My Favorite Quotes

Tell us your favorite quote and why it is meaningful to you.

These quotes appear in the signature of almost all my e-mails as well as many other online accounts:

1. Cooperation, not competition!
2. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." (Jackie Robinson)
3. "No matter what, I still feel that everyone is an important part of my life…" (December 11, 1997)
4. "You don’t need a reason to help people." (Zidane Tribal of Final Fantasy IX)
5. There is no such thing as gender, race, creed, physical traits, abilities, or social class, but there is such thing as personality. We need to plunge the surface; the interior is more important.
6. "The people and the friends we have lost, or the dreams that have faded… Never forget them." (Yuna of Final Fantasy X)
7. What I really want, money can’t buy.
8. I don’t do favorites on people and characters.

I made up some of these quotes while others were spoken by other people or characters in stories.  I formed most of my quotes in college though I’ve addressed most of their contents since high school.  The quotes are a summary of what I believe in and what is right, especially in making the world a better place: good personality and cooperating are the most important.  Personality takes priority over all the other traits, especially the exterior.  They are also about accepting harmless differences and not discriminating.

Several quotes from people, movies, and songs support my view of having a good personality.  Jewel Kilcher sings, "In the end, only kindness matters" in her song, Hands, while in COS, Professor Dumbledore tells Harry,  "It is not our abilities that show what we truly are… it is our choices."  In Star Wars Episode 3: The Revenge of the Sith, Master Qui-Gon Jinn informs Yoda, "The ability to defy oblivion can be achieved, but only for oneself.  It was accomplished by a Shaman of the Whills.  It is a state acquired through compassion, not greed."

A quote that supports tolerance of harmless differences is from Pokemon: The Movie.  Mew and Meowth say, "You’re right, we do have a lot in common.  The same earth, the same air, the same sky.  Maybe if we started looking at what’s the same… instead of always looking at what’s different, who knows?"

On December 11, 1997, I wrote in my traditional offline diary, "No matter what, I still feel that everyone is an important part of my life…" because it is true.  As Le Ly Hayslip writes about in her autobiography, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, everybody influences our lives in some way, and we should give credit to them for what we are.  It is somewhat also about accepting everyone, no matter how different they are.  John Donne also said, "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a part of the continent, a part of the main."

I also like quotes that state facts and objective aspects, such as Alanis Morisette singing, "You live, you learn" in You Learn.  It is true that we learn best by living or experiencing.  The quote, "Gratitude takes three forms; a feeling in the heart, an expression in words, and giving in return," is also true.  We need to be thankful to those who perform us favors or good deeds, and when we say "thank you" or anything, we should mean it.  Unfortunately, many people often don’t mean what they say, especially when they say somthing nice.  They usually do it only to be "polite" and look "good," which is a form of mind games and deceit, so I often don’t believe people mean it when they compliment.

That is why I also like these quotes:

1. "Trust, once lost can never be regained."
2. "An open foe may prove a curse; but a pretend friend is worse."

After so much betrayal, deceit, mind games, and false friends, I lost all my trust in people years ago, and still haven’t regained it.  A fake friend is performing double bad deeds, which are attacking and cheating to avoid the punishment they deserve, while the true enemy only straightforwardly attacks and faces the consequences.  They are at least more responsible, which is also related to "How few there are who have courage enough to admit faults or resolution enough to mend them!"  This quote states the truth, too, and emphasizes the importance of responsibility.

Many people blame others for their misfortunes and mistakes.  An example is people complaining about technology causing crime when the bad users are the true cause.  Some video game quotes support it.  In Dragon Warrior 7, a castle maid states, "Machines can bring us happiness, as well as pain.  It all depends on how we use them," while during a discussion about machina in Final Fantasy X, Wakka remarks, "But, it’s not like the machina are bad, and Lulu replies, "Only as bad as their users."  That’s why I like these quotes.

There are also quotes that make me laugh, such as in FOTR, Gandalf yells to Pippin, "Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!"

I also like encourgaing quotes, such as the following:

1. "…they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!" (Sir Wallace in Braveheart)
2. "Let us hunt some orc!" (Aragorn in FOTR)
3. "That is my way of the ninja!" (Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga in Naruto)
4. "The title of Sannin will have one less holder as of today!" (Fifth Hokage Tsunade in Naruto)
5. "I don’t give a damn what your father thinks, Malfoy! He’s vile and cruel and you’re just as pathetic!" (Harry Potter in GOF)

These quotes always make me say, "Yeah!" and cheer me up.  The last one also supports how important personality is.

I have many other favorite quotes, and the number will only increase with time.  They could be found on my OD front page, other online accounts, and my personal offline books.