What's behind your ....

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 03 Sep 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Sullanciri2002	03 Sep 2002
signature or slogan - the one below each of your entries ? Considering the succes of threads on the origin of nicknames etc, I thought it might be a blast to learn a tad more about eachother through the reasons why we each chose just that particular quote or slogan. Unless it's already been done in a past thread ... ouch. If not, let's spill the beans; Why this signature, where did you get it ... ? To show the good example, I'd best go first, right ? "Shoot them all. Let God sort them out" is from a comic-book series written and drawn by the best comic-book artist ever - Jim Lee: the series was called Divine Right ... about an average teenager falling prey to the corruptive power of suddenly getting divine superpowers, with the best intentions - he hopes. why ? well, it struck a chord with me that so many "bad" things start out with someone having the best intentions ... but not thinking before setting things in motion more ? well, in my job - it's all too easy to get carried away with the "power" you get when asked to evaluate someone's abilities in regards to a certain job ... and this quote seemed to be an (although rather "crude") reminder that only God should be the judge of someone's worth.

rostie	03 Sep 2002
picked mine of the movie: the moulin rouge...loved that film, love the actors, love the drama...colors, wild, the beginning of the century, the art, the fire, love... without any love you are nothing, you're cold and alone you're vanishing so i find it a lovely sentence, but love a lot of the others here too...let's hear the reasons!!! i'm eager to know too... with love, sara.

wavebreaker	03 Sep 2002
The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever -- Jacques-Yves Cousteau I can't remember where exactly I found this quote from Cousteau, I think it was on the internet. I immediately adopted it as my sig, because I have found it to be very true! ;) I got my first scuba diving certification in 1995. I did my certification dives in a water temperature of 10 degrees Celcius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) with a visibility of about half a meter (2 feet), so not exactly perfect conditions for a nice, relaxing dive. But the minute I reached the bottom of the lake we were diving in and realised I could breathe and look around and see what was growing on the bottom, I loved it!! I realised I had entered a whole new world and was eager to discover it further. Since then, I've done about 250 dives all over the world, spent a total of over 150 hours under water, and the underwater world never ceases to amaze me... And all this thanks to Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who invented the aqualung and thus enabled so many of us to be caught in that net of wonder... :)

kayne	03 Sep 2002
Rostie: Big Moulin Rouge fan here too... (How many times have I watched in the movies and DVD? Hmm... :P) I have two things in my signature and I think the first is pretty self explanitory... • Dedicated to colouring Aeclectic • because i am... :P The second I found on the net. "Colour in a picture is like enthusiasm in life." ~ Vincent Van Gogh. I wanted an arty type quote and it was actually the first one that I saw. Read many others but this one just suited me straight away... and it kinda goes with the theme of the first one. Also (sorry if this sounds pretentious) it reflects the idea that I have helped bring colour and a visual example of the *life* that we know and love here in Aeclectic through the avatars and tarot icons.

Kazz	03 Sep 2002
Well as a matter of fact i recently changed mine. I use to have "some people live life in the fast lane, others live in oncoming traffic" but I got sick of it, so now i have a couple of lines from a Van Morrison song called "Into the Mystic" as i am a big fan of his music and this particular song is one of my favourites. Cheers Kazz :TQC

jema	03 Sep 2002
mine found me in roundabout ways. a friend of mine lives in toronto and one day he saw this hobo selling his collage on the streets. now he knows i make collages too and that i call myself a hobo so he stopped the man, bought a collage and there it was. "why play word games with concepts such as 'extra.ordinary' when we haven't even really encountered the ordinary" so that got me thinking. i write an on-line journal and my life may seem very dull still a whole lot of people like to read about it. perhaps they, just like me, are also explorers of the ordinary? i find that it is in the ordinary we find the miracles of life and the joy.

floracove	03 Sep 2002
"Here's to Love and Laughter" Well, I guess for me to give cheers to something, Love and Laughter would be the best, and sorta encompasses so many other things, don't you think? "Man should make the living and Woman should make life worth living" Well I was raised that way and it only seems the most natural to me. I went into a gift shop out in the middle of the woods one time, (by a busy highway) just to see what was in there and as I was leaving there was this little wooden sign with black lettering there beside the door, and it had this saying on it, I bought it and brought it home and it always hangs in my living room. It fits my thoughts very well in that catagory. It also makes me think of my Mother and Father.

catlin	03 Sep 2002
I picked mine from a mystery novel I read as a teen and somehow this sentence proved to be true, in fact I had much more bad experiences with living folk than with dead ones.

Rhiannon	03 Sep 2002
I change mine pretty frequently. Right now it says "Don't heckle the Super Villain" which was in a recent episode of the new Justice League cartoon. The Flash was boo-ing a giant, evil gorilla who was trying to take over the planet... and the Green Lantern said it to him. R :)

Mojo	03 Sep 2002
I just changed mine. For years, it was an old Sicilian saying that my grandfather was always fond of repeating: Se non é bene, é ben trovato which loosely translates to "even if it isn't true, it's a great lie." My Grandfather was a great story teller (that's where I got it from) and so this was such an appropriate quote for him to end all of his stories with. My new signature comes from a movie I just saw called "Nobody's Baby" with Skeet Ulritch and Gary Oldham. There is a Native American Shaman/Satellite Dish Installer named Dog who gives the advice: You can change your ground, but you cannot change your sky. It struck a nerve.

Liliana	03 Sep 2002
Im not sure exactly how mine came about,. I was just thinking about Tarot one day and all the sudden Jeff Foxworthy popped in my head and the rest is history, except for the additon of a Jack Daniels tin for a certain someone who does keep a deck on one, once I read she did I had to add it :) Ive thought of changing it but its inspired too much, a whole entire website even, and a free Jack Daniels select bag (purple velvet oooh) being sent, its just kind of a classic going down in tarot history sig hehe. If you search around for redneck tarot reader you'll find a number of threads were started because of it. :THP

divinerguy	03 Sep 2002
Sign of the times. A reflection of that which is before me.

Strega	03 Sep 2002
Blessings! Uhm... based on experience? Hehe. :D

DarkElectric	03 Sep 2002
Mine is basically my philosophy of life! I think it's an original quote from me, although it may be grandmotherly wisdom filtered down through the years, and I only THINK I came up with it! (It sure is something she would have said!)

Kiama	03 Sep 2002
I saw my sig quote on a bumper sticker on my first trip to Glastonbury: "God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts'. I cracked up. I agee with it aswell, andhought it a very apt quote for the co-moderator of Spirituality here on Aeclectic. When I saw this quote first, I was also trying to cope with a couple of Christian fundies, who were adamantly and vehemently denying that my faith wasn't evil or stupid, and that they were definitely right and that I was going to Hell. My previous sig quote is one by one of my fave philosophers/ writers, Voltaire: "I do not believe in what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Out of all the things in this world which I could cope without, freedom of speech is not one of them, and I valuethat thing more than most other things I have come across so far, barring love, comfort, and chocolate. Kiama

Laurel	03 Sep 2002
I thought I'd change my every 100 posts or so, except this time I got lazy. I find my signature quotes in collections of spiritual sayings and choose whichever one hits me in the head like a hammer first :)

Pollux	03 Sep 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Mojo Se non é bene, é ben trovato which loosely translates to "even if it isn't true, it's a great lie." Mojo: now I don't want to spoil the fun, and play with your nostalgies and recollections, or stress once again I am Italian and stuff (I seem to boast at times about that *LOL* :D). I hope you won't be offended or anything - I just don't want to hurt any feeling or else. But... I need to ask you if you are sure that is the meaning of the sentence. I admit I may fail to see certain shades, and be wrong. But you might understand my confusion, being Italian! *LOL* :) Here we go. The sentence you quote is not Sicilian, but plain Italian. And it does not mean what you explained - that seems to bear a sort of contradiction to me, but anyway... I actually was never able to understand it, despite my being a mothertongue, but it surely has nothing to do with lies or truths. Roughly it could be translated as "(even) if it is not something good, it is something worth finding". I would be glad to know more about this, cos since the day I read that sentence I was NEVER (*LOL*) able to fully understand it, and never had the courage to ask you. :)

Pollux	03 Sep 2002
I don't remember all the ones I changed. The former was from the Ode On A Greacian Urn by John Keats. Many think poetry is overrated. Especially classic poems. Well, in truth I don't really care about what other people think, I simply find that... so sad! And would definitely try to change their mind if engaged in a related conversation. Anyway, the quote was: Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. I don't know if I should explain it, but certainly I won't (:P) - furthermore, it is probably difficult to understand it without reading the rest of the poem... but this is why I gave the name of the poem and the author... ;) I choose it cos it's definitely me. ME ME ME. In a thousand different ways. The present one is from Dante - I LOVE HIM!!! DANTE ROCKS!!! :D I actually should hate him, because of the way the prof made me and my schoolmates study it, but I am not that shallow when it comes to culture... As Hermit says, "Seek and ye shall find" :P. No way, today I can't stop boasting - maybe cos I need an ego boost from someone... This is so sad too... 8) Anyway, it means "Love is such/works in such a way that it does not allow whoever is loved not to love back", "Love is such, that it won't permit a loved person not to love back" or something similar... I simply love this quote too! :D (Dantists on the boards, raise your hand!!! *LOL*) It is taken from the 5th Canto of the first Cantica, the Canto of Paolo and Francesca, in which Dante sees the Souls of the Luxurious and their punishment. I don't know if I am a Luxurious, but it may well be...

Sullanciri2002	03 Sep 2002
I asked an Italian ... and Mojo's rough translation comes very close to the real thing. It's hard to translate the phrase in English without losing the exact meaning, but what it comes down to ... is "it might not be true, but it's very well found" - with the verb found in the sense of 'well thought up" rather than physically finding something. It seems that the idea behind the quote, implies that some imagined or made-up stories are better than the truth ... which goes as often as it doesn't IMHO

Pollux	03 Sep 2002
Mh... maybe I get it more now. The point is, that first sentence TO ME has nothing to do with lies, truths or else. Maybe the second might, but it might also relate to a thousand other things... In Italian the verb (past participle) "to find" (trovare) in that occasion does mean "thought up", I see that, but the first sentence keep puzzling me. Maybe I must check my ID card...

Poetlove	03 Sep 2002
I am going through a time in my life. My SO has decided to become friends and roommates, without the pressure of sex, and other partner duties. So, I found the quote that would help the heart heal. I feel that friendship is love redefined, and tho we love each other, we made need to find the spark that was once there. Or not, but why throw away the actual love we have.

Mojo	03 Sep 2002
Pollux I will certainly defer to you as a native speaker of Italian. I only know what my Grandfather told me. Born in Palermo in 1895, he grew up on a farm, uneducated and poor. He came to the U.S. at the end of WWI where he worked construction all his life. He loved to tell stories... outrageous ones at that. And he ended each story with his signature line.... and always added a wink and a smile when saying it. As Sullanciri mentioned, it loses a lot in the English translation and it is likely more meaningful to certain Italians who understand it's traditional origins. Perhaps it is a colloquialism that means something to people from one part of the country, but not to others. We have lots of those in the U.S. - particularly in the south where I grew up. For example, when someone tells you something that you don't believe, you might retort: "that dog won't hunt" which would mean absolutely nothing to a northerner, but would speak volumes to another southerner. I use the quote in homage to my grandfather, who was larger than life and my personal hero. He had lots of fun Italian phrases like that. I can't remember the original Italian words for one of his better ones (him being a construction worker) that translates to "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". He also had a lot of very off-color phrases which always earned him a smack across the head from my grandmother.

Red Emma	03 Sep 2002
Red Emma is one of my favorite historical women. She was a political activist in the first part of the last century, around the 1920's. She was frequently involved in the dethronment of dictators. When the U.S. President, McKinley, was assasinated, they put her in jail for two weeks just on general principals. She went to Russia during the revolution with John Reed (the only U.S. citizen buried in the Kremlin). In the movie, "Reds" she was portrayed by Maureen Stapleton. I understand she became disenchanted with the Russian revolution and returned to the U.S., although my knowledge of this is a little shaky. Anyhow, she's my favorite kind of woman: Strong, willing to stand up for her principles, politically active. And boy! Did she ever question authority!

Kismet	03 Sep 2002
I've had two signitures since my start on Aeclectic. The first one was "So close, no matter how far, couldn't be much more from the heart, forever trust in who we are, and nothing else matters." This is a lyric from the song "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica. Those following my posts know my boyfriend commited suicide the end of April, 1st of May. He introduced me to this song and used to sing it to me. It also is very true for he and I "So close, no matter how far", no matter what seperates us. My current signiture "I've loved you forever...In lifetimes before..." are lyrics from an N'Sync song "This I Promise You". I've recently begun researching reincarnation, and if ever two people lived lifetimes together before, it has to be he and I. Love and Light, Kismet

Red Emma	04 Sep 2002
Kismet, how tragic to lose a close friend in such a terrible way. I hadn't known about it. I hope that all goes well with you, very soon. Goddess Bless, Red Emma

Red Emma	04 Sep 2002
About the historical Red Emma, I forgot to mention that her real name was Emma Goldman.

the hermit	04 Sep 2002
wow... lot's of interesting stories here. I've changed mine once, but went back to the original. It seems more apporpriate for a hermit... for those who don't recognize it, it comes from the Christian New Testament, near the end of Christ's "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew chapter 7, verse 7 of the King James version of the Bible (the older english is much more poetic for me compared to the newer translations). And I've done what too many do when reading the bible... I've taken the words out of their context to make the short phrase more in-tune with my own goals... "seek, and ye shall find"

Violet Gargoyle	04 Sep 2002
Monty Python. One of the Gumby's said it and then said, "My Brain Hurts".

napaea	04 Sep 2002
just recently changed mine too. other one was "the devil didn't MAKE me do it, but it came highly recommended" i find it interesting that certain groups of Christians have demons for everything : the demon of lust, the demon of envy, the demon of secretiveness. can't you just admit you haave your own dark side and sometimes you act out on it? just think it's interesting... this new one i have is from a song by Dido. i love the song. it feels mournful, strong. sometimes i soooo want to be a bad girl; sassy, attitude, promiscuous ;) but i'm really a good little thing. but i think people should be able to be who they really are, and they are still beautiful. why do we have to measure up to something, or meet some standard for others to see the beauty and worth in us? so i feel like i can fly, even if i'm not a virgin like my mom would want, and i cuss like a truck driver!

Red Emma	04 Sep 2002
From Napea who wants to fly: Although I'm not a virgin like my Mom would want, and I cuss like a truck driver ... Napea, just the kind of lady that Red Emma (the real one) would understand and like. And me, too. Regards, Latter Day REd Emma

Emily	04 Sep 2002
I picked mine because it's what happens every time I visit here, I learn something new lol :) Although its the only one I use on here another one I've used elsewhere is " If you act like a doormat that's how people will treat you" (this was mainly to raise my confidence when I was on a real downer and everytime I posted I saw it) I love many of the quotes on here and have my favourites :)

napaea	04 Sep 2002
sigh, thanks Red Emma! i needed that! i'm a cranky pants today, and that cheered me up! you're a doll...

cyan	14 Sep 2002
like kiama i got my mine off a bumper sticker. i thought at the time how i, having grown up on the side of a mountian in a redwood cabin full of light and silence, always seem to carry the forest with me no matter where i go. it is in my bones and blood. although it weighs heavy on me when i can't look out my windows and see the trees, i would still wish the burden on others. the forest lives as we live, its life is as valuable as yours and mine.

blue_fusion	14 Sep 2002
mine came from the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull. we read it back in grade school. :)

Marion	15 Sep 2002
This is bad. :( I never gave myself a real sig until I read this post. Supposedly it is from Tolkien. Works for me. :)

ihcoyc	15 Sep 2002
Mine is a bit of nonsense from the old Trans-O-Gram Ka-Bala game, which was an exceedingly strange talking board toy that included Tarot cards as well. It was marketed during the high Sixties, and I had one as a child. Whoever invented the chant for the Ka-Bala did some homework, I was surprised to learn. The magic words were apparently pied out of a charm allegedly given in Albertus Magnus which is supposed to ward off illness.

jema	25 Sep 2002
Quote: Originally posted by DarkElectric Mine is basically my philosophy of life! I think it's an original quote from me, although it may be grandmotherly wisdom filtered down through the years, and I only THINK I came up with it! (It sure is something she would have said!) actually it is from an old reebok add - you know the sport shoes. but they in turn might of course have taken it from someone. it is a good qoute anyway:)

Marion	25 Sep 2002
Quote: Originally posted by jema actually it is from an old reebok add - you know the sport shoes. but they in turn might of course have taken it from someone. it is a good qoute anyway:) The actual original quote was: "Those who stand for nothing fall for anything." Alexander Hamilton Mine is from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The entire quote is: "All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost." J R R Tolkien

Sulis	25 Sep 2002
Mine`s from the poem `Desederata` by Max Ehrmann. It was written in the 1920`s but for years a rumour went about that it was discovered in Old St Pauls Church in Baltimore and that it was dated 1691. I just think that it`s one of those pieces of writing which just about says it all really. Whenever I feel that I need grounding I read it. Love and light Crystalmynx xx

marmalade	25 Sep 2002
mine's the truth. i was feeling a bit silly one day and i was walking around the house singing it, and hubby just thought it was cute. it's a marmalade original!

VmprGokuboi69	25 Sep 2002
Quote: Originally posted by rostie picked mine of the movie: the moulin rouge... I love that movie also, but i cry at the end...and I want almost all those outfits Satine had... anyway... I made mine up, after long troubling times with guys, I decided to make that quote, as a light of hope

WhiteDrag0n	25 Sep 2002
I see the world with open eyes and wonder, Why does everyone Have their eyes shut? This is my own quote, it was a statement i thought after trying to explain some spiritual things to someone who said the wanted to learn, but they just wanted to aruge and remain blind. BeHold! The power of the human anlytical mind at work. Give it an inch and it runs a mile in the wrong direction. I was watching tv and one of my dragons was in the room(Charin). I was watching a history specail on dragons. Then the narrator said something completely stuipd charin thought so he boomed out that quote...lol Age is just human concept to control time. This is another of mine. Humans try to control time, they cant comprehend its a single unbroken piece that goes on forever with no mesure. so humans have tried to "Break" it into peaces so they can attempt to control the uncontrolable Time is a river. No matter how humans try to break it down to control it. It passes around us unhindered by our actions this is another of mine...same as above.

VmprGokuboi69	25 Sep 2002
everybody needs the moon Marmalade, I don't know if you know it... but there is a song out called Stars and the Moon... It is by Audra McDonald. The song talks about love and what different people had to offer this lady... She gets her fairy tale man and everything, but realizes it isn't true love... and in the end.. the moon symbolizes love..... so the last music phrase you hear in it is "I'll never have the moon" Just thought it was kinda ironic....

VGimlet	26 Sep 2002
The one I'm using now was actually the motto of my high school, which I loved because celestial things, stars, sun, moon, planets, were always an interest of mine. To the stars. To me it speaks of science fiction, and looking up into the sky when I'm outside at night, and of all the possibilites that exist for everyone. :D I'm old, I can be corny if I want to.

Pollux	26 Sep 2002
VGimlet, I love your sign!!! :D :D :D I was waiting for you to post here, cos it's really gorgeous!!! It's so evocative!!! "Ad Astra"... I really miss my Latin Class...

Poetlove	26 Sep 2002
Mine is actually a quote I like. When you read it you see it is true. It reminds me of my relationship with my ex, we are still great friends, in fact I am going to visit her this weekend. I mean true friends are hard to find, and when you find one, you have the greatest love for them.

ladycj	30 Sep 2002
Mine is something I use for almost all my e-mail correspondance. It reminds me to live life instead of just watching it roll by.

The What's behind your .... thread was originally posted on 03 Sep 2002 in the Chat board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Chat, or read more archived threads.