You May Quote Me If You Like

In my desk drawer, I have a bunch of Post-It Notes that have little quotes on them. They're not quotes by Benjamin Franklin of Maya Angelou, though. They're by a source that I always attribute to as either "Anonymous" or "Author Unknown". In other words, me. I briefly touched on this earlier, but the main reason I never attribute quotes to myself is, well, it makes me seem a little pretentious. However, I think I come up with some good quotes, though they all have different contexts. Some were actually said, on the spot, by me when asked a question. Others were just things I thought of at some random moment. Still others are quotes from characters in my stories.

I'm just going to give a short list of quotes that I've thought of, as well as their origin. This list is in no way exhaustive; it's only the ones I was able to dig out of my desk drawer. However, it is a nice little sampling, and I give you permission to use any of them (and remember, it's not pretentious if you attribute them to me!).


"I understood what they were trying to tell me, rather than what I thought they were trying to tell me."
-Andrew Schnorr
This actually came during a feedback session that I participated in. The were asking us about a series of programs we are in, and whether the earlier ones or later ones were better, I said the later ones were, because of the above line. One of the people taking down the feedback said, "Huh, that's a good quote." I smiled and said under my breath, "Yes, it is."

"I'm a terrible critic, primarily because I'm an excellent diplomat."
-Andrew Schnorr
I thought of this while writing critiques for other people's blog posts back when this was still a class (and, based on the lack of response I got from my hail to those people, it seems like none of them are still here). I can edit someone's style without a problem, but I have a hard time telling someone what's wrong with the content, even if I dislike it. Hence, I say that I'm an excellent diplomat, because I always try to stay on everyone's good side, and that makes me a terrible critic.

"Being lost is one of my favorite things in life. After all, that's the only time you can find your way."
-Andrew Schnorr
This was another one I thought of. It's at least partially true, of course. However, part of me thinks I subconsciously made it up as a way to ease the humiliation of being a horrible navigator, and thus easily lost (did you know that during one trip, I got off the same offramp six times? True story).

"Sometime, I feel a lot taller than I actually am, because even though I'm very down-to-earth, my head is always in the clouds."
-Andrew Schnorr
Get it? Get it? I thought of this one day when writing in my blogs, because I've been described in two basic ways: very pragmatic and focused, and also completely nuts. So, I made some clever observation based on two sayings relating to the ideas. Get it?

"I need to start using the term 'landed gentry' more often."
-Andrew Schnorr
...What? I do.

"My decisions outrank your desires."
-Evil Military Dude
This is from a TV series I have in my mind. I won't go too much into it, but rest assured, magical powers are a part of it. There's also a big part about the military, in which many of the shows villains are in (the military is good in the show; it's just being sabotaged). The head evil dude, who's a colonel, uses this line when talking to one of his subordinates, when they ask for something that directly contradicts with his plans. I think this is one of the best quotes on here, personally.

"I'm in an excellent mood. I'd like to be rid or it."
-Oscar
I said near the end of this post that I had a character based on Oscar Wilde in a futuristic bounty hunter movie. This is a line he says inside a bar when the barkeep asks him how he's doing. He then immediately orders a beer.

"Who are you to say that I am not real? Have you ever considered that you are as unnatural to me as I am to you?"
-Man in the House
This comes from a spiritual journey story I have called Dreaming in Sepia (though I was very disappointed to find that I was not the only one to think of that phrase). In it, the main character, who is in a near-completely empty world (most aptly compared to Windows' "Bliss" picture), finds a house in which there is a person living. At first, the protagonist tells him that he's not real, which prompts this line.

"Realizing that I'm not alone has made me realize how alone I really am."
-Man in the House
This is another line by that same character. I think it deserves a little more explanation. Like the protagonist of the story, the Man in the House thought he was the only person in the world. However, unlike the protagonist, the Man in the House didn't realize that other people existed at all. Hence, meeting the protagonist completely changed his world view. As the protagonist spends time in the house, he begins to notice extra chairs and pictures of the Man in the House with a family. The Man in the House explains that now that he knows that other people exists, he realizes that he must have some sort of family, and so his world is physically changing in order to accommodate for that fact. However, this also is depressing for the Man in the House, because it also means that his family is not there with him, for whatever reasons. Eventually, he asks the protagonist to leave, hoping that by doing so, he will forget the fact that there are other people in existence, and perhaps become happy again.

So there you go. Every quote has a story, and there's always more to have. Until next time, happy quoting!