erastes: (erastesvamp)
[personal profile] erastes
Day one: a song
Day two:  a picture
Day three a book
Day four: a site
Day five a youtube clip
Day six:(today!) a quote
Day seven: whatever tickles your fancy

My favourite quotes come from Robert Heinlein's Intermissions, in the Notebooks of Lazarus Long from "Time Enough for Love" which is my favourite comfort book in the entire world and one I never seem to have a copy of as I'm always giving it away.

There are so many wonderful quotes there, and I have to say that my life is pretty much built on them. I read the book first when I was sixteen, and was hugely influenced by it, it opened my mind to the concept that love is universal and should be entirely inclusive.

Some of the quotes are fairly obvious:

Never try to out stubborn a cat

When handling a stinging insect, move very slowly

But others are more a way of life:

Tilting at windmills hurts you more than the windmills.

Freedom begins when you tell Mrs. Grundy to go fly a kite.

Some of them really reflect my sarcasm on life.  I wonder if I was like this before I read the notebooks, or whether the Notebooks made me this way:

The correct way to punctuate a sentence that starts: “Of course It is none of my business but--” is to place a period after the word “but.” Don’t use excessive force in supplying such moron with a period. Cutting his throat is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about.

Waking a person unnecessarily should not be considered a capital crime. For a first offense, that is.


My second favourite is:

The more you love, the more you can love--and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had Time Enough, he could Love all of the majority who are decent and just.

(although sadly, I tend to slide off the scale and often love the indecent.)

But this is what I'll have on my tombstone, thank you.

Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.

Date: 2009-10-29 12:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] anderyn.livejournal.com
Really? Your favorite comfort read? Wow. I read it and immediately thought that Heinlein had degenerated into a very very dirty old man. I mean, the last section? Ew. Double and triple ew. It came out in 1973? I would have been 17 then. Amazing that we were similar in age, but so dissimilar in reaction. I did love the aphorisms, and I enjoyed the first three sections, but the last section totally ruint the book for me. Particularly the ruination of Andrew Slipstick Libby and Lazarus', ahem, overly sexual "daughters" and the consummation of love in the car with A Certain Son in the backseat. Gross.

Date: 2009-10-29 12:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] erastes.livejournal.com
Yep. Love it all.

Date: 2009-10-29 05:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] johnrw.livejournal.com
You missed my favourite it's (well approximately - I'm too lazy o go and check)

'For a happy relationship budget the luxuries FIRST'

Date: 2009-10-29 06:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ammonite7.livejournal.com
One of my favorites is by Philip K. Dick. "Reality is what refuses to go away when I stop believing in it."

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