Greg Pratt's Quotations
I've collected so many quotes and "cute sayings" over the years that I thought I'd put them all in one location. For convenience, I've semi-organized these into various categories:
- Personal Quotations — Things I've said, and sometimes try to live by.
- Politics and Society — Commentary on the world we live in as seen through the context of politics and agents of social change.
- Gay and Lesbian Quotes — Stuff reflecting on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and even heterosexual thoughts.
- Computers and Technology — Anything that tries to change society as fast as man armed with technology will surely inspire many quotes. (Hey, is that worth quoting?)
- General Philosophy — Stuff that won't fit into any of the other categories.
Personal Quotations
Honesty is the best policy. For me, it's usually the only policy.
Your moral fiber makes me shit.
Prejudice is not the sole property of the oppressors.
There is nothing in life like the chase, even if you "lose". If you never pursue him, how do you know he is worth pursuing?
The best way to find love is to not look for it.
Life is a growth process. No matter how much of a mess I might think I am now, I can always look back and say, "I've improved myself from where I was." The day I stop needing improvement is the day I stop growing, and that's the day I'll quit living.
Love is a recipe that deftly combines eroticism, desire of the heart, and friendship. They are spiced with passion, and allowed to slowly bake, yet it never seems quite done. If you leave out one of the ingredients or add too much of another, it will leave a funny taste in your mouth. And if you keep eating that, you'll just end up sick.
Most human beings are like electricity: they always follow the path of least resistance.
There's no such thing as foul language, only foul usage.
New York is a city of incredible, almost boundless opportunities. But it's a measure of our character to see which opportunities we take advantage of, and those that we don't.
Screw the terrorists... I'm going shopping. (14 September 2001)
Politics and Society
Capitalism is the most natural human economic system because it depends on sheer greed.
Religious fundamentalism is dangerous because it cannot accept ambiguity and diversity and is therefore inherently intolerant. Such intolerance, in the name of virtue, is ruthless and uses political power to destroy what it cannot convert.
I survived the Bush Administration!
The Christian Right is neither.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet renounce controversy are people who want crops without plowing the ground.
As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
Gay and Lesbian Quotes
If AIDS is a plight sent by God against gay men, then lesbians must be God's chosen people.
Sex between a man and a woman can be a great thing, providing you are between the right man and the right woman.
People who think homosexual behavior is unnatural just need to spend some time on a farm.
There are people out there who say that if the world was all gay, the human race would die out, because we wouldn't reproduce. Quite the contrary, if we were all gay, we would still reproduce, but every child would be a wanted one.
If you don't like fucking fags, try sucking one!
Some people have said it was a homophobic administration [Reagan's]. I think that's a bad word. Homophobic has the connotation of being fearful. This wasn't fear, it was hatred.
Surgeon General under Ronald Reagan
The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and three hundred sixty two admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision.
Computers and Technology
To those accustomed to the precise, structured methods of conventional system development, exploratory development techniques may seem messy, inelegant, and unsatisfying. But it's a question of congruence: precision and flexibility may be just as dysfunctional in novel, uncertain situations as sloppiness and vacillation are in familiar, well-defined ones. Those who admire the massive, rigid bone structures of dinosaurs should remember that jellyfish still enjoy their very secure ecological niche.
A programmer is a machine for turning coffee into source code.
Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea — massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it.
There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and Unix. We don't believe this to be a coincidence.
If C++ is your hammer, then every problem looks like a thumb.
"One Microsoft Way" — is this an address or a business plan?
"...given the choice between security and downloading a program that will show dancing pigs on the screen, users will choose dancing pigs just about every time."
This is what you get when you send Windows to do a real operating system's job.
I used to reserve judgment on Microsoft Windows, because I didn't want to be one of those bigots who spouts endlessly about how Windows is so awful. Now, in 2004, I've routinely used Windows at work for six years. I am now convinced that if I were forced to use Windows at home, I would probably go postal, slash my wrists, or swear off computers entirely and become a potter. I am amazed at the utter shit people tolerate from their computers.
Q: How does a UNIX Guru have sex?
A: unzip;strip;touch;finger;mount;fsck;more;yes;fsck;fsck;fsck;umount;sleep
I use Windows at work because I have to. I use a Mac at home because I want to.
General Philosophy
Is IBM really PC?
Reality is for people who can't handle drugs.
"Is there a temporal mechanic in the house?"
"There will be a minute ago."
Bumper sticker: "Heaven doesn't want me, and Hell is afraid I'll take over."
Love is a matter of chemistry; sex is a matter of physics.
I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.
Support bacteria — it's the only culture some people have!
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
The only unnatural sex act is that which you cannot perform.
Figures don't lie, but liars figure.
I'm a sweet, cream-filled little cupcake.... baked by the devil!
Any frontal attack on ignorance is bound to fail because the masses are always ready to defend their most precious possession — their ignorance.