Quotes about back
page 66

Robert Spencer photo

“Oh Walter en't been the same man, you know…slow, very slow since he came back.”

Adam Thorpe (1956) British writer

Nineteen Twenty-One (2001)

Jack Osbourne photo
A. P. Herbert photo
Anastasia Ashley photo
Bill Hybels photo
George Holmes Howison photo
Luigi Russolo photo
Richard Rodríguez photo
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing photo
William Grey Walter photo
Nicholas Sparks photo
Rush Limbaugh photo
Ian Hislop photo

“Tell David Cameron that if he screws up my beloved NHS I'll come back and bloody haunt him.”

Claire Rayner (1931–2010) British writer

Deathbed statement. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8059107/Agony-aunt-Claire-Rayners-deathbed-warning-to-haunt-Cameron-over-NHS.html

Van Morrison photo
William S. Burroughs photo
John Fante photo
Pauline Kael photo
Assata Shakur photo
Eugene V. Debs photo

“You remember that, at the close of Theodore Roosevelt’s second term as President, he went over to Africa to make war on some of his ancestors. You remember that, at the close of his expedition, he visited the capitals of Europe; and that he was wined and dined, dignified and glorified by all the Kaisers and Czars and Emperors of the Old World. He visited Potsdam while the Kaiser was there; and, according to the accounts published in the American newspapers, he and the Kaiser were soon on the most familiar terms. They were hilariously intimate with each other, and slapped each other on the back. After Roosevelt had reviewed the Kaiser’s troops, according to the same accounts, he became enthusiastic over the Kaiser’s legions and said: “If I had that kind of an army, I could conquer the world.” He knew the Kaiser then just as well as he knows him now. He knew that he was the Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin. And yet, he permitted himself to be entertained by that Beast of Berlin; had his feet under the mahogany of the Beast of Berlin; was cheek by jowl with the Beast of Berlin. And, while Roosevelt was being entertained royally by the German Kaiser, that same Kaiser was putting the leaders of the Socialist Party in jail for fighting the Kaiser and the Junkers of Germany. Roosevelt was the guest of honor in the white house of the Kaiser, while the Socialists were in the jails of the Kaiser for fighting the Kaiser. Who then was fighting for democracy? Roosevelt? Roosevelt, who was honored by the Kaiser, or the Socialists who were in jail by order of the Kaiser? “Birds of a feather flock together.””

Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) American labor and political leader

The Canton, Ohio Speech, Anti-War Speech (1918)

Paul Verlaine photo

“You must let your poems ride their luck
On the back of the sharp morning air
Touched with the fragrance of mint and thyme…
And everything else is LIT-RIT-CHER.”

Paul Verlaine (1844–1896) French poet

Que ton vers soit la bonne aventure
Éparse au vent crispé du matin
Qui va fleurant la menthe et le thym…
Et tout le reste est littérature.
Source: "Art poétique", from Jadis et naguère (1884), Line 33, Sorrell p. 125

William Herschel photo

“Here [in Slough], soon after my arrival, I began to lay the foundation upon which by degrees the whole structure was raised as it now stands, and the speculum being highly polished and put into the tube, I had the first view through it on February 19, 1787. …the first speculum, by a mismanagement of the person who cast it, came out thinner on the centre of the back than was intended, and on account of its weakness would not permit a good figure to be given to it. …A second mirror was cast January 26, 1788, but it cracked in cooling. February 16 we recast it, and it proved to be of a proper degree of strength. October 24 it was brought to a pretty good figure and polish, and I observed the planet Saturn with it. But not being satisfied, I continued to work upon it till August 27, 1789, when it was tried upon the fixed stars, and I found it to give a pretty sharp image. Large stars were a little affected with scattered light, owing to many remaining scratches on the mirror. August the 28th, 1789, having brought the telescope to the parallel of Saturn, I discovered a sixth satellite of that planet, and also saw the spots upon Saturn better than I had ever seen them before, so that I may date the finishing of the forty-foot telescope from that time.”

William Herschel (1738–1822) German-born British astronomer, technical expert, and composer

Source: Sir William Herschel: His Life and Works (1880), Ch.4 "Life and Works".

Poul Anderson photo
Ann Coulter photo
David Lange photo

“My back is so scar-tissued that you couldn't find a place to slip a knife.”

David Lange (1942–2005) New Zealand politician and 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand

Source: A Dictionary of New Zealand Political Quotations (2000), p. 96.

Ellen DeGeneres photo

“They say you just stand over there, he'll say thank you and you walk back off and that's what I thought was gonna happen, but in my head, I had for five or six years known that he was gonna call me over.”

Ellen DeGeneres (1958) American stand-up comedian, television host, and actress

Ellen DeGeneres, commenting on being called over to sit with Johnny Carson back in 1986

Merle Haggard photo

“Today I started loving you again
I'm right back where I've really always been;
I got over you just long enough to let my heartache mend,
Then today I started loving you again.”

Merle Haggard (1937–2016) American country music song writer, singer and musician

"Today I Started Loving You Again" (January 1968), inspired by Bonnie Owens, who is credited as co-writer.

Phaedrus photo

“Once lost, Jupiter himself cannot bring back opportunity.”

Book V, fable 7, line 4.
Fables

Murasaki Shikibu photo

“You that in far-off countries of the sky can dwell secure, look back upon me here; for I am weary of this frail world's decay.”

Source: Tale of Genji, The Tale of Genji, trans. Arthur Waley, Ch. 40: The Law

Phil Brooks photo

“Punk: Hey, Jeff. Jeff, aren't you nervous sitting way up there so… high? Especially in the condition you're in, and by "condition", I mean that you're probably drunk right now, just like all these people here tonight. (Crowd boos) Yeah, that's something to be proud of, I mean, you'd have to be under the influence to stomach this "live in the moment" crap that you spew. What's living in the moment gotten you, Jeff? I know it got you a night in a hospital, and for what? The adulation of these people? One brief moment of attention? (Crowd chants "Hardy") You know, I don't know what's more pathetic—all these people hanging on your every word, waiting for the next pitiful example for you to set that they can lead, or you and your egotistical addiction to their cheers and support and adulation. Listen, listen to them, Jeff. They actually believe that you can beat me at SummerSlam. (Crowd cheers)
Jeff: So do I.
Punk: So does our general manager. Teddy Long's the guy that said TLC is your match. It's Jeff Hardy's match, everybody. They're right, it is your match. This TLC is your last match. I know what I have to accomplish to get everything I want. When I beat you at SummerSlam and I take back my World Heavyweight Title, it will validate everything I've said in the past. I will prove once and for all, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that straight edge is the right way, that straight edge means I'm better than you. Jeff, I have to get rid of you to teach these people the difference between right and wrong. I have to get rid of you to teach them how to say, "just say no." I have to get rid of you so they stop living in your moment, and they wake up, and they start living in my reality. Make no mistake about it, Jeff; there's no turning back from this point on. You can talk about the space from the top of that ladder to this mat, but from here on out, there's nothing left. At SummerSlam, I will hurt you, and I will remove you and the stain of all your bad examples from the WWE forever.
Jeff: Punk, you can't destroy me, you can't destroy what I've created over my ten years here. Kansas City's not gonna listen to you. You won't beat me at SummerSlam, Punk. I will prove that I'm better than you in my specialty: Tables, Ladders, & Chairs.
Punk: You're right, Jeff. You know what, you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them, because you need them to enable you. You need them to justify your reckless behavior with their support and their cheers, just like they need you to somehow justify their reckless behavior, with their smoking and their drinking and their use of prescription medication. They try in vain to live vicariously through a man who, by way of his lifestyle, thinks he can fly.”

Phil Brooks (1978) American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist

Interrupting Jeff Hardy's promo from the top of a ladder. August 21, 2009.
Friday Night SmackDown

William L. Shirer photo
MF Doom photo

“Dub it off your man don't spend that 10 bucks. I did it for the advance the back end sucks.”

MF Doom (1971) hip hop artist from America

As Viktor Vaughn, "Back End", Venomous Villain (2004)
Sourced Lines

Eugène Delacroix photo
Keiji Inafune photo

“Back in the day Japanese games were used to winning and were used to success. We celebrated all sorts of victories. However at some point these winners became losers. Not accepting that fact has led to the tragic state of Japanese games today.”

Keiji Inafune (1965) Japanese video game designer

Source: "Mega Man creator laments" https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-08-mega-man-creator-laments-tragic-state-of-japanese-games-industry. Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2018-07-15.

John Kenneth Galbraith photo
Harry Turtledove photo

“"The ability to see what is, sir, is essential for the leader of a great nation," the British minister said. He wanted to let Lincoln down easy if he could. "I see what is, all right. I surely do," the president said. "I see that you European powers are taking advantage of this rebellion to meddle in America, the way you used to before the Monroe Doctrine warned you to keep your hands off. Napoleon props up a tin-pot emperor in Mexico, and now France and England are in cahoots"- another phrase that briefly baffled Lord Lyons- "to help the Rebels and pull us down. All right, sir." He breathed heavily. "If that's the way the game's going to be played, we aren't strong enough to prevent it now. But I warn you, Mr. Minister, we can play, too." "You are indeed a free and independent nation," Lord Lyons agreed. "You may pursue diplomacy to the full extent of your interests and abilities." "Mighty generous of you," Lincoln said with cutting irony. "And one fine day, I reckon, we'll have friends in Europe, too, friends who'll help us get back what's rightfully ours and what you've taken away." "A European power- to help you against England and France?" For the first time, Lord Lyons was undiplomatic enough to laugh. American bluster was bad enough most times, but this lunacy- "Good luck to you, Mr. President. Good luck."”

Source: The Great War: American Front (1998), p. 9

Walter Cronkite photo
Ehud Barak photo

“[How is it consistent with what you advocated this evening in terms of a vision for peace, that you continued to allow the building of settlements in the West Bank, during your primeministership? ] Let me tell you, first of all, during my term as a Prime Minister, we have not built a single new settlement. I ordered the dismantling of many voluntary -- I don't know how to call it -- new settlements that had been set on top of hills in different parts of the West Bank, basically. But, I allowed contracts, contracts that had been signed, legally, in Israel, beforehand. To build new neighborhoods in some big cities in the West Bank, cities with 25,000 or 30,000 people. And very few new homes, in small settlements, where youngsters, who came back from the army service, asked to build their home near the home of their parents. Now, Israel is a law-abiding state, you cannot break contracts, there is Supreme Court. If the government behaves in a way that is not proper, any individual can appeal and change whatever we decide. Realizing that this is a sensitive issue from the Palestinian side, I talked to Arafat, at the beginning of my term as a Prime Minister, and I told him: Mr. Chairman, I know that you are worried about it, it creates some problems, in your own constituency. But let me tell you, we have a great opportunity here to put an end to the whole conflict, in a year and a half. When President Clinton that invested unbelievable amount of energy and political capital in trying to solve it, and he's still in power. Now, I understand your problem with settlement if there is no end, there is no time limit, and you are afraid that maybe the accumulation of new settlements will change the nature of the situation, for the worse, from your position. So I tell you, out of our own considerations, independent of you, we have decided not to set even a single new settlement. We will not allow anyone to establish his own private initiatives on the hills, for our own reasons, not because of you. But at the same time I will respect any contract that has been signed, under law, in Israel. But -- and here is a point -- bearing in mind that we can put an end to the conflict, to reach an agreement within a year and a half, why the hell it will matter? To build a new building in Israel takes more than a year and a half, so you won't see any building that is not already emerging from the ground, having it's roof before we can reach an agreement. Now if such a building happens to be in a settlement that will become, under the agreement, part of the new independent Palestine, why the hell you have to care? Take it, use it, put some refugees in it. And if it will happen to be a part of what will be agreed, as Israel, in a mutual agreement that is signed by you, why the hell do you care, if you agree? I believe that that simple answer would not solve his public -- or internal political -- problems, but it would solve the real issue if the will was there to make peace, and not just to politically maneuver and manipulate.”

Ehud Barak (1942) Israeli politician and prime minister

Speech at UC Berkeley http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/19324/edition_id/391/format/html/displaystory.html, November 22, 2002

“It is high time that the people are given back the flexibility and power to select and install their leaders who will be accountable to them if they are to prosper and forge ahead in the present modern and increasingly global context.”

Asesela Ravuvu (1931–2008) He loved nature and the outdoors. He 3 main principles in life were love all, hardwork and honesty.

Interview with Pacific Journalism Online, 28 May 2000

Anita Sarkeesian photo
Bruno Schulz photo
Václav Havel photo
Bill O'Neill photo
Richard Feynman photo
Penn Jillette photo
Denise Levertov photo
Robert Penn Warren photo
Lily Allen photo
Mona Charen photo
Horace Bushnell photo
Peter Greenaway photo
Stanley Baldwin photo
Donnie Dunagan photo
Bruce Springsteen photo
Umberto Boccioni photo

“Get all the information you can about the Cubists, and about Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. Go to Kahnweilers' (Paris art gallery). And if he's got photos of recent works – produced after I have left -, buy one or two. Bring us [the Futurists in Italy, like Boccioni himself] back all the information you can get.”

Umberto Boccioni (1882–1916) Italian painter and sculptor

Quote in Boccioni's letter to Gino Severini, staying in Paris in the Summer of 1911; as quoted in Futurism, ed. Didier Ottinger; Centre Pompidou / 5 Continents Editions, Milan, 2008, p. 27.
1911

Julia Gillard photo

“I was seriously worried about his psychological state, I thought he wasn't coping, and he wasn't showing any signs of finding a way back to coping … At that point, if you'd asked him to make a huge decision as Prime Minister on that day, yes, I would have been concerned about his capacity. My sense of him at that point was that he was spent in a physical and psychological sense.”

Julia Gillard (1961) Australian politician and lawyer, 27th Prime Minister of Australia

Recalling Rudd's psychological status in January 2010, following the December 2009 Climate Change Summit, in Copenhagen.
The Killing Season, Episode two: Great Moral Challenge (2009–10)

Brendan Behan photo

“When I came back to Dublin, I was courtmartialled in my absence and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.”

Brendan Behan (1923–1964) Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright

Hostage (1958)

Brian Clevinger photo
Roald Amundsen photo

“"Oh, as usual," they shouted back; "no bottom." I mention this little incident just to show how one can grow accustomed to anything in this world.”

Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) Norwegian polar researcher, who was the first to reach the South Pole

Upon finding yet another obscured and deadly abyss
Sydpolen (The South Pole) (1912)

Li Bai photo
Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover these precious values: that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1950s, Rediscovering Lost Values (1954)
Variant: If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover these precious values: that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.

Suzanne Collins photo
Ross Perot photo
Jean Paul Sartre photo
Edgar Guest photo
Muammar Gaddafi photo
John C. Reilly photo
Jonathan Stroud photo
Emily Dickinson photo
Paula Modersohn-Becker photo
Philip K. Dick photo
Richard Nixon photo

“I didn’t notice many Jewish names coming back from Vietnam on any of those lists; I don’t know how the hell they avoid it. If you look at the Canadian-Swedish contingent, they were very disproportionately Jewish. The deserters”

Richard Nixon (1913–1994) 37th President of the United States of America

Conversation with Mr. Colson, on tapes recorded February-March 1973 http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/national/20101211_NIXON_AUDIO/3_VIETNAM.mp3; as quoted in "In Tapes, Nixon Rails About Jews and Blacks" http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/us/politics/11nixon.html, by Adam Nagourney,New York Times (10 December 2010)
1970s

Howard Dean photo

“You have the power to take our country back.”

Howard Dean (1948) American political activist

From his formal announcement speech on July 23, 2003 http://www.4president.org/speeches/howarddean2004announcement.htm

Jean Sibelius photo

“I often conduct an orchestra in my sleep; my orchestras are so huge that the back desks of the violas vanish into the horizon. And everything is so wonderful.”

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) Finnish composer of the late Romantic period

To Jussi Jalas, August 27, 1943. http://www.sibelius.fi/english/omin_sanoin/ominsanoin_13.htm

Arjuna Ranatunga photo

“There is a group within the SLFP who abuse that freedom and democracy. They go on instigating people and rousing racism. Many of those who held leading positions of the SLFP sometime back are supporting that campaign. Disciplinary action should be taken immediately against them.”

Arjuna Ranatunga (1963) Sri Lankan cricketer

Ports and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga has demanded that SLFP members who attended the recent Joint Opposition rally at Hyde Park in Colombo be sacked from the party, quoted on island.lk, "Arjuna wants SLFP rebels sacked over Hyde Park rally" http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=142648, March 26, 2016.

Quentin Crisp photo
Robert Lynn Asprin photo

“A tiny whisper at the back of her mind warned her to be wary of what one asked the gods for, lest they grant it.”

Robert Lynn Asprin (1946–2008) American science fiction and fantasy author

Source: Wagers of Sin (1996), Chapter 18 (p. 366)

Swami Vivekananda photo

“Do not look back upon what has been done. Go ahead!”

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu monk and phylosopher

Pearls of Wisdom

N. R. Narayana Murthy photo
Hillary Clinton photo
Heidi Klum photo
Robert A. Heinlein photo
Jeremy Hardy photo
Henry Fountain Ashurst photo
George Reisman photo

“Roy Cohn and Joe McCarthy will be redeemed when the people have taken back their government from the criminal alliance of Communists, Socialists, New Dealers and the Eisenhower-Dewey Republicans.”

George Reisman (1937) American economist

"One Enchanted Evening" http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,936247,00.html, Time Magazine (Aug. 9, 1954)

Fred Shero photo
H. Havelock Ellis photo

“To be a leader of men one must turn one's back on men.”

H. Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British physician, writer, and social reformer

Introduction to Huysman's A Rebours (Against the Grain) (1884)

Gerrit Benner photo

“I love nature, what is not beautiful in nature, there are no ugly things. Sometimes the world oppresses me and then I always go back to nature, the source of all things. (translation from Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek, 2018)”

Gerrit Benner (1897–1981) Dutch painter

version in original Dutch (citaat van Gerrit Benner, in het Nederlands:) Ik hou van de natuur, wat is niet mooi in de natuur, er zijn geen lelijke dingen. Soms benauwt de wereld me en dan kom ik altijd terug bij de natuur, de bron van alle dingen.
as cited on website De Canon: ‘Gerrit Benner’ http://www.11en30.nu/de-canon-vensters/gerrit-benner
undated quotes