Obnoxiously difficult quotes

[gryhnd51]

cogito ergo spud, I think therfore I yam. Graffito
Gonzo leaps like a giraffe and grabs it. Jerry Coleman
Weeping bride, laughing wife, laughing bride, weeping wife. German proverb
dios tarda pero no olvida-god delays but doesn't forget. proverb
He that winna be ruled by the rudder maun be ruled by the rock. proverb
Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around. anonymous
No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory, no cross, no crown. wm penn

and last but not least:

sow much, reap much; sow little, reap little. proverb

I needed help on these

"Weep for the lives your wishes never led" W.H. Auden

"EACH BIRD MUST SING WITH HIS OWN THROAT" Henrik Ibsen

"LARGE LEGISLATIVE BODIES RESOLVE THEMSELVES INTO COTERIES" (I think this one was Unattributed, but I did not make note at the time)

If you stand straight, do not fear crooked shadows. - I think it was a Chinese proverb. And I don't know if it would qualify as obnoxiously difficult, but it wasn't a gimme either.

Barnabas - Uff da vida! are you from MN or ND? The most difficult ones for me are ones I can't solve.

I'm from Minnesota. Grew up in northern Iowa. Went south to Texas for some of my college, and then returned to the area I had grown up in. Pretty much a lifer here.

[sarahk809]

"when no one is" took me forever!

[wvwoman]

hit the = key.

[maggiemouse]

Barnabas - Uff da vida! are you from MN or ND? The most difficult ones for me are ones I can't solve.

Here's one that I found difficult, but was ultimately able to solve (though a couple of months ago I'm sure I would have just given up on it). It's from Michaelangelo - "Trifles make perfection, but perfection is no trifle.

When I first noticed this thread, I had a few quotes in mind to add to it. But after having read the quotes that have been posted here, it was obvious that those I had in mind were child's play to the solvers who can work these out. How do you even begin to work some of these puzzles? I see now the reason for the 15 - 20% of puzzles that I fail to solve. Uff da. Ben Franklin's quotes consistently give me fits. But, not to sell myself short, I have noticed that I am often able to solve quotes that have only a 15% or so solve rate, and that does boost my confidence.

"Socialism is Bolshevekism with a shave."

This one gave me such trouble! I have never worked so hard for 10 points! It took me FOREVER.

[Lily H]

I got really stuck on that one and had to ask for help in the chat box. It uses a lot of uncommon letters.

[Lurker]

"The pearl is the queen of gems and the gem of queens." - Unattributed

4.9% solve rate, 283 second average.

Enjoy.

Grrrr

who goes aborrowing goes asorrowing

Now I remember that quote being first entered as...
He who goes a'borrowing goes a'sorrowing.

Emphasis on the '

Here is the earliest entry I could find for that quote...
He that goeth a borowynge goeth a sorowynge.
[1545 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus' Adages (ed. 2) 46V]

Later it was changed to include a- and also a', then finally the punctuation was removed.

My beef here is if it was originally entered on the site with the ' in it. Why remove it?
Its a killer quote and its much more recognizeable with the ' than without it.
Please put the ' back in. The avg solve time for that quote is 228 seconds.
I dislike that quote.

Thanks Admin.

[snappygranny]

obnoxiously difficult quotes

I guess I am just "under-read" but henry fielding always gets me with this one...took me over 6 minutes!

"Thwackum was for doing justice, and leaving mercy to Heaven. "
— Henry Fielding

Who is named Thwackum anyway!

[Lurker]

This one had four of us going last night for over an hour. Hurray to Pootie for finally cracking it!

"Know safety, no injury. No safety, know injury." Unattributed