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Good Cop/Bad Cop or Good Quote/Bad Quote

I love a good quote that punches above its weight (in place of making a point with an essay or book). Of course you have to be sympathetic to the tone of the quote for it to resonate with you and maybe occasionally we get the wrong jolt from that quote - just like people can have ten different interpretations of a song lyric.

Overall the best ones live on and are taken as intended.

I've seen a few gems on some of the personal pages here in the Atheist Nexus. But they are not all collected in one spot for newer members to read.

My hero who gave me the courage to brand myself as an atheist when I was a teenager was Bertrand Russell. So I've included a few of his here. I would also love to hear some of the dumb bad quotes made in reference to religion but can't think of any. So I included the famous one by Thomas Watson.

Please feel free to share your good quote or bad quote or both. And, if this has been a topic before - I'm sure there is a quote somewhere that covers that.

Good Quotes

"Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know."

"A hallucination is a fact, not an error; what is erroneous is a judgment based upon it"

"Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who'll get the blame."

"Next to enjoying ourselves, the next greatest pleasure consists in preventing others from enjoying themselves, or, more generally, in the acquisition of power."

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt"

"Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by examining his wives' mouths"

Bertrand Russell

Bad Quote

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."

- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

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Permalink Reply by Tony Carroll on April 14, 2012 at 3:17pm

We has met the enemy, and he is us.

-Walt Kelly, by way of his comic strip character, Pogo

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

-Mohandas K. Gandhi

Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do it.

-Mohandas K. Gandhi (my favorite of his. I really like it)

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Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on April 15, 2012 at 9:56am

Tony, these are my favorites as well, especially the Pogo quote. Also Voltaire No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.”

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Permalink Reply by Tony Carroll on April 15, 2012 at 10:13am

Thanks for the cartoon link, SB. Great to see it again.

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Permalink Reply by Russell Pangborn on April 15, 2012 at 2:02pm

I love that first Gandhi quote "I like your Christ ..." and will use it in an ongoing email discussion I am having with my religious sibling. It resonates so much because of the reputation Gandhi had. If Joe Smith down the street said it - it probably wouldn't have had the same impact.

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Permalink Reply by MB on April 14, 2012 at 9:57pm

There is one quote I love from Billy Connolly;

"Avoid those who say they have the answer. Seek out those trying to understand the question"

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Permalink Reply by James M. Martin on April 15, 2012 at 7:57am

My own favorite bad quote since I am a bit of a wonk is Woodrow Wilson's comment on use of a casus belli for the invasion of Mexico at Veracruz in 1914 -- and this coming from a Democrat, mind you: "It's time to teach Mexicans to elect good men." I love Mexico's Benito Juarez for saying "Respect for the rights of others is peace." And Nietzsche's "The worth of a spirit is its capacity to endure the truth."