A Tribute to our Popular Culture

Words of wisdom aren't just confined to ancient philosophers or historical heroes. In fact, there's a wealth of insight available all around us -- in our media and in our culture. Here are some examples of ideas and concepts that are portrayed in movies, television, and music. Don't just glance over them quickly; each quote has in it a depth of understanding that can transform the way we see our world.

"We can never see past the choices we don't understand."
- The Matrix Reloaded (2003, Written by Andy and Larry Wachowski)

"Being a leader isn't about ability. It's about responsibility."
- The Core (2003, Screenwriter Cooper Layne and John Rogers)

"A destination can get in the way of a journey."
- tag line for the movie, Past Perfect

"No one gets a break from their reality."
- Mathew St. Patrick, Six Feet Under, HBO Television Series (Season 3, Episode 3)

"You know the Greek didn't write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died. Did he have passion?"
- Jeremy Piven, Serendipity (2001), DVD Chapter 15, 1:17

"There's no such thing as a mistake. There's what you do, and what you don't do."
- Olivier Martinez, Unfaithful (2002)

"In the movie 'Training Day' we heard a common phrase: 'It's not what you know, it's what you can prove.' That's why it's important not only to learn, but then to teach what we've learned to others. This ensures our ability to prove what we know."
- Danish Ahmed

"If anyone came on [the set] in a bad mood, they [just] looked silly. That's the way it should be."
- Peter Chelsom, Director of Serendipity

"Love is not an emotion. Love is a behavior."
- Oprah Whinfrey

"If a man washes a dish and nobody is around to see it, did it really happen?"
- Movie "Kate & Leopold" (2001, Written by Steven Rogers, James Mangold and Carrie Fisher)

"The kingdom of God is within you and all around you. It is not within buildings of wood or stone. Split a piece of wood and you will find me. Look beneath a stone and I am there."
- Patricia Arquette, Stigmata (Screenwriter Tom Lazarus)

"Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end."
- Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Screenplay by Nicholas Meyer & Denny Martin Flinn)

"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid."
Serendipity (DVD Chapter 13, 1:09)

"You don't get to pick when you tell the truth. The truth is beyond that."
- Robin Williams, Insomnia (Screenwriter Hillary Seitz, Source Writers Nikolaj Frobenius & Eric Skjoldbjaerg)

"It's amazing what you can do when you don't have to look at yourself in the mirror anymore."
- Kevin Bacon, HallowMan

"When you sleep with someone, your body makes a promise whether you do or not."
- Cameron Diaz, Vanilla Sky

"Only G-O-D could be a king to me; and if the G-O-D be in me, then the king I be."
- Down With The King, Run-DMC with Pete Rock and CL Smooth

[Feeling the loss of a loved one] "I'm never going to feel like this again . . . That's true, every time you fall in love, it's different . . . I feel so empty . . . Soon, all you'll remember is the love."
- Star Trek: The Next Generation

[Referring to the human civilization] "You seem to find no tranquility in anything. You struggle against the inevitable. You thrive on conflict. You are selfish, yet you value loyalty. You are rash, quick to judge, slow to change. It's amazing you've survived . . . You are too aggressive. Too hostile. Too militant."
- Nagilum, Where Silence Has Lease, Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988, Written by Jack B. Sowards)

"An artist never prevents himself from experiencing everything that life has to offer."
- Six Feet Under, Season 3, Episode 4

"When you change one thing -- that changes everything."
- Rachel Griffiths, Six Feet Under, HBO Television Series

"There is no death -- only birth and birth and birth."
- Six Feet Under, HBO Television Series

"The future is just a concept we have, so we have an excuse not to be alive today."
- Rachel Griffiths, Six Feet Under, HBO Television Series

"I love being me. Ask anyone."
- Patricia Arquette, Stigmata

"Forever is going to start tonight."
- Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler

"Don't think you need to be small to be real."
- Peter Chelsom, Director of Serendipity

"Human intuitions and human feelings are not always right, but they do make life interesting."
- Ginon, Star Trek: The Next Generation

"If you end up pleasing them forever, you'll end up blaming them."
- Bend It Like Beckham (2003, Written by Paul Mayeda Berges, Guljit Bindra, and Gurinder Chadha)