My days in writing started out not so much at the inspiration of books, but the writing found in great video games, and movies. I'm very fond of great lines often found within these mediums. The quote in the title is from the video game series Fallout, and to me is probably one of the better lines I've heard. It has a magical ability to state so much, with so unbelievably little. Now, not all of you may agree with this particular line, but if you've played the Fallout games, you certainly can't deny it sets up the entire feel for the gritty world within.

Here's my issue. I'm fond of such lines, but I truly wonder if they can be given the same power without the use of vocals. The line from Fallout is great, but not only because of its content; a great deal of it, for me, was the voice actor behind it, and the almost barren emotionless way in which he says it.

quote:

---

My question for you is three-part.
Do you feel writing alone can achieve the same results as spoken lines?
Do any of you have any recommendations for books or articles that discuss the various strengths of each medium?
And lastly, what other lines have stricken you throughout the years? Ones that you hear in your head, that stick with you, hauntingly powerful.

---

Number one---Yes. I've read a few.

Number two---I don't think so but I may know of one or two that talk about strengths of the written word.

Number three---I still like the Reeves Superman line. "You got me? Who's got you?" could be slightly misquoted there. Oh, of course this is from a book and is a conversation. Jim Butcher's hero Harry Dresden is on an island, running or racing the bad guys. Another enemy completely unrelated to those he is fighting, from Never Never appears Turns out to be a very powerful wizard. The guy hints that he respects Dresden and doesn't really want to fight him. So Dresden uses up a promise and sends the guy after a donut from a certain shop on the mainland. The other wizard asks, "Likest Thou Jelly within thy doughnut?" Dresden says "Nay, but prithee, with sprinkles 'pon it instead and frosting of white. " Later after beating the bad guys--at a cost--he finds the doughnut-still warm- in a sack sitting on the dashboard of his car.

Same Hero, same book and even though I can't quote this even half way Dresden talks about running, how he practices and how it's one of his better actions. Of course at the moment he was running through a forest at night from a mass of bad people, with various powers, all of who are out to kill him. Oh not to mention the guys with automatic weapons.

Gladiator ~
"He killed the man who set you free."

Two roads diverged in a wood, a I--I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference.

Robert frost -The road not taken.

Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires.

Shakespeare - Macbeth Act 1, Scene 4

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more.

Shakespeare - Macbeth Act 5 Scene 5

My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words of thy tongue's uttering.

Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet Act 2 Scene 2

To really enjoy the better things in life, one must first have experienced the things they are better than.

Oscar Homolke.

The whole world is about three drinks behind.

Humphrey Bogart

these are but a small fraction of the many I love.
And my own written favorite so far-

And the angel asked wisdom to leave his thoughts so he might do something foolish.

quote:

---

Y lo mas bueno es que toda la vida es sueno, y suenos, suenos son.

---

Or, roughly translated:

quote:

---

And the best thing is, all life is a dream, and dreams are only dreams.

---

Pedro Calderon de la Barca, Life is a Dream

quote:

---

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too.
Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

---

Still can't think of any more but here are two quotes that I like.

Could be called lines

"Never insult a writer. You may wind up being immortalized in ways you may not appreciate." Garrison Keillor."

Kinda goes with that T-shirt. Something like "If you insult me I'll put you in my novel"

""I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters."

Much madness is divinest sense, to a discerning eye;
Much sense, the starkest madness.

"Paradise lies at the feet of the mother."
- Muhammed

"A donkey with a load of holy books is still a donkey."
- traditional Arabic saying.

"One experiment is worth 100 expert opinions."
- Something my dad likes to say.

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
- Dune

"He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Shun him.
He who knows not, and knows that he knows not is simple. Teach him.
He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep. Wake him.
He who knows, and knows that he knows is wise. Follow him."
-old proverb, possibly Persian or Arabic.

This last one I find useful to think about in terms of writing: The first line is the writer who will never be published, the second is the unpublished writer who will someday get published after a lot of hard work. Third line is the talented writer who will be published once he discovers he can write, and fourth line is the published writer. Its just something I use to keep some perspective on writing.

Huge fan of Fallout series as well, since the first game. Another video game with a great story was Planescape: Torment. I never enjoyed the elder scrolls series as much as the Baldur's Gate series of RPGs.

Wicked are the ways of women when it comes to winning wars.

quote:

---

"Do, or do not. There is no try."
- Yoda, from Star Wars.

---

I keep thinking of that line ever since I saw the movie the first time. Writing is one area it comes to mind in.

The Dune quote sounds like something I've read that a real person said.

"In modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason."

"Cold are women's counsels." (Njal's Saga)

But I know I have had other favorite lines from both books and the screen.

There's one from a "Bug's Life" but I have to double check a name.

There is one that Mark del Franco keeps repeating in his books, almost every one. Speaking of the Fey's ability to do wondrous things "It's not magic".

quote:

---

Next day Andrey Yefimitch was buried. Mihail Averyanitch and Daryushka were the only people at the funeral.

---

quote:

---

The town was a little one, worse than a village, and it was inhabited by scarcely any but old people who died with an infrequency that was really annoying.

---