Obnoxiously difficult quotes

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  • LLapp
    Premium Member
    • Aug 2014
    • 462

    #241
    "Our live experiences, fixed in aphorisms, stiffen into cold epigrams. Our heart's blood, as we write it, turns to mere dull ink." โ€” F. H. Bradley

    After more than 8 years with this puzzle in play, super-solver nanrich finally brought the record down to a whopping 31 seconds. Per solvers' comments, that word "live" instead of "life" is the final obstacle.

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    • mikehallbackhoe
      Member
      • Feb 2011
      • 73

      #242
      milk the cow, but do not pull off the udder

      proverb

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      • wvwoman
        Member
        • Feb 2019
        • 6

        #243
        omg!

        Originally posted by mark
        I get really frustrated with Alexander Pope's archaic, backward grammatical style. It's like Yoda smoked a fattie and decided to write some poetry. If quotations are worthy of the annals of time I think they should at least be grammatically sound. Forgive me if I have offended any Pope fans but this guy just isn't my cup of tea at all.
        your reference to yoda smoking a fattie is such a hoot--thanks for the huge laugh!!

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        • wvwoman
          Member
          • Feb 2019
          • 6

          #244
          good grief!

          "No date prefixed directs me in the starry rubric set." โ€” John Milton

          what does this mean?!!

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          • Roxanne
            Member
            • Aug 2013
            • 26

            #245
            Satan is talking to Jesus in Paradise Regained (4.392-393). I think that prefixed is pre-fixed, as in decided, or set, beforehand; 'starry rubric' is the constellations as an astrological guide. "Set" is a past participle, not a noun. I.e. "I don't recognize a preordained date (no date prefixed) displayed in the life-guiding (directs me) constellations (in the starry rubric set)." I think ...
            He's talking about how he doesn't know when the kingdom that Jesus will rule will appear.

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            • LLapp
              Premium Member
              • Aug 2014
              • 462

              #246
              Roxanne, your explanation is excellent! Thank you!

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              • wvwoman
                Member
                • Feb 2019
                • 6

                #247
                yes--thanks, roxanne, for the explanation--but i have a feeling i'll still never like this quote!

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                • Collier
                  Member
                  • Aug 2018
                  • 2

                  #248
                  This is where I thank Pootie for reminding me that the thread is called "obnoxiously difficult quotes" and that I should leave the postings here to the truly gifted solvers.

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                  • Phoenicopterus82
                    Member
                    • Nov 2018
                    • 2

                    #249
                    "Call on god, but row away from the rocks." -Proverb

                    After taking many minutes to solve this one for the second time I decided I'd better commit it to memory.

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                    • montyb
                      Member
                      • Nov 2011
                      • 271

                      #250
                      It's probably already on here, but I'm freaking mad!

                      "Dios tarda pero no olvida - God delays but doesn't forget. "
                      โ€” Proverb
                      [B][I]"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."[/I] [/B]-- Albert Einstein

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                      • wvwoman
                        Member
                        • Feb 2019
                        • 6

                        #251
                        would admin consider removing that one?

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                        • LLapp
                          Premium Member
                          • Aug 2014
                          • 462

                          #252
                          Originally posted by montyb
                          It's probably already on here, but I'm freaking mad!

                          "Dios tarda pero no olvida - God delays but doesn't forget. "
                          โ€” Proverb
                          Wow! That's definitely out of bounds! One word in a foreign language is bad enough, but five words in a dead language . . . . I can't believe you solved it!

                          And the vague attribution doesn't give any clue either.

                          Maybe account options could include "Show quotes that include dead languages? Yes/No".

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                          • Roxanne
                            Member
                            • Aug 2013
                            • 26

                            #253
                            This is in Spanish, not a dead language.

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                            • LLapp
                              Premium Member
                              • Aug 2014
                              • 462

                              #254
                              OOPS. Well obviously I don't know a word of Spanish OR Latin. It "looked" so much like Latin to me, who knows neither language, that I didn't even bother to check. Thanks Roxanne.

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                              • kimmie

                                #255
                                LLapp, I don't think it's that big of a deal that you thought the quote "looked like" Latin, since Spanish evolved from Latin. And saying that you don't know a word of Latin is probably not accurate: though I dislike Latin, I think that you know more Latin (and Greek) than you think you do. I don't think Latin and Greek are really "dead," since they have morphed into other languages.

                                Kimmie

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