People From Pennsylvania

"Never, ever give up regardless of the adversity. If you are a leader, a fellow who other fellows look to, you have to keep going. How will you know if you have succeeded? True satisfaction comes from getting the job done. The key to successful leadership is to earn respect- not because of rank or position, but because you are a leader of character. In the military, the president of the United States may nominate you as a commissioned officer, but he cannot command for you the loyalty and confidence of your soldiers. Those you must earn by giving loyalty to your soldiers and providing for their welfare. Properly led and treated right, your lowest-ranking soldier is capable of extraordinary acts of valor. Ribbons, medals, and accolades, then, are poor substitutes to the ability to look yourself in the mirror every night and know that you did your best."

"Despite this deplorable situation of landing in enemy territory without a rifle, I still wasn't scared. Don't ask me why. Fear paralyzes the mind but I needed to be able to think clearly, especially when men's lives were at stake. Though I had been apprehensive whether or not I would measure up, the long months of training now kicked in. Before jumping, I'd though of cutting the top of my chute off and using the silk as a raincoat, both protection against the cold and for camouflage. But now, the only thing on my mind was to get the hell away from those machine guns and that town. Just as I started off, trench knife in hand, another paratrooper landed close by. I helped cut him free from his chute, then grabbed one of his grenades, and said, "let's go search for my equipment." He was hesitant of taking the lead even with his tommy gun, so I said, "Follow me!""

"I was extremely blessed to have been the commander of Easy Company. No single individual "deserved" the privilege of leading such a remarkable group of warriors into battle. And to this day, I am humbled by that experience."

"Easy Company had a reputation- because of our captains, Herbert Sobel and Dick Winters- as the toughest and best. Since the Army lacked manpower, we were always sent in to take up the slack. As trained as we were, as good as we were, it was chaos, death was all around, you knew any minute could be your last. We froze, we starved, we were covered in filth, we were exhausted, we lost good kids every day, we saw things people don't see in ten lifetimes. When we thought we were beaten down as far as we could go, we were kept on the front lines. I never expected to survive a day, let alone the whole war. We lost a lot of men, but we inflicted more casualties on the Germans than they inflicted on us. In Bastogne, they had three times the men and three times the firepower. I have no idea how we done it. I still can't believe we won the war."

"The shadows are lengthening for those of us who fought in World War II. In the twilight of our lives, our thoughts return to happier days, when we struggled together not as individuals, but as a team- a team that willingly sacrificed itself to protect its members. Sixty years after our final victory, these men remain different. Not one man walks around wearing his wings or medals on his chest to stand out. It is what each man carries in his chest that makes him different. It is the confidence, pride, and character that make the World War II generation stand out in any crowd. I'm proud to have been a small part of it. I certainly harbor no regrets. And not a day goes by that I don't think of the men I served with who never had the opportunity to enjoy a world of peace."

"I do rough drawings. And then I work with concept artists who see my rough drawings and say “oh this is what you want!” And they generate, just gorgeous concept art, and then when people sign off on it, we really love everything, then you get a blueprint. You take the blueprint and go “oh I see.” And so the set decorator, costume designer, everyone gets it, and without slavishly copying it, although concept art and stills from our show usually match up, that’s fun. It’s all about control."

"I look for beauty and a pleasing aesthetic within the most mundane, most banal and try to find beauty. As horrible as those places are, you still get it and think it’s sort of cool. The goal is to experience it cinematically and in person and bathe in it."

"Thinking of Edward Scissorhands, a nostalgic wave washes over me."

"I can't think of a production designer working today who if offered the chance to design a horrible, rundown carnival/circus with all of the tents and wagons and all of the grotesquery, wouldn't leap at the opportunity because it's so much fun at an aesthetic level."

"The nice thing about people like Jellybean Man was that I knew exactly where I stood. There was no subtlety, no subterfuge or second-guessing. It was a refreshing change from talking to politicians."

"Judge not, lest ye be punched in the face for being a self-righteous prick."

"She didn’t argue. That, more than anything else, told me she hadn’t fully recovered from everything she’d been through. A year ago, she would have argued with me on principle, secure in her teenage sense of immortality and invulnerability."

"“Your fear is all too human. Accept it, but as you walk this path, let your hope guide you.” “And what if hope guides me off the edge of a cliff?” “I said let hope guide you. I never said stop paying attention to where you’re going.”"

"You want to know if it was worth it. I can’t answer that, Isaac. We can know what was, but not what might have been."

"Human ignorance has never needed help."

"This would be an excellent time for you to shut up."

"“Damn, Boss. See, this is why everyone likes it better when you’re away on your road trips.” “Don’t call me Boss. Also, staff meeting upstairs in the Wheeler room in 30 minutes.” “That’s cold, Boss. What did we do to deserve that?” “Keep it up, and I’ll make you sit through a PowerPoint presentation.” He raised his hands in surrender. “Cruel and unusual punishment.”"

"“You mean you just let him go?” “What did you want me to do?” I snapped. “Castrate him on the spot? Execute him?” “Both. Both is good.”"

"If there ever comes a day when I deliberately embrace ignorance, I’ll have lived one day too long."

"Change is a difficult, often violent process, both for individuals and for whole species. The more rapidly change, the uglier the conflict."

"“What are you doing?” asked Nicola. “Making sure I know what I’m doing.” “Better late than never,” Lena murmured."

"In short, Fahrenheit 451 was never meant to be an instruction manual."

"“This is the worst excess of conjecture and wishful thinking,” snapped Jackson. “We don’t know if Isaac is capable of any of this.” “He believes he is,” said Bi Wei. “I once met a woman who believed she was abducted by aliens who looked like the Teletubbies,” Jackson shot back. “That doesn’t make it true.”"

"I had said before that all stories were magic. It had never occurred to me that all magic was stories."

"Modern fantasy is little more than juvenile escapism and anachronistic longing for a time that never existed. I’ve never understood the appeal."

"Those forced to make impossible choices are rarely loved. If it’s approval and reputation you care about, then you have no place here."

"Young Isaac had dreamed of fame. Young Isaac was an idiot."

"In the words of a coworker, my give-a-shit gauge was stuck on Empty these days."

"The mistakes of the past do not excuse the mistakes of the present."

"“Do you, um, happen to have a copy of that Wells novel here?” “Priorities,” Lena whispered. Right. The end of the world took precedence over an unpublished H. G. Wells. Barely."

"Every religion I’ve studied has laws or commandments against killing. Historically, humanity has shown tremendous creativity in finding every possible loophole, rationalization, and justification to ignore these commandments."

"“That’s…that’s magic.” “Pretty cool, isn’t it? If I had more time, I’d tell you how it worked.” “He would,” Lena said. “Even if you ask him to stop.”"

"The hotel offered a complimentary continental breakfast. My first thought upon seeing it was rather less than complimentary."

"“Hey, I’m just playing devil’s advocate.” “Since when did the devil need your help?”"

"Do you remember the moment you first realize you were mortal? That no matter what happened, you would never live long enough to read every book you wanted to read? That you’d die having accomplished only a fraction of your goals?"

"She paused, then added, “Besides, you don’t really want to know what I think. You’ve already come to your own conclusion. You just want me to talk you out of it.” I had forgotten how annoying Nidhi could be when she was right."

"“How do you fight them?” “The same way you fight any enemy. With knowledge.”"

"Copper River was a small, tightly knit town. If gossip was a competitive sport, we’d have been sending teams to the Olympics and bringing back gold."

"Every Porter was required to see a therapist on a regular basis. It seemed a wise precaution for people who routinely rewrote the laws of existence to suit their whims."

"The behavior of animals does not provide moral justification for human beings to do the same."

"Librarians: Kicking Ignorance in the Balls for Over 4000 Years."

"There were always people eager for attention who were happy to confirm whatever explanation the reporters wanted, so long as he gave them their fifteen minutes of fame."

"I wanted to bring the author back from the grave purely so Lena, Nidhi, and I could take turns punching him in the face."

"Power makes people believe they’re invulnerable."

"He seemed to think that killing was something to be done only as a last resort. It was a strange philosophy, one that would take some getting used to."

"We all know Pastor Tom Briggs is a walking skidmark in a bad suit, and his congregation is a stain on Christians everywhere…. Freedom of speech is easy when it’s speech we approve of. The true test of freedom is what we do when people like Briggs and his ilk mount their soapboxes and and show their asses to the world. Fortunately, freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from mockery and other consequences."

"Unfortunately for you, ignorance makes a poor shield."

"Magically speaking, dissociative identity disorder looks a lot like possession."

"“It’s not going to come to that,” I said. “Nobody ever believes it will,” so the driver. “That’s why it does.”"

"I knew the one thing that truly mattered. I knew it could be done."