"And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had"
-Roland Orzabal, Mad World
(Though I like the "Donny Darko" version best)
Forum:
Gothic Quotations
Submitted by SwoopGuy on
I've been meaning to put this thread up for a while now. At least since my last trip to the mainland. I was reading a book about acting when I came across a quotation from a Chekhov play. It reminded me of when one of my friends from high school (along with her friend) paraphrased a Morrissey lyric in response to the ever present question, "Why do you always wear black?" ::)
So what I'm hoping to do here is start a collection of quotations with Gothic appeal. They don't necessarily have to have been intended as "goth quotations," they just have to speak to that which is Goth on some level. I do ask that you include the source of the quotation (not full MLA or anything, a name will suffice), and if you can't, don't be affraid to ask for help.
A few of my favourites:
The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.
-- Milton
"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
--Shakespeare, Macbeth V, v
To be, or not to be,--that is the question:--
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?--To die,--to sleep,--
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to,--'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die,--to sleep;--
To sleep! perchance to dream:--ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would these fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,--
The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns,--puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought;
And enterprises of great pith and moment,
With this regard, their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia!--Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.
--Shakespeare, Hamlet, III, i
"After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not.Finally you see things as they really are, which is the most horrible thing in the world."
-- Oscar Wilde speaking of absinthe
"I did go through a Goth thing, but that was a long time ago. I just like artists that shake it up, that piss people off or make people think or rattle the cage somehow."
-- Lisa Marie Presley
"So of course I found that 'Goth' tag very limiting and, rightly so, I didn't go along with it. Why would I go along with having two arms and a leg cut off? Why would I allow myself to be like Boxing Helena?"
-- Siouxsie Sioux
"Punk was perhaps the last bohemian movement of all time. I am afraid that bohemians will eventually come to be seen as a by-product of the industrial civilization. Bohemians are the subconscious of industrial society."
-- William Gibson
OK, it is a bit longer, but what the hell ;-)
Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.
I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.
I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.
Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.
I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.
And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.
Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.
Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black
-Johnny Cash