit in here.
 * Lester: I have fast food experience.
 * Mr. Smiley's Manager: Yeah, like twenty years ago!
 * Lester: Well, I'm sure there have been amazing technological advances in the industry, but surely you must have some sort of training program. It seems unfair to presume I won't be able to learn.

 * Carolyn: Oh Honey, are you trying to look unattractive?
 * Janie: Yes.
 * Carolyn: Congratulations, you've succeeded admirably!

 * Carolyn: Uh, whose car is that out front?
 * Lester: Mine. 1970 Pontiac Firebird. The car I've always wanted and now I have it. I rule!
 * Carolyn: Lester, you're going to spill beer on the couch.
 * Lester: So what? It's just a couch.
 * Carolyn: This is a four thousand dollar sofa, upholstered in Italian silk. This is not just a couch!
 * Lester: It's just a couch! This isn't life! This is just stuff. And it's become more important to you than living. Well, honey, that's just nuts.
 * Lester: It's just a couch! This isn't life! This is just stuff. And it's become more important to you than living. Well, honey, that's just nuts.

 * Lester: [at the drive-thru] Smile! You're at Mr. Smiley's.
 * Carolyn: Uh, Buddy, this is my...
 * Lester: Her husband. We've met before, but something tells me you're going to remember me this time.
 * Janine: Whoa, you are so busted!
 * Carolyn: You know, this really doesn't concern you!
 * Lester: Actually, Janine is senior-manager of the drive thru so you kind of are on her turf.
 * Lester: Actually, Janine is senior-manager of the drive thru so you kind of are on her turf.

 * Ricky: [laughs] Oh, Dad, you don't really think that me and Mr. Burnham were...
 * Colonel Fitts: Don't you laugh at me. Now, I will not sit back and watch my only son become a cock-sucker!
 * Ricky: Jesus, what is it with you?
 * Colonel Fitts: I swear to God, I will throw you out of the house and never look at you again!
 * Ricky: You mean that?
 * Colonel Fitts: You're damn straight I do. I'd rather you were dead than be a fuckin' faggot.
 * Ricky: You're right, I suck dick for money.
 * Colonel Fitts: Boy, don't start.
 * Ricky Fitts: Two thousand dollars, I'm that good.
 * Colonel Fitts: Get out.
 * Ricky: And you should see me fuck. I'm the best piece of ass in three states.
 * [Colonel Fitts hits Ricky]
 * Colonel Fitts: Get out! I don't ever want to see you again.
 * Ricky: What a sad old man you are.

 * Angela: [about Ricky] Jane, he's a freak!
 * Jane: Then so am I! And we'll always be freaks and we'll never be like other people and you'll never be a freak because you're just too... perfect!
 * Angela: Yeah? Well, at least I'm not ugly!
 * Ricky: Yes you are. And you're boring. And totally ordinary. And you know it.
 * Angela: You two deserve each other.

 * Angela: Jane and I had a fight. It was about you. She's mad at me because I said I think you're sexy.
 * Lester: So, you gonna tell me? What do you want?
 * Angela: I don't know...What do you want?
 * Lester: Are you kidding? I want you. I've wanted you ever since the first moment I saw you. You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
 * Angela: You don't think I'm ordinary?
 * Lester: You couldn't be ordinary if you tried.
 * Angela: Thank you. I don't think there's anything worse than being ordinary.
 * [She opens her blouse, exposing her breasts, and lies back beneath Lester]
 * Angela: This is my first time.
 * Lester: [He laughs] You're kidding.
 * Angela: I'm sorry. I still want to do it. I just thought I should tell you in case you wondered why I wasn't...better.
 * [He stops]
 * Angela: What's wrong? I thought you said I was beautiful.
 * Lester: You are beautiful. You are so beautiful - and I would be a very lucky man.
 * Angela: I feel so stupid
 * Lester: Don't...You have nothing to be sorry about...It's OK, everything's OK.

 * Lester: How's Jane?
 * Angela: What do you mean?
 * Lester: I mean, how's her life? Is she happy? Is she miserable? I'd really like to know, and she'd die before she'd-
 * Angela: She's... she's really happy. She thinks she's in love.
 * Lester: Good for her.
 * Angela: How are you?
 * Lester: God, it's been a long time since anybody asked me that... I'm great.

Cast

 * Kevin Spacey - Lester Burnham
 * Annette Bening - Carolyn Burnham
 * Thora Birch - Jane Burnham
 * Wes Bentley - Ricky Fitts
 * Mena Suvari - Angela Hayes
 * Peter Gallagher - Buddy King
 * Allison Janney - Barbara Fitts
 * Chris Cooper - Col. Frank Fitts, USMC
 * Scott Bakula - Jim Olmeyer
 * Sam Robards - Jim Berkley
 * Barry Del Sherman - Brad Dupree

title: American Beauty (1999 film)


text:
Lou Krieger

Lou Krieger is a poker expert.

Quotes

 * Poker is a microcosm of all we admire and disdain about capitalism and democracy. It can be rough-hewn or polished, warm or cold, charitable and caring or hard and impersonal. It is fickle and elusive, but ultimately it is fair, and right, and just.
 * ''More Hold'Em Excellence: A Winner for Life - Page 4, Lou Krieger - ConJelCo LLC, 1999, ISBN 188607013X, 9781886070134 - 188 pages

title: Lou Krieger


text:
Luis Buñuel

 Luis Buñuel (22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish film director.

Mon Dernier soupir (My Last Sigh, 1983)

 * God and Country are an unbeatable team; they break all records for oppression and bloodshed.

 * Thank God I'm an atheist.

 * Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese you dingus

 * Frankly, despite my distaste of the press, I'd love to rise from the grave every ten years or so and go buy a few newspapers.

 * If someone were to prove to me- right this minute- that God, in all his luminescence, exists, it wouldn't change a single aspect of my behavior.

 * If you were to ask me if I'd ever had the bad luck to miss my daily cocktail, I'd have to say that I doubt it; where certain things are concerned, I plan ahead.

 * In the name of Hippocrates, doctors have invented the most exquisite form of torture ever known to man: survival.

 * Salvador Dali seduced many ladies, particularly American ladies, but these seductions usually consisted of stripping them naked in his apartment, frying a couple of eggs, putting them on the woman's shoulders and, without a word, showing them the door.

 * Like the majority of deaf people, I don't like blind people much.

 * I like go to bed and get up early; in that, I am anti-Spanish.

 * A paranoiac is like a poet, born, not made. (Un paranoico como un poeta, nace, no se hace)

 * The story is also a sequence of moral and surrealist aesthetic. The sexual instinct and the sense of death form its substance. (The golden age)

 * Give me two hours a day of activity, and I'll take the other twenty-two in dreams.

 * I find it [science] analytical, pretentious and superficial—largely because it does not address itself to dreams, chance, laughter, feelings, or paradox—in other words,—all the things I love the most.

title: Luis Buñuel


text:
User:Vikingstad

My name is Onar Vikingstad. Currently studying Export Marketing at ESADE in Barcelona, but originally from Norway.

My interests are information technology (Macs especially) and politics in general.

title: User:Vikingstad