It started out innocent enough. A friend e-mailed me a quote from Seneca the Elder, a Roman orator from eons ago:
“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.”
I should have left it at that, but I didn’t. I could have read more quotes from Seneca the Elder, but instead, I was reminded of a quote from Yoda, the Jedi Master of Star Wars fame:
“Try not! Do or do not, there is no try.”
To get the exact wording, I did a search, and found a bunch of quotes from Star Wars. One of those got me giggling:
Han Solo: “I think my eyes are getting better. Instead of a big dark blur, I see a big light blur.”
Luke Skywalker: “There’s nothing to see. I used to live here you know.”
Han: “You’re gonna die here, you know. Convenient.”
Han was great with the one-liners. One of his quotes I’ve used in the past:
Princess Leia: “I love you.”
Han Solo: “I know…”
Many a relationship ended with that one. But I digress…
It didn’t take much to make the logical jump from Star Wars to Douglas Adams – author of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy of five books, the first which is being made into a movie – who is well known for his great quotes. One of the quotes is from a short writing by Adams some ten years ago, Adams on Windows ’95:
“The idea that Bill Gates has appeared like a knight in shining armour to lead all customers out of a mire of technological chaos neatly ignores the fact that it was he, by peddling second-rate technology, who led them into it in the first place.”
Leave it to Mr. Adams to say it better than anyone else. As he would say, “So long, and thanks for all the fish!”