Fav quotes

Started by Lord T Hawkeye, September 19, 2009, 01:02:11 AM

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Quote from: surhotchaperchlorome on June 15, 2010, 02:59:42 PM
"If you vote, you can't complain."--Dale Everett

Isn't that supposed to be "If you don't vote..."? Unless there's some irony I'm not seeing.
"Did you know that the hole's only natural enemy is the pile?"
"Dead Poets Society has destroyed a generation of educators."
  --The Simpsons, "Special Edna"

June 15, 2010, 06:58:34 PM #406 Last Edit: June 15, 2010, 07:01:36 PM by surhotchaperchlorome
Quote from: valvatica on June 15, 2010, 06:28:50 PMIsn't that supposed to be "If you don't vote..."? Unless there's some irony I'm not seeing.

He switched it, and for good reason:  http://anarchyinyourhead.com/2008/10/14/if-you-vote-you-cant-complain/
http://anarchyinyourhead.com/uploads/anti_vote_brochure_vers2.pdf

The short version on the second link:

"If You Vote,
You Can't Complain


I'm sure you've heard the expression
the other way around, but does it
make sense? You knew the rules of
the game before you played. If you
buy the story at face value, then you
believe in the rules of the game. If
you didn't get what you wanted then
at least in theory you lost fair and
square. So why are you complaining?

The expression seems to be based on
the notion that if you don't like the
way things are, you should do
something to change things. Of course
the democratic process is presented as
the one and only “something” you can
do. It's not. Additionally, what if the
thing you take issue with is the
process itself? Imposing one-size-fits-all
solutions based on who can amass
the biggest gang is not the only, and
certainly not the best, way for society
to address problems. Some of us don't
buy into the rules of this dangerous
game, so we choose not to play and
we encourage others not to as well."
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537

George Carlin said pretty much the same thing, only funnier:

"I don't vote. On Election Day, I stay home. I firmly believe that if you vote, you have no right to complain. Now, some people like to twist that around. They say, 'If you don't vote, you have no right to complain,' but where's the logic in that? If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent politicians, and they get into office and screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You voted them in. You caused the problem. You have no right to complain. I, on the other hand, who did not vote--who did not even leave the house on Election Day--am in no way responsible for what these politicians have done and have every right to complain about the mess that you created."

I prefer Dale's explanation over Carlin's because Carlin's would technically only apply if you voted for the winning candidate.
Dale's applies regardless of who you vote for.
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537

In response to the wage slavery idea of "WORK OR STARVE!!":

Quote from: AshillaBeigeBecause the situation is BREATHE OR DIE, we are slaves to our lungs.
Lets overthrow our lungs.
on this video
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537

Quote from: valvatica on May 28, 2010, 01:42:29 AM
"Here's the first rule of bullshit: If somebody says 'There ought to be a law...', there probably oughtn't."
--Penn Jillette, from the Endangered Species episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
"The second rule of bullshit and the first rule of skepticism: There are no sacred cows."--Me, saying what you know was on his mind during the making of every single episode of that show. :3
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537

Well put. I have another one that's a keeper:

""Nobody can convince me?" Bells should go off in your head when you hear those words. That's his* bullshit idea of skepticism. A real skeptic demands to be convinced, with evidence." (Emphasis mine) *Quoting some conspiracy nut in the episode in question
--Penn Jillette, from the Conspiracy Theories episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

It never made more sense to me why people have such contempt for conspiracy theorists. It's not that their beliefs are ludicrous necessarily, it's that they don't want to entertain the possibility of being wrong, ever. They state things such as "you can say anything you want to me, but nothing will change my mind." There's nowhere to go from that. There's no discussion to be had. Their wanting the conspiracy to be true means more to them than ascertaining that which is actually true. So, no different than creationists, really.

Also, thanks for the corroboration of the voting quotes. I never thought of it that way.
"Did you know that the hole's only natural enemy is the pile?"
"Dead Poets Society has destroyed a generation of educators."
  --The Simpsons, "Special Edna"

Quote from: valvatica on June 17, 2010, 02:59:40 AM
Well put. I have another one that's a keeper:

""Nobody can convince me?" Bells should go off in your head when you hear those words. That's his* bullshit idea of skepticism. A real skeptic demands to be convinced, with evidence." (Emphasis mine) *Quoting some conspiracy nut in the episode in question
--Penn Jillette, from the Conspiracy Theories episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

Oh I remember that guy, he wore a black berret, glasses and I think he even had the goatee.
Either he was unbearably cliched or a poe.

"A traffic jam is a collision between free enterprise and socialism. Free enterprise produces automobiles faster than socialism can build roads and road capacity." --Andrew Galambos

Werent roads built so people buy more cars?

I don't know of a single city in the US where the number of lane miles has kept up with the amount of miles driven. Around here, it seems like they're always 20 years behind.


Yes, because it means there's greater traffic, more traffic jams, people taking longer to get to where they want or need to go, and lots more pollution as a result.

What you're saying is that there be more cars with or without roads to be jamed by them?

It's based on miles driven; not only how many cars there are, but how much people drive them.