“Lists only spell out the things that can be taken away from us by moths and rust and thieves. If something is valuable, don't put it in a list. Don't even say the words.”

—  Douglas Coupland , Hey Nostradamus!

Source: Hey Nostradamus! (2003)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Lists only spell out the things that can be taken away from us by moths and rust and thieves. If something is valuable,…" by Douglas Coupland?
Douglas Coupland photo
Douglas Coupland 193
Canadian novelist, short story writer, playwright, and grap… 1961

Related quotes

“I don't let my picture be taken. I'm on too many hit lists.”

Jack T. Chick (1924–2016) Christian comics writer

" Meet Jack Chick https://web.archive.org/web/20110423142950/http://members.cox.net/jimmyakin/x-meet-jack-chick.htm," an interview with Jimmy Akin (2004)

Oliver Wendell Holmes photo

“Why can't somebody give us a list of things that everybody thinks and nobody says, and another list of things that everybody says and nobody thinks?”

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894) Poet, essayist, physician

Source: The Professor at the Breakfast Table (1859), Ch. VI.

Joe Armstrong photo

“If somebody puts a big list of things up, my question is always: what is the most important thing on that list.”

Joe Armstrong (1950–2019) British computer scientist

The Forgotten Ideas in Computer Science

“The Bill of Rights isn't about us, it's about them. It isn't a list of things we're permitted to do, it's a list of things they aren't allowed even to consider.”

L. Neil Smith (1946) American writer

"To Hell With Public Schools," http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2012/tle670-20120513-02.html 13 May 2012.

David Crystal photo

“A dictionary is a reference book that lists the words of one or more languages, usually in alphabetical order, along with information about their spelling, pronunciation, grammatical status, meaning, history, and use.”

David Crystal (1941) British linguist and writer

Source: How Language Works, 2007, p. 108

Mark Twain photo

“I don't give a damn for a man who can only spell a word one way.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Unsourced in POP!: Create the Perfect Pitch, Title, and Tagline for Anything (2006) by Sam Horn.
Disputed

Kevin Smith photo

“Don't get me wrong, I love Schindler's List, but it's not like "Hey, man, let's get loaded and watch Schindler's List." - SModcast 4: Can I get a (Masturbatory) Witness”

Kevin Smith (1970) American screenwriter, actor, film producer, public speaker and director

SModcast

Rudyard Kipling photo

“I've just read that I'm dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers.”

Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) English short-story writer, poet, and novelist

Letter to a magazine that had mistakenly published the announcement of his death.
Quoted by: Ashwin Sanghi, 13 STEPS TO BLOODY GOOD LUCK https://books.google.nl/books?id=MYU2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PT94&lpg=PT94&dq=rudyard+kipling+%22read+that+I%27m+dead%22&source=bl&ots=hd9xVJsJRN&sig=9Cd4oIYC1gLU-VufOCjVL3z4YDc&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiKvIKa1qzMAhUBuBoKHbftAo4Q6AEIHzAA#v=onepage&q=rudyard%20kipling%20%22read%20that%20I'm%20dead%22&f=false, westland ltd, 2014

Chris Rock photo

“[on John McCain] I don't need a president with a bucket list!”

Chris Rock (1965) American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer, and director

Kill the Messenger (2008)

Tony Snow photo

“Why doesn't Senator Kerry, rather than saying, I meant to put in the word, "us" — and you try to put in "us" here, left out the word "us" — and if you don't — if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq. Where does "us" fit in? You don't "us" get stuck? I don't understand. It just — it doesn't scan here.”

Tony Snow (1955–2008) American White House Press Secretary

White House Press Briefing, on Kerry's claim to have meant "you get <u>us</u> stuck in Iraq." http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/11/20061101-3.html (2006-11-01).

Related topics