Wikiquote

October 17

date

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2003
Sex is only dirty if it's done right. ~ Woody Allen
  • selected by IP 195.100.67.10
2004
Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try. ~ "Yoda" in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
2005
Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El — they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. ~ Marlon Brando as "Jor-El" in Superman: The Movie
2006
Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets. ~ Arthur Miller (born 17 October 1915)
2007
My conception of the audience is of a public each member of which is carrying about with him what he thinks is an anxiety, or a hope, or a preoccupation which is his alone and isolates him from mankind; and in this respect at least the function of a play is to reveal him to himself so that he may touch others by virtue of the revelation of his mutuality with them. If only for this reason I regard the theater as a serious business, one that makes or should make man more human, which is to say, less alone. ~ Arthur Miller
2008
There's too much of an attempt, it seems to me, to think in terms of controlling man, rather than freeing him. Of defining him rather than letting him go. It's part of the whole ideology of this age, which is power-mad. ~ Arthur Miller
2009
An era can be said to end when its basic illusions are exhausted. ~ Arthur Miller
2010
The law of cases of necessity is not likely to be well furnished with precise rules; necessity creates the law, it supersedes rules; and whatever is reasonable and just in such cases, is likewise legal; it is not to be considered as matter of surprise, therefore, if much instituted rule is not to be found on such subjects.

~ William Scott

2011
You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you … even in the face of our deaths … the richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel … all this, and more … I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your own eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father the son. This is all I can send you, Kal-El.

~ Marlon Brando ~
as "Jor-El" in
Superman: The Movie

2012
By whatever means it is accomplished, the prime business of a play is to arouse the passions of its audience so that by the route of passion may be opened up new relationships between a man and men, and between men and Man. Drama is akin to the other inventions of man in that it ought to help us to know more, and not merely to spend our feelings.
~ Arthur Miller ~
2013
The job is to ask questions — it always was — and to ask them as inexorably as I can. And to face the absence of precise answers with a certain humility.
~ Arthur Miller ~
2014
The philosopher places himself at the summit of thought; from there he views what the world has been and what it must become. He is not just an observer, he is an actor; he is an actor of the highest kind in a moral world because it is his opinion of what the world must become that regulates society.
~ Henri de Saint-Simon ~
2015
You cannot make children learn music or anything else without to some degree converting them into will-less adults. You fashion them into accepters of the status quo – a good thing for a society that needs obedient sitters at dreary desks, standers in shops, mechanical catchers of the 8:30 suburban train – a society, in short, that is carried on the shabby shoulders of the scared little man – the scared-to-death conformist.
~ A. S. Neill ~
2016
Poetry, as nearly as I can understand it, is a statement in words about a human experience, whether the experience be real or hypothetical, major or minor; but it is a statement of a particular kind. Words are symbols for concepts, and the philosopher or scientist endeavors as far as may be to use them with reference to nothing save their conceptual content. Most words, however, connote feelings and perceptions, and the poet, like the writer of imaginative prose, endeavors to use them with reference not only to their denotations but to their connotations as well. Such writers endeavor to communicate not only concepts, arranged, presumably, either in rational order or in an order of apprehensible by the rational mind, but the feeling or emotion which the rational content ought properly to arouse.
~ Yvor Winters ~
2017
The Crucible became by far my most frequently produced play, both abroad and at home. Its meaning is somewhat different in different places and moments. I can almost tell what the political situation in a country is when the play is suddenly a hit there — it is either a warning of tyranny on the way or a reminder of tyranny just past.
~ Arthur Miller ~
2018
A play is made by sensing how the forces in life simulate ignorance — you set free the concealed irony, the deadly joke.
~ Arthur Miller ~
2019
It is always and forever the same struggle: to perceive somehow our own complicity with evil is a horror not to be borne. … much more reassuring to see the world in terms of totally innocent victims and totally evil instigators of the monstrous violence we see all about us. At all costs, never disturb our innocence. But what is the most innocent place in any country? Is it not the insane asylum? These people drift through life truly innocent, unable to see into themselves at all. The perfection of innocence, indeed, is madness.
~ Arthur Miller ~
2020
The possibility of victory must be there in tragedy. Where pathos rules, where pathos is finally derived, a character has fought a battle he could not possibly have won. The pathetic is achieved when the protagonist is, by virtue of his witlessness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, incapable of grappling with a much superior force.
Pathos truly is the mode for the pessimist. But tragedy requires a nicer balance between what is possible and what is impossible. And it is curious, although edifying, that the plays we revere, century after century, are the tragedies. In them, and in them alone, lies the belief — optimistic, if you will, in the perfectibility of man.
~ Arthur Miller ~
2021
I cannot write anything that I understand too well. If I know what something means to me, if I have already come to the end of it as an experience, I can't write it because it seems a twice-told tale. I have to astonish myself, and that of course is a very costly way of going about things, because you can go up a dead end and discover that it's beyond your capacity to discover some organism underneath your feeling, and you're left simply with a formless feeling which is not itself art. It's inexpressible and one must leave it until it is hardened and becomes something that has form and has some possibility of being communicated. It might take a year or two or three or four to emerge.
~ Arthur Miller ~
2022
The task of the real intellectual consists of analyzing illusions in order to discover their causes.
~ Arthur Miller ~
2023
Be grateful for the highs — and be grateful for the lows — 'cause it's in the lows where you learn.
~ Suzanne Somers ~
  • proposed by Kalki; in regard of her recent death.
2024
I don't know a critic who penetrates the center of anything.
~ Arthur Miller ~
2025
Rank or add further suggestions…

Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:

  • The apple cannot be stuck back on the Tree of Knowledge; once we begin to see, we are doomed and challenged to seek the strength to see more, not less. ~ Arthur Miller

The Quote of the Day (QOTD) is a prominent feature of the Wikiquote Main Page. Thank you for submitting, reviewing, and ranking suggestions!

Ranking system
4 : Excellent – should definitely be used. (This is the utmost ranking and should be used by any editor for only one quote at a time for each date.)
3 : Very Good – strong desire to see it used.
2 : Good – some desire to see it used.
1 : Acceptable – but with no particular desire to see it used.
0 : Not acceptable – not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.
An averaging of the rankings provided to each suggestion produces it’s general ranking in considerations for selection of Quote of the Day. The selections made are usually chosen from the top ranked options existing on the page, but the provision of highly ranked late additions, especially in regard to special events (most commonly in regard to the deaths of famous people, or other major social or physical occurrences), always remain an option for final selections.
Thank you for participating!

Suggestions

edit

You'll Believe a Man Can Fly! ~ Superman: The Movie tagline (Superman was co-created by w:Jerry Siegel, born that day)

  • 3 ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 23:43, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 05:03, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Aphaia 00:28, 16 October 2008 (UTC) It sounds attractive / metaphorical even out of the context.
  • 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 00:09, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
  • 3 DanielTom (talk) 19:28, 3 September 2014 (UTC)
  • 2 DutchOff (talk) 23:55, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

Superman! Champion of the oppressed. The physical marvel who had sworn to devote his existence to helping those in need. ~ Jerry Siegel (date of birth)

  • 3 Kalki 18:58, 16 October 2005 (UTC) The first introduction of "Superman"
  • 2 InvisibleSun 19:48, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 05:03, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Aphaia 00:28, 16 October 2008 (UTC) Too much strongly context-binded imho.
  • 2 //Gbern3 (talk) 00:09, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
  • 2 DutchOff (talk) 23:55, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

Your name is Kal-El. You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton. Even though you've been raised as a human, you are not one of them. You have great powers, only some of which you have as yet discovered. ~ Marlon Brando as "Jor-El" in Superman: The Movie

  • 3 Kalki 18:58, 16 October 2005 (UTC) Lines from one of the more famous renditions of the Superman stories.
  • 2 InvisibleSun 19:48, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 05:03, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Aphaia 00:28, 16 October 2008 (UTC) same the above.
  • 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 00:09, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
  • 1 DanielTom (talk) 19:28, 3 September 2014 (UTC)

You specialize in something until one day you find it is specializing in you. ~ Arthur Miller

  • 3 InvisibleSun 19:48, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
  • 2 Zarbon 05:03, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Aphaia 00:28, 16 October 2008 (UTC) If sourced, I'd give a 4!
  • 2 //Gbern3 (talk) 00:09, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

The land is numb.
It stands beneath the feet, and one may come
Walking securely, till the sea extends
Its limber margin, and precision ends. ~ Yvor Winters

All I have is a sword, and a war I cannot win, but I can never stop fighting. ~ Robert Jordan

You can either have an hour of hope or an hour of despair. ~ Robert Jordan

  • 2 Zarbon 04:16, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
  • Comment: What is the benefit to add quotes you cannot highly estimate? Just curious. --Aphaia 00:28, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
    • Response: 2 to me is a high rating. 3 means that the quote is in itself exceptional amongst the rest for the day. And 4 to me is such a rare rating that I limited it to such a few quotes during the entire year in the hopes that they make it. - Zarbon 22:23, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 21:58, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 //Gbern3 (talk) 00:09, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
  • 1 DanielTom (talk) 19:28, 3 September 2014 (UTC)

The Creator made women to please the eyes and trouble the mind. ~ Robert Jordan

Duty is heavier than a mountain, death lighter than a feather. ~ Robert Jordan

  • 4 Zarbon 04:16, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki (talk · contributions) 03:07, 13 October 2011 (UTC) 2 Kalki 18:27, 16 October 2008 (UTC) these words can be taken in various ways, some perhaps edifying, to some extent, if encouraging heroic detachment in worthy efforts, but others simply promoting resignation and despair, or even a very unhealthy longing for some imaginary ease of death rather than the vital tasks of Life.
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:58, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 //Gbern3 (talk) 00:09, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
  • 0 this is misattributed, Jordan did not create this, in the form used it comes from the Japanese rescript to Imperial soldiers, it's original form is several millennia old, and has been used and paraphrased by many others e.g. Huey P. Newton, see the last section of the Robert Jordan page.--KTo288 (talk) 00:01, 10 June 2018 (UTC)

We do not have the right to forget that reactionary imperialism exists and its forces actively operate in the world, that they encourage the arms race and that they try to restore the spirit of the Cold War. ~ Andrei Grechko

For us military men, it is impossible to forget. ~ Andrei Grechko

Could anyone in his right mind speak seriously of any limited nuclear war? It should be quite clear that the aggressor's actions will instantly and inevitably trigger a devastating counterstroke by the other side. None but completely irresponsible people could maintain that a nuclear war may be made to follow rules adopted beforehand, with nuclear missiles exploding in a "gentlemanly manner" over strictly designated targets and sparing the population. ~ Dmitriy Ustinov

  • 2 Zarbon 04:16, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 18:27, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:58, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 //Gbern3 (talk) 00:09, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
  • 3 It is 2022 and there is a notable armed conflict happened. DutchOff (talk) 23:55, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

Remember when Ronnie died and you said you wished it was me, well guess what...I am dead; dead to you as can be. ~ Eminem in "Cleanin' Out My Closet"

  • 3 Zarbon 05:24, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 18:27, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 1. Lacks context. - InvisibleSun 21:58, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 00:09, 19 June 2013 (UTC) Eminem has better lyrics than this.

And Haley's gettin' so big now, you should see her, she's beautiful. But you'll never see her; she won't even be at your funeral. ~ Eminem in "Cleanin' Out My Closet"

The rain of matter upon sense
Destroys me momently. The score:
There comes what will come.
~ Yvor Winters ~

The Wheel wheels as the Wheel wills. ~ Robert Jordan

  • 3 Kalki 18:27, 16 October 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 2 InvisibleSun 21:58, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 too recurring and repeating, though a bit comical. Zarbon 22:26, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 00:09, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
  • 1 DanielTom (talk) 19:28, 3 September 2014 (UTC)
  • 1 DutchOff (talk) 23:55, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

By practice and conviction formed,
With ancient stubbornness ingrained,
Although her body clung and swarmed,
My own identity remained.
~ Yvor Winters ~

Dance is not an internal thing. You have to be able to give to somebody else visually watching or they won't care. If they don't leave with some type of emotional feeling—whether it be you cry, or you laugh, or you jump in the air for joy—then it becomes movement and we [dancers] haven't done our job. ~ Napoleon D'umo (birthday)

When you can tell the story of the song through your [dancing], it's brilliant. It comes across as so honest and not fake. ~ Napoleon D'umo

Somewhere in the world of dance we started thinking about steps way too much: technique, steps, technique, steps. You can do all the technique you want, the regular public doesn't know. All they know is how you perform and what you tell them and what you make them feel; and when you make somebody feel something, it is undeniable.

OR

Somewhere in the world of dance we started thinking about steps way too much: technique, steps, technique, steps. You can do all the technique you want, the regular public doesn't know. All they know is how you perform and what you tell them and what you make them feel; and when you make somebody feel something, it is undeniable... There's a life to dance that has to happen and it was seen years ago with Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and the life and the feeling they had in a performance. And when you watch them and you see them[,] you start to sway with them and you start to move with them and you miss that sometimes and that's what needs to happen with dance again. ~ Napoleon D'umo

Today, for the first time since the existence of societies it is a question of organizing a totally new system; of replacing the celestial with the terrestrial, the vague by the positive, and the poetic by the real. ~ Henri de Saint-Simon

A child is innately wise and realistic. If left to himself without adult suggestion of any kind, he will develop as far as he is capable of developing. ~ A. S. Neill

  • 3 DanielTom (talk) 19:20, 3 September 2014 (UTC)
  • 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 14:30, 8 November 2014 (UTC)
  • 2 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:28, 17 October 2015 (UTC) I agree with much of the sentiment evoked by the expression, especially the first sentence, but the second is technically incorrect — ALL people influence each other in subtle or overt ways. I can agree that coercion by implicit or explicit threats, commands and arrogant demands and guidance should be minimized, thus I could lean toward a 3 for the evocation of such sentiments, but believe the expression is itself flawed, as involving some absolutist assertions in such ways as are not proper or correct.
Without alienation, there can be no politics.
~ Arthur Miller ~
Few of us can easily surrender our belief that society must somehow make sense. The thought that the state has lost its mind and is punishing so many innocent people is intolerable. And so the evidence has to be internally denied.
~ Arthur Miller ~
Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don't put a bolt to a nut, he don't tell you the law or give you medicine. He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back — that's an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you're finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.
~ Arthur Miller ~
Don't be seduced into thinking that that which does not make a profit is without value.
~ Arthur Miller ~
The tragic right is a condition of life, a condition in which the human personality is able to flower and realize itself. The wrong is the condition which suppresses man, perverts the flowing out of his love and creative instinct. Tragedy enlightens — and it must, in that it points the heroic finger at the enemy of man's freedom. The thrust for freedom is the quality in tragedy which exalts. The revolutionary questioning of the stable environment is what terrifies.
~ Arthur Miller ~
There is a misconception of tragedy with which I have been struck in review after review, and in many conversations with writers and readers alike. It is the idea that tragedy is of necessity allied to pessimism. Even the dictionary says nothing more about the word than that it means a story with a sad or unhappy ending. This impression is so firmly fixed that I almost hesitate to claim that in truth tragedy implies more optimism in its author than does comedy, and that its final result ought to be the reinforcement of the onlooker's brightest opinions of the human animal.

For, if it is true to say that in essence the tragic hero is intent upon claiming his whole due as a personality, and if this struggle must be total and without reservation, then it automatically demonstrates the indestructible will of man to achieve his humanity.

~ Arthur Miller ~
I saw clearly only when I saw with love. Or can one ever remember love? It's like trying to summon up the smell of roses in a cellar. You might see a rose, but never the perfume. And that's the truth of roses, isn't it? — The perfume?
~ Arthur Miller ~
There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires!
~ Arthur Miller ~
  • Le peuple n’a pas, sans doute, le droit de murmurer; mais, sans doute aussi, il a le droit de se taire; et son silence est la leçon des rois.—"The people, no doubt, has not the right to murmur; but, as certainly also, it has the right to hold its peace, and the people’s silence is a lesson to its king." ~ Jean-Baptiste-Charles-Marie de Beauvais


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