Quotes And My Take

I just finished watching the movie "The Interpreter", it sure leaves you with a lot to think about. I'm not proposing to write a review of it here so if you have no idea about this movie, google it or better yet, rent it and come back to this entry later. Not that I'm going to give anything away, it'll just help you better understand where I'm coming from. At the end of the flick is a quote from a book that may just be a fictitious prop from the movie, I don't know, but it really got me.

"The gunfire around us makes it hard to hear.
But the human voice is different from other sounds.
It can be heard over noises that bury everything else.
Even when it's not shouting.
Even if it's just a whisper.
Even the lowest whisper can be heard - over armies... when it's telling the truth"
-Edmond Zuwanie (a character in the film)

Pow! Doesn't that just hit you full force in the chest? With all that's going wrong in the world, it's easy to quickly dismiss this statement as completely false, but what about what's going right in the world? The information age is proving to be a curse as much as a blessing as we all seem to be almost overwhelmed with new truths, lies and images of pain, suffering, despair, hope, unconditional empathy and every other example of human emotion happening all over the world. Just in the last 30 days we've seen bombings, earthquakes, mudslides, and yes, hurricanes and our own human responses to those disasters. I heard lots of shouting and finger pointing, but little I could believe to be truth. I've heard whispers also and wonder if anyone else can hear those voices. If we can hear the whispers, and listen closely, intently, with our minds and hearts open what are we to do with the truth once we've really heard it with our whole beings?
Reminds me of another, less intense quote, one of my all time favorites...
"This life is a test... it is only a test... had it been an actual life... you would've been given instructions on where to go and what to do...." (for those of you who don't recognize this, it is a play on the wording of The Emergency Broadcast System which also emits the most annoying sound on the planet)
Personally, I've never believed in the "Learning Lessons" philosophy of why we are here. But I still can't help but laugh at this quote on occasion when I feel like I am awaiting further instructions for what the heck I am supposed to be doing with my life. Of course, to suppose anything is to assume and I'm sure nearly everyone by now has heard what assuming does:
to ass-u-me makes an ass out of you and me.
In high school, I used to write quotes on my text book covers and try to come up with my own. The only one I can think of that I made up is "You can lead a man to knowledge, but you can't make him think" (*Traci Roberti). Which is, of course, a play on the old saying "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink". The problem with quotes and quoting is that you can't always remember who said it which is why, I think, the most famous quoter of all time gets most of the credit as said by Mr. Anonymous.
I'll end this with some of my old high school text book cover quotes. The person being quoted will be after the *. Enjoy.
Come to the edge , he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came, he pushed them... and they flew. *Guillaume Apollinaire
Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile. *Bertrand Russel
Everyone has talent. What is rare is the curage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads. *Erica Jong
What the hell - you might be right, you might be wrong... but don't just avoid. *Katharine Hepburn
Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps. *David Lloyd George
I never take counsel of my fears. *General George Patton
The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher. *Thomas Henry Huxley
Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt. *William Shakespeare
Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around. *Henry Thoreau
Don't be afraid to go on an occasional wild goose chase, after all, that's what wild geese are for. *Anon
All You Need Is Love... *Beatles