October
"The White Sox has just gone full White Sox."
Kevin Brown
"What better way to commemorate a record-breaking season in futility than to put the team's name under the definition of the term."
September
"Maybe they think my bouquet is dangerous."
A man holding a bouquet of roses after being interogated by police at Prince Edward Station
"Maybe they think I'm dangerous just by standing here."
August
"I thought a basic tenet of Five Eyes is that we weren’t supposed to spy on one another."
Bryce Wakefield
"At the Olympic and World Cup venues, there are no allies; only adversaries."
July
"Dear Prince, will you come or not? Is your fortune still around?"
Sunny Lam
"Alira, why don't you take our call? Taylor, why don't you give us your number? Lionel, why didn't you play through the pain?"
June
"An injunction 'would bring about an own goal' and risk the 'Streisand effect'."
Abraham Chan
"Why keep reminding everyone something you wish everyone to forget?"
May
"I've met some Evertonians in the street and they've been friendly. I've had taxi drivers who have been Everton fans. They've been really nice.
"At the beginning I thought, 'OK, maybe they're happy I'm here because they think that means Liverpool won't have any success for the next 20 years!."
Jürgen Klopp
"Danke für alles, Jürgen."
April
"For every smart person, there is a fool."
Tamerlan Kuzgov
"It would take a fool to believe that there is just one fool for every smart person."
March
"Legislators become excited when they hear the number 23."
Andrew Leung Kwan-Yin
"Legislators become excited when they hear the number 23. Imagine how would they react when they hear a bunch of negative numbers"
February
"That's because you are being pessimistic. I can see the benefits of 'from order to prosperity'."
Chizuru Mizuhara, chatroom user
"Of course I can see the benefits of 'from order to prosperity' — I was promoted twice in the last year, my salary skyrocketed, I can afford to buy a home, the streets are less crowded, there's no congestion in my commute, my kid was accepted to a top school ... because everyone has left town."
January
"This is the worst year in the past 10; and could be the best year in the next 10."
Wang Xing
"Everyone wishes this is the best year in the past 10 and the worst year in the next 10. But that is all it is, a wish."
December
"If all candidates are from the same political spectrum, it would be like a fruit vendor selling only blood oranges, navel orages and sweet oranges. People would have a choice if only they have apples, bananas and durians to choose from."
Tik Chi-yuen
"When oranges are one's only fruit choice, life can turn sour pretty quickly."
November
"It takes $4 million to raise a child."
Lee Lai-Sang, circa 2006/2007
"When one's lifetime earning is less than the cost to raise a child, no wonder people prefer pets over kids."
October
"They keep calling it a 500-year-flood, but I want to know who was around from 500 years ago to tell them what that is?."
Keith Jones
"Now that we experience once-in-100-years and once-in-500 years event on a yearly basis, can we really call them as such anymore?"
September
"Revitalizing the night economy doesn't mean encouraging people to sell fishballs and imitation shark fin, but to encourage people to stay out longer."
Tommy Cheung Yu-yan
"When one is completly drained after a day's work, why would one want to stay out longer?"
August
"I suppose, these days, that (the laboratory) may be the safest place for them (finest young minds)."
Tim Hamlett
"These days being a lab rat may be the safest post in a laboratory."
July
"Just because you're not breaking the law doesn't mean you are not a threat to national security."
John Lee, Mayor of Hong Kong
"Just because no one dares to stop you from talking doesn't mean you are not held responsible for what you say."
June
"It will be a special occasion in a few days’time, many people will use this special occasion to commit acts endangering national security."
Chris Ping-Keung (PK) Tang
"What kind of calendar would someone who cannot state the date of a special occassion use? A calendar with pages deliberately removed."
May
"(The ambassador's remarks) were not a statement of policy, but an expression of personal views during a televised discussion."
Statement from Chinese embassy in Paris
"If an ambassador wishes to express personal views, one can resign and say anything one wants."
April
"I am here to join a march, not a shame parade. ... Now even trying to take a breath of fresh air may endanger national security."
A man participating in a march protesting against reclamation and industrial plants in his neighbourhood
"As long as there are nationals, national security of this nation is always in danger."
March
"Everyone can smile and say hello Hong Kong."
Lo Chung-mau
"What better way to celebrate the end of the mask mandate than to say hello to oneself — in public."
February
"Doesn't that mean every (op-ed) article should maintain balance and neutrality?"
Laura Ng
"Is an op-ed article that is balanced and neutral really an op-ed article?"
January
"Time flies so fast! It’s been two decades since you have started working. You have stood together with us during all the ups and downs. Thank you for dedicating your 20 amazing years of work to our organisation. I wish we continue to hold our strong professional and personal bond for another 20 years to come."
"Time flies so fast! It’s been two decades since you have started this web site. You have endured with us during all the ups and downs, downs mostly. Thank you for offering your 20 years of thankless work to this web site. I wish we continue to hold our tenuous bond for another 20 years to come."
December
"Today I feel Qatari, Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel [like] a migrant worker."
Gianni Infantino
"Today I feel whatever I would rather not be. I only say this because they are ruining my pet project."
November
"The concept of the benevolent dictator, just like the concepts of the noble thief or the honest whore, is no more than a meaningless fantasy."
Alaa Al Aswany
"The problem with a benevolent dictator is that you never know when he turns malevolent."
October
"But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten."
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
"Those who serve can find satisfaction anywhere while those who seek power are never satisfied."
September
"Children must be taught how to think, not what to think."
Margaret Mead
"When children (and adults) can only think in a certain way, don't ask why they think of leaving."
August
"When safety is first, you last."
Source Unknown
"One works to make a living, not to worry whether one will live at the end of the day."
July
"Birth parent is less than adopted parent."
Origin Unknown
"If a child's birth parent denies the freedom enjoyed by the child at one's adopted home, it is natural for one to long for the adopted parent."
June
"We're already seeing the reverse brain drain as smart immigrants take their US educations and experience building companies and creating technology back to their home countries."
Sarah Lacy
"We're already seeing the brain drain as smart Hong Kongers take their talents, expertise, creativity, and perseverance to their adapted home countries and those in charge back home are doing everything to get more to leave."
May
"Deleting posts doesn't mean the local authorities don't value comments from the public. Quite the oppposite. The Chinese government checks the public's comments and make improvements before deleting the posts. On the other hand, people can make complaints online in western countries, but their voices are ignored."
Hu Xijin
"Silencing the dissenters doesn't mean the local authorities don't value comments from the dissenters. Quite the oppposite. The authorities check the dissenters' comments and make improvements to the security apparatus before arresting the dissenters."
April
"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."
Colossians 3:2
"When the leader of an earthy abode set one's mind on things above over earthly things, one's subjects are destined to be knee-deep in trouble."
March
"The Chinese flag can be affixed to an obvious place on the body of the vehicle."
Advice from Chinese Embassy in Kyiv to Chinese nationals in Ukraine
"What is the different between affixing the flag of the enemy's ally to an obvious place and affixing a crosshair to an obvious place?"
February
"You actual abide by this law?"
Daniel Chu Wai-Sing
"The next time one breaks the law, can one use someone rich and powerful saying 'you actual abide by this law?' as a defense?"
January
"One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present."
Golda Meir
"With everyone recording everything, erasing history today is much harder than any time in history."
December
"Two letters were skipped — Nu and Xi — because Nu is too easily confounded with 'new' and Xi was not used because it is a common surname."
WHO statement
"Every letter of the alphabet has to be skipped because each is a commonly used letter; every word of the vocabulary has to be skipped because each is a commonly used word."
November
"It is unacceptable for someone purposely mislead the public and to smear the Customs Department."
Louise Ho
"It is unacceptable for a public figure to say something plainly and claim one's statement is misinterpreted later."
October
"China is reducing electricity generation during the peak production period so that the US have nothing to buy with its money, which would lead to massive inflation, which would lead to massive unemployment and the end of US dollar's hegemony."
A Chinese netizen's comment on recent power outages in China
"China is reducing electricity generation during the peak production period so that the Chinese youth can gain an appreciation that they are living in the golden age, not to take readily available electricity and running water for granted."
September
"The imperialists and domestic reactionaries will certainly not take their defeat lying down and they will struggle to the last ditch."
Mao Zedong
"The youth and domestic reactionaries will certainly lie down and they will stay in the ditch to avoid struggling."
August
"Competition is 80% mental and 20% training."
Siobhan Haughey
"Everyone can be a keyboard athelete. Everyone should try being a real one sometimes."
July
"I never thought they (the authorities) would go after the employees. It is horrifying to see them arresting senior managers."
A man waiting outside office of Apple Daily waiting for the last issue to be published
"If you work for a company owned by an enemy of the state, the government considers you one as well."
June
"You can go down to the street and light a candle — that cannot be in any way against the law."
Chow Hang-tung, Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China vice chair
"Under the new law, which is universally enforceable, display of candles is illegel, physical or virtual."
May
"It's not a league for the rich, it's a league to save football."
Florentino Perez
"It's not a league for the rich, it's a league to save us from the embarassment of not qualifying for the Champions Leauge, now and forever."
April
"Never ever get used to it. It's precisely because our generation got used to it that you have to live like this now."
Liu Kai Chi, Ten Years — Local Egg
"Never ever settle for less. It's because our generation settled for less that you have to live like this now."
March
"The trademark appears to be composed of 5 and 1, a hidden reference to a slogan of the 'black rioters'."
Extracted from a Wen Wei Po news story blasting an official wearing a Savewo mask
"Hidden references are everywhere, if one looks hard enough."
February
"People worry that foreign vaccines would not accliamitize well and demand for vaccines made by local companies."
Starry Lee
"Some have difficulties accliamitizing with basic logic."
January
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
Proverb (Origin unknown)
"All work and no play makes Carrie an uncaring robot."
December
"First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me"
Martin Niemöller
"First they came for the Separatists
And I saluted
Because I was not a Separatists
Then they came for the Localists
And I clapped
Because I was not a Localist
Then they came for the pan-democrats
And I applauded
Because I was not a pan-democrat
Then they came for the moderates
And I cheered
Because I was not a moderate
Then they came for me
And everyone who is left
Mocked and laughted at me"
November
"People were encouraged to snitch. [South Africa] was a police state, so there were police everywhere. There were undercover police. There were uniformed police. The state was being surveilled the entire time."
Trevor Noah
"When the government encourages people to snitch, are confessionals and psychologists' rooms still safe for people to express how they feel."
October
"Calling a deer a horse."
Chinese idiom
"Calling a horse a horse is now considered a crime in some places."
September
"Why don't they eat meat porridge?"
Emperor Hui, Jun Dynasty (said during a famine)
"Why don't government officials leave their office and see what's going on sometimes?"
August
"Without a country, there is no family."
A line from a government ad promoting the National Security Law in Hong Kong
"Without a country, there is no family; without the Communist Party, there is no country; without the Red Sun, there is no Communist Party; without the Core, there is no Red Sun."
July
"My anxiety is not that this community’s autonomy would be usurped by Peking, but that it could be given away bit by bit by some people in Hong Kong."
Chris Patten
"The community's autonomy is given away bit by bit as offerings by zealots eager to please the reigning divine most high."
June
"The collapse of education is the collapse of a nation."
"Nelson Mandela", according to Carrie Lam (He never said the quote)
"If you want to like smart, quote someone wise; if you want to act smart when everyone thinks you are not, make up a quote and pretend it was spoken by someone wise."
May
"When you work from home there is no such thing as a holiday."
Anthony T. Hincks
"When you work from home you are technically never off work."
April
"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."
Bill Shankly
"No one imagined how life without football would be like. Now we are living through it."
March
"But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."
Mathhew 5:39
"Turning the other cheek doesn't mean one should offer the other arm when anyone tries to take one's right arm."
February
"1665, London was hit by bubonic plague;
1666, a great fire engulfed London
So, this year, visit London, because who knows when the next disaster will hit."
History Bites
"2019, tear gas clouds engulfed Hong Kong;
2020, Hong Kong is hit by a plague of incompetence;
So, visit Hong Kong, because who knows when the next disaster will hit."
January
"Hindsight is 20/20."
English idiom of unknown origin
"Do you have some sort of spiritual vision?"
"No, but I have 20/20 vision. I looked out the window and saw the size of the freaking protesters."
December
"The little girl's intransigence cost her the college of her choice."
George Plimpton
"The head girl's intransigence cost her the world's respect."
November
"Leave! Leave! Things will go back to normal after you are gone."
A woman's plea to police officers at a shopping mall, July 2019
"The Police often warn Hong Kongers to stay away from conflict. The problem is the presence of officers often makes a place a hotspot."
October
"Hong Kong's core value, more than freedom, democracy, human rights, rule of law and integrity, is 'returning home (Japan) during vacation'."
Jan Lamb
"Hong Kongers plan their next vacation at work, at home, on the commute and during vacation."
September
"If the People’s Liberation Army comes, I think we will 'be water' and go home to sleep."
Jerry Chan (alias) during Citizens' Press Conference
"If the People’s Liberation Army comes, everyone will go home to sleep, including the economy."
August
"I got nothing against the honest cop on the beat, the kind you can't buy. You just have to have them transferred someplace where they can't do you any harm. But don’t ever talk to me about the honor of police captains or judges. If they couldn’t be bought they wouldn’t have the job."
Al Capone
"If someone can be bought, they surely can be bought again by others. And the price would never stop growing."
July
"Ludwik Silberstein, a physicist who thought of himself as an expert on relativity, approached Eddington at the Royal Society's (6 November) 1919 meeting where he had defended Einstein's Relativity with his Brazil-Príncipe Solar Eclipse calculations with some degree of skepticism, and ruefully charged Arthur as one who claimed to be one of three men who actually understood the theory (Silberstein, of course, was including himself and Einstein as the other). When Eddington refrained from replying, he insisted Arthur not be 'so shy', whereupon Eddington replied, 'Oh, no! I was wondering who the third one might be!'"
Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe, p. 262
"How can judges and law enforcement enforce a law when it is understood by only three or four people?"
June
"Another crucial thing to question is why deniers even bother to quibble about the number of deaths. If one day it were proven only five million or 5.5 million Jews were exterminated, would it be any less an atrocity?"
Ashly Lorenzana
"Another crucial thing to question is why deniers even bother to quibble about where the deaths occurred. If one day it were proven they occurred just outside Tiananmen Square, would it be any less an atrocity?"
May
"Sooner or later in life, we will all take our own turn being in the position we once had someone else in."
Ashly Lorenzana
"Someone who presses too far on others has not right to complain when the roles are reversed."
April
"Why do I need succession planning? I'm very alert, I'm very vibrant. I have no intention to retire."
Sheldon Adelson
"Succession planning is a mandatory duty of anyone holding a high position, even leaders-for-life."
March
"The Bay Area definitely knows the pain of competing for, and retaining, top talent. Offering interesting perks has become a necessity, not a nice-to-have."
Paige Craig
"What kind of perks can the Greater Bay Area provide that the (original) Bay Area cannot?"
February
"They (wild boars) don't obey traffic rules."
Regina Ip
"If humans don't obey traffic laws all the time, why should we expect wild boars to?"
January
"Mother considered a press conference on a par with a visit to a cage of cobras."
Margaret Truman
"One should not stand on a press conference stage if one thinks it should be like a classroom setting."
December
"It was the end of an era and I must say I found myself a bit lost."
Thierry Mugler
"When major figures pass on, others often proclaim the end of an era, but often that era ended long before the passing."
November
"Only when one needs knowledge does one realizes one has not read enough; only when one becomes weighty does one realizes one has not shed enough."
Jin Rong, The Deer and the Cauldron
"Only when the deadline looms does one realizes one has procrastinated too much."
October
"Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."
Herodotus
"Neither rain, nor wind, nor fallen trees, nor rail delays stays these courageous Hong Kongers from the completion of their commute to the appointed workplace."
September
"A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than a giant himself."
Diego de Estella
"'Standing on the shoulders of a giant' means builing upon others' work, not claiming their work as your own."
August
"First, China doesn't export Revolution; second, China doesn't export hunger and poverty; third, China doesn't come and cause you headaches, what more is there to be said?"
Xi Jinping, circa 2009
"First, China exports overproduction; second, China outsources its children's health and well-being; third, Chinese product causes you headaches, what more is there to be said?"
July
"In sports, every day you can be the hero or the goat."
Geoff Stults
"In sports, one works to become the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) and avoids being the goat at the same time."
June
"With little fanfare, June is upon us. How many still remembers the sorrows of June?"
Chow Po Chun (in a Weibo post which was up for ~30 minutes before administrators removed it)
"With little fanfare, the Year of the (insert animal) is upon us. How many still remembers the sorrows of the Year of the (insert animal)?"
May
"Hong Kong has her way of doing things; we have ours."
Yu Lie, Deputy Chief, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Authority
"If a country and its people are convinced that nothing outside the country can be applied within, does the country belong to a different plane/dimension?"
April
"The cell phone has become the adult's transitional object, replacing the toddler's teddy bear for comfort and a sense of belonging."
Margaret Heffernan
"The cell phone has returned to being corded, with the other end tied to the phone's 'owner'."
March
"I'm saving your red packet money till you're 18."
Frequency parent-to-child quote uttered during Chinese/Lunar New Year
"If you are keeping my red packet money, will you pay me back with interest?"
February
"Why are you so forgiving towards those in power?"
Chen Wei-ting
"Why are people more forgiving towards those in power? Because those in power can be very unforgiving if they don't."
January
"I never break the law. I AM THE LAW!"
Sylvester Stallone, Judge Dredd
"One who claims to be the law would never break it — if one 'breaks' the law, one can just change it."
December
"The magi, as you know, were wise men — wonderfully wise men who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents."
O. Henry
"Never sing or play We Three Kings in front of someone who dreads Christmas shopping."
November
"Nothing is mandatory. If you don't want to watch it (live broadcast of a speech by a Chinese official), just close your eyes."
Carrie Lam
"If you don't want to watch something, don't you need to close your eyes AND cover your ears?"
October
"If you want a symbolic gesture, don't burn the flag; wash it."
Norman Thomas
"In some countries, people show their love of their country by wearing their flag; in others, people are accused of disrespecting their country for doing the same."
September
"If you forget the words to your own song, you can always claim artistic license. Forget the words to the national anthem and you're screwed."
Lyle Lovett
"If a musician sings his own songs badly, people call for their money back; if a musician sings the national anthem badly, people call for his head."
August
"Whoever pays the consultant gets pretty much what they want to hear."
Matthew Stewart
"If a consultant's conclusion is not what the client hopes for, start over. Repeat until the client is satisfied."
July
"I have no enemies, and no hatred."
Liu Xiao-bo
"If one keeps making up enemies, eventually one will become real. If one keeps inciting hatred, eventually one will be hated."
June
"Burnout occurs because we're trying to solve the same problem over and over."
Susan Scott
"Great people know when they are burned out, the rest keep burning even when they have nothing in the tank."
May
"If we can't beat our competitors, we beat our customers."
New Motto of United Airlines
"We will take you there (off the plane), any way we can."
April
"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
Leia Organa, Star Wars: A New Hope
"Overall, we are better at holding our fists than showing our palms."
March
"Leaders who practice favoritism in the workplace have no chance to build a culture of trust."
Robert Whipple
"If a head of government show favoritism, it would be difficult to gain trust from the people one rules over."
February
"A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth."
Michael Kinsley
"To understand a politician's true nature, watch what happens after one commits a gaffe."
January
"I'm particularly interested in black swan events: unprecedented surprises that destroy the conventional wisdom about how the world works."
Paolo Bacigalupi
"Given what happened last year, is there anything left which would surprise the world?"
December
"You are hired!"
Donald Trump
"In four years' time, we will need a boardroom big enough for the President's >300 million bosses?"
November
"Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"
Ronald Reagan
"The incumbent should never ask people if they are better off now than before his/her election, as 'No' would be the expected answer."
October
"That skinny guy has been stirring things up in Yuen Long for some ten years. If I wanted to deal with him, I would have done it a long time ago."
Tsang Shu-wo
"If one admits to wanting to dealing with someone else, the latter probably holds evidence of misdeeds of the former."
September
"The referee, linesmen and football association are all on my side. How can you win?"
Patrick Tse Yin, Shaolin Soccer
"When the referee, linesmen and football association conspire against you, the only way to win is to keep the ball."
August
"Faster. Higher. Stronger. Steriods."
mathNEWS, Setpember 2000
"Pending lab test results, medals for the Rio Olympics will be awarded sometime after the 2024 Olympics, wherever it will be held."
July
"If I had it all to do over again, I would do most all things differently. However, how would I know that if, I had not had the opportunity to do them the first time."
Janice Markowitz
"If one can have a do over for something, that something will never be truly done."
June
"The Chinese people have been forced to forget the Tiananmen massacre. There has been no public debate about the event, no official apology. The media aren't allowed to mention it. Still today people are being persecuted and imprisoned for disseminating information about it."
Ma Jian
"Some have chosen to forget the Tiananmen massacre on their own volition. There has been much public debate about their choice and the media mention it often."
May
"Not doing means missing out on something; everything one does is futile; keep doing even if what one does is futile."
Song Dong
"Deep down people know everything they do is futile, but people keep doing it in the hopes that what they do aren't."
April
"Not doing a misdeed is the only way to keep others from knowing about it."
Chinese Proverb
"Many learn of others' misdeeds directly from the perpetrators themselves."
March
"CCTV belongs to the Party. Absolute Devotion. Here for your review."
Banner in the Chinese Central Television headquarters during Xi Jinping's visit
"CCTV belongs to the nightwatchman. Absolute sleep inducing. Here for your viewing pleasure."
February
"These small number of students are rather like people who've taken drugs, who've been poisoned by drugs."
Arthur Li, Chairman of University of Hong Kong Council, at a news conference
"The way this particular chairman speaks is rather like someone who is unfit for the job."
January
"Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time."
Arnold H. Glasow
"Never ask successful people for tips on being successful. The tips would always be: timing, luck and hard work."
December
"I think people should be given a test much like driver's tests as to whether they're capable of being parents!"
Maurice Sendak
"Being a parent may be the only job in the world that requires no qualification."
November
"Is there evidence suggesting that consuming water with an appropriate level of lead can strengthen one's health and extend life?"
Ng Leung-Sing, Hong Kong Legislative Council Member for the Banking Sector
"Is there evidence suggesting that consuming water with an appropriate level of lead can improve one's sense of humour and strengthen the ability to lighten up?"
October
"Businesspeople have no homeland."
Author Unknown
"Businesspeople would pledge loyalty to any place where they can make money."
September
"The WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality has set a provisional guideline value of not more than 10 micrograms per litre for lead, which does not represent significant risk to health in drinking over a lifetime."
Press release by Hong Kong Department of Health
"Over a lifetime, ingesting one gram of cyanide does not represent significant risk to health."
August
"I'm not happy on vacation. In those rare times when I have three hours with no work I have to do, I'm terribly uncomfortable."
Scott Adams
"Thanks to the internet, one still has to work during vacation, only that one works after hours."
July
"Welcome to the world of freedom. However, make sure that you use your freedom wisely. For now only you will be accountable for the decisions you take. Happy 18th Birthday."
Author Unknown
"When a city turns 18, would it gain more freedom?"
June
"FIFA cannot sit by and see greed rule the football world. Nor shall we."
Sepp Blatter
"The football world cannot sit by and see greed rule FIFA. Nor shall the fans."
May
"Insanity — a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world."
R. D. Laing
"In an insane world, those residing in insane asylums may be the sanest of all."
April
"To write something, you have to risk making a fool of yourself."
Anne Rice
"Every time one makes one's writing public, more people perceive one as a fool."
March
"Wanderer, there is no road, the road is made by walking."
Antonio Machado, Campos de Castilla
"There is no road to freedom and liberty, the road is made by people's struggle."
February
"Chief Executive, where shall I live when I grow up? Will there be enough land in Hong Kong?"
A five-year old child (quoted by CY Leung, Hong Kong's Chief Executive)
"I want my mommy."
A five-year old child who grabbed me at an after-school activities centre, circa 2006
January
"(Police officers) were like caring mothers protecting their children."
Andy Tsang, Hong Kong Police Commissioner
"(Police officers) were like helicopter mothers watching over their children constantly."
December
"If you are the police, who will police the police?"
Lisa Simpson
"Permission to take it out on others is not a perk of being a police officer."
November
"While all other sciences have advanced, that of government is at a standstill — little better understood, little better practiced now than three or four thousand years ago."
John Adams
"At a standstill, the side with fresher legs tend to prevail, for they can stay on their feet longer."
October
"There are many roads, but only one home."
Placard on an occupied street in Hong Kong, September 30, 2014
"If the powerful don't block the road to universal suffrage, people have no need to block the streets."
September
"Break up the printing presses and you break up rebellion."
Dudley Nichols
"To break up rebellion today, one needs to break up the Internet, which would cause an rebellion to break out."
August
"Someone once told me, 'you don't possess it now, but you will in the future'."
Cheung Ka-Fei
"If someone tells me 'you don't possess it now, but you will in the future', my first response would likely be 'Do you know when?'"
July
"One should repay the loans he has taken as soon as possible. A debtor can never enjoy peace of mind and happiness as long as he is under the burden of debts."
Atharva Veda
"Something is very wrong when a debtor proclaims loudly that he won't pay his debt while the creditor meekly accepts it."
June
"A penalty is a cowardly way to score."
Pele
"A penalty may be a cowardly way to score, but missing the target while taking one may make the taker wish to take the cowardly way out."
May
"Do not take airplane life jackets as souvenirs."
Guidelines on Civilized Travel Abroad, Chinese National Tourism Administration
"Who considers a lifejacket a good idea for a souvenir?"
April
"Don't worry about polls, but if you do, don't admit it."
Rosalynn Carter
"Questioning a polling firm's objectivity shortly after praising its objectiveness is a telltale sign of someone who worries about polls a lot."
March
"They can't kill us all."
A banner hung at NYU, circa May 1970
"Remain vigilant or we will become accessories to press freedom's murder."
February
"What is the most popular Chinese New Year's greeting these days? Wish you gains something for nothing."
Dayo Wong Tze-Wah
"'Gong Hei Fat Choi' is actually code for 'I haven't received your red packet'."
January
"Smog makes Chinese more equal, more united, and more humourous."
Wang Lei, CCTV Editor
"Mocking state media commentary stating the benefits of smog makes Chinese more equal, more united, and more humourous."
December
"The last decade has been a little rough, so I'm hoping to start this one on the right foot."
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
"A decade has passed and I still haven't figured out what to put on my web site."
November
"By torpedoing me, you torpedo the wishes of many."
Ricky Wong
"When wishes are unfulfilled, is there any hope left?"
October
"People don't just have to right to love one's country — loving one's country is a responsibilty, an honour."
Xu Te-li
"Since when did going on a shopping spree on national day becomes an act of loving one's country?"
September
"All you environmentalists talk about is dolphin this, dolphin that. Just find a place to move the dolphins and be done with it."
A speaker at a public forum discussing development of a 3rd runway at Hong Kong Airport
"Can anyone or anything adopt to new surroundings immediately? Ask a new comer."
August
"You already have zero privacy. Get over it."
Scott G. McNealy
"Whether one has any privacy is a matter of faith — if one believes in a omnipotent being, then one has zero privacy."
July
"Politeness is half good manners and half good lying."
Mary Wilson Little
"Politeness is the mask of choice for those who prefer to keep their true nature hidden."
June
"The early bird gets the worm; the early worm gets eaten."
Norman R. Augustine
"If an early worm's fate is to be eaten, what motivates a worm to have an early start?"
May
"It is labour indeed that puts the difference on everything."
John Locke
"What is ironic about Labour Day is that many celebrate the day by not doing any labour."
April
"We are facing a David-vs-Goliath battle, except that we can't use any stones, for we are non-violent."
Benny Tai Yiu-Ting
"When Goliath is armed to the hilt and David is unarmed, David's only chance is to get Goliath to destroy himself."
March
"I think the idea of having a game based on reality is compelling right off the bat because everyone has some experience with the subject of the game."
Will Wright
"If someone tries to escape from reality by playing a game based on reality, is one truely escaping from reality?"
February
"How can I believe if in the middle of believe was the word LIE?"
Author unknown
"If one is fully honest, the first realization is that one is not fully honest."
January
"I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me."
S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders
"The person liars lie to the most is oneself."
December
"A piece of advice: if you want to remain in control of a doomsday cult, don't give a date for the end of the world unless you're really, really sure it's going to happen. Being wrong tends to undermine your authority."
Jennifer Bosworth
"If someone gives a date for the end of the world, keep him in check as he may do anything to make his prediction come true."
November
"I was worried about being the nut that ruined 40 years of Bond history."
Rick Yune
"Movie franchises are hard to kill, no matter how hard people try."
October
"Once you've been first, it cannot be done again. Not by you, not by anyone else."
Buzz Aldrin
"Once you've been first, you'll never be satisfied with being second."
September
"The silent majority distrusts people who believe in causes."
Brain Moore
"If one stays silent, one would be (mis)construed as being satisfied with everything that's going on."
August
"No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What's right for you — just listen to
The voice that speaks inside."
The Voice, Shel Silverstein
"When students, parents, and teachers are united against something. Proponents of that something better stop and listen."
July
"Silence is the ultimate weapon of power."
Charles de Gaulle
"The fastest way to have rights taken away is to keep silent."
June
"The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children."
Dietrich Bonhoeffe
"If children are not hopeful of the future, the society is doomed."
May
"We all get swept up in the hype machine. Nobody is immune to that."
Steven Cojocaru
"If there is no such thing as hype, the world would be a much quieter place."
April
"A wise man changes his mind, a fool never."
Spanish Proverb
"The hardest part about changing one's mind is to avoid looking like an opportunist while doing it."
March
"He who slings mud generally loses ground."
Adlai E. Stevenson
"Never hurl pubbles at someone who is hurling a boulder at you."
February
"Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly."
Rose Franken
"Love heals everything but one — countless wallets have been torn open because of it."
January
"I'm not going to take this defeatist attitude and listen to all this crap any more from all these people who have nothing except doomsday to predict."
Carroll Shelby
"The trouble with predicting doomsday is that one only has one shot to get it right."
December
"Showing off is the fool's idea of glory."
Bruce Lee
"Teaching others does not give one license to be a show off."
November
"Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more."
Bob Talbert
"When a teacher grades students' work, one also grades one's own work."
October
"We revolt because of love."
Sun Yat-sen
"Full support of the government's actions is not an act of loving one's country."
September
"Each organism, no matter how simple or complex, has around it a sacred bubble of space, a bit of mobile territoriality which only a few other organisms are allowed to penetrate and then only for short periods of time."
Edward Hall
"Too often underlings are too eager to keep their superiors in a bubble that keep undesirable sights, sounds, and people making the sights and sounds away."
August
"Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt."
Herbert Hoover
"Debtors may lack many things, but faith is not one of them, for they believe there is always someone to borrow from."
July
"π is wrong."
Bob Palais
"The debate on whether π should be replaced by something else amounts to little more than a π fight."
June
"I've done the calculation and your chances of winning the lottery are identical whether you play or not."
Fran Lebowitz
"Everyone on Earth has won the lottery once. It is winning it the second time that is difficult."
May
"It's not your salary that makes you rich, it's your spending habits."
Charles A. Jaffe
"Do people spend money when they are stressed because the amount of stress upon them hinges on the weight of their wallets?"
April
"Even if you build the perfect reactor, you're still saddled with a people problem and an equipment problem."
David R. Brower
"No system or plan is imperfect, that is, until people are put in charge of it."
March
"The government's money is also everybody's money; when the government is rich, it means that the citizens are rich as well."
John Tsang
"What's yours are also mine; what's mine are mine."
Defense of those who never return what they borrow
February
"I need not be present at the moment success is achieved; but I am (was) present in the journey towards success."
Szeto Wah
"If success were a physical object, the fight for it would be the most brutal spectacle imaginable."
January
"Fame and fortune are like floating clouds, while footprints are passed down through generations."
A sign along a trail I frequently visit
"The desire to leave a mark may be one's biggest motivator."
December
"The feast of Saturnalia will be renamed Christmas. So there is no longer the need to engage in giftgiving and binge eating during the festival."
History Bites (I've forgotten in which episode did this appear)
"Christmas would be a lot less stressful if the question 'what do I want for Christmas?' is not being asked."
November
"That is what pepople who serve the Queen have to expect: to be shot out into the cold world to find a living just when they are beginning to really understand their work, and to get to the prime of life."
Allan Quatermain in King Solomon's Mines
"This is what students have to expect: to be shot out into the cold world to find a living just when they are beginning to understand their field of study, and to fully appreciate their freedom."
October
"October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks in. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February."
Mark Twain
"Since April is the cruelest month, is October the most humane month?"
September
"Patients are far more willing to share the intimate details of their private lives when they have confidence that their doctors will not post those details on Facebook."
Jacob Appel
"The best part about social networks is that people visiting natural wonders no longer have the need to etch their names on trees and rocks to mark their visit."
August
"What can be said at all can be said clearly."
Ludwig Wittgenstein
"Misunderstanding of things said by people may be the world's biggest source of conflict."
July
"When we have done our best, we should wait the result in peace."
John Lubbock
"Even a bad result brings relief to a candidate, as the anxiety of waiting is lifted at last."
June
"The rules of soccer are very simple, basically it is this: if it moves, kick it. If it doesn't move, kick it until it does."
Phil Woosnam
"A single football is so powerful that when it moves, a billion eyeballs follow."
May
"Being a graduate student is like becoming all of the Seven Dwarves.
In the beginning you're Dopey and Bashful.
In the middle, you are usually sick (Sneezy), tired (Sleepy), and irritable (Grumpy).
But at the end, they call you Doc, and then you're Happy."
Ronald T. Azuma in So long and thanks for the Ph.D.
"Why do so many people hold Ph.D.'s in high regard while looking down on those who actually study philosophy?"
April
"The day you are born is the last day you are free."
Ad slogan (I've forgotten the brand behind the ad)
"We never feel free, even during free time — we are too busy finding something to do during our free time."
March
"Worry gives a small thing a big shadow."
Swedish Proverb
"You worry too much. No wonder you can't get anything done."
Alcabon in A Soldier's Redemption
February
"The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it."
Edward R. Murrow
"Many look for the correct time to say something. When the time they deem opportune comes, the timimg may no longer be correct."
January
"May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions!"
Joey Adams
"Like sporting records, New Year's resolutions are made to be broken."
December
"Be nice to people on your way up because you'll meet them on your way down."
Jimmy Durante
"It is easy to be nice when things are going well."
November
"Many small people who in many small places do many small things can alter the face of the world."
Writing on the Berlin Wall
"To make a difficult task simpler, consider the task as a inter-connected series of simple tasks."
October
"The soul of the people is all that is precious. China will make true progress only if it make full use of its spirit."
Lu Xun
"China will make true progress only if the country show the same amount of belief towards its people as they show towards it."
September
"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."
Seneca
"The reason students (or athletes) look forward to a new term is that this is the (only) time when everyone is tied for first place."
August
"After all, the popularity of our author need not be taken too seriously. A dozen years hence 'Allan Quatermain' will be as dead, rotten, and forgotten, as this morning's paper."
Gavin Ogilvy, aka J. M. Barrie
"In the long run, no one cares about a single word spoken (or written or typed or texted or tweeted) by each of us."
July
"Being attentive allows one to find the heart of one's loved one, to touch its pulse, and to breathe in step with it. However, being attentive is a easy way to turn one into an uncaring loner, someone who frequently lets people and things close to one slip away."
Someone named Olivia (I read it on an office door)
"A lot of time is lost from being attentive to things that don't deserve any attention."
June
"I understand Hong Kong people's feelings about June 4, but the incident happened many years ago. The country's development in many areas has since achieved tremendous results and brought economic prosperity to Hong Kong. I believe Hong Kong people will make an objective assessment of the nation's development ... My opinion is representative of the general opinion in Hong Kong."
Donald Tsang
"If someone believes, in hindsight, a past decision is indeed the right one, one should be able to defend the decision with no fear."
May
"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
Marcus Aurelius
"To improve yourself and the world around you, you need to admit that you are not that good."
April
"From a security perspective, if you're connected, you're screwed."
Daniel J. Bernstein
"One way to achieve security by numbers is to convert everything into code, 0's and 1's to be exact."
March
"Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe."
Albert Einstein
"Compound interest can work to your advantage, but more often compound interest is the anchor that drags you into the (financial) abyss."
February
"The success of most things depends upon knowing how long it will take to succeed."
Charles de Montesquieu
"The deadline is set based on the amount of time needed to complete a task. However, the deadline is not really 'dead' — it will move at the whim of anyone determined to move it."
January
"Due to budget cuts, the light at the end of the tunnel is being turned off."
Sign outside an eatery in Weymouth, MA
"All that glitter is all that is left of the disintegrated golden parachute."
December
"Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes."
Oscar Wilde
"Why people tend to give the nod to someone who has experience over someone who has none? Because it is less likely that the same mistake is made."
November
"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self."
Cyril Connolly
"What is written publicly often is not the true reflection of the author's mind at the time."
October
"It is only when the tide goes out, that you know who was swimming naked."
Warren Buffet
"It is easy to be give advice when the going is great; it is also easy to give advice when things are tough, when everyone seeks answers."
September
"The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows."
Sydney J. Harris
"Today many educational software are available for Windows through mirror sites."
August
"You never get a second chance to make a first impression."
W. Triesthof
"If you make a great first impression, others' opinions of you tend to go downhill afterwards; if you make a less-than-stellar first impression, others' opinion of you tend to improve (if they don't reject you outright, that is)."
July
"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."
Bill Gates, Business @ The Speed of Thought
"Unhappy customers are invaluable in improving a product, as long as someone remains confident of using the subsequent version."
June
"Be yourself — everybody else is already taken."
Marquee outside a Brisbane school
"Life may be a drama, but it is easier for one to be on stage with one's own face, without a mask."
May
"If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's research."
Wilson Mizner
"If one wishes to perform research that is thorough and complete, it may never be completed."
April
"Not doing more than the average is what keeps the average down."
William M. Winans
"Why is there so much discussion surrounding the average person when such a person probably does not exist?"
March
"High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation."
Jack Kinder
"Lower one's expectation may make a task easier to take, but the satisfaction of success would not be as sweet."
February
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
Abraham Lincoln
"Many desire to have power, but only a few receive it. For those who receive it, not many know how to use it."
January
"Never give advice in a crowd."
Arabic Proverb
"Everyone is giving advice and there is always an audience."
December
"The world is wide; no two days are alike, nor even two hours; neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of the world; and the genuine productions of art, like those of nature, are all distinct from one another."
John Constable
"Many want to follow someone else's footsteps or have someone follow theirs, but it is possible for two different persons to follow a path in exactly the same way?"
November
"When anybody does something right, everybody wants to take the credit; when somebody does something wrong, nobody is willing to take the blame."
"This is the story about four people
Named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There is an important job to be done
And everybody was asked to do it.
Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it,
Anybody could have done it,
But Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that
Because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought Anybody could have done it
But Nobody realized
That Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up
That Everybody blamed Somebody
When Nobody did."
Author Unknown
October
"If I were to be given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself."
Charles M. Schulz
"When one attmepts to learn more about others, poking fun of oneself may get things going."
September
"The easiest way to avoid wrong notes is to never open your mouth and sing. What a mistake that would be."
Pete Seeger
"Singing may be the best way to express one's feelings when one is not able to find any word suitable in describing what is in one's heart or mind."
August
"There are three types of people in the world — those who drive the train; those who watch the train passing by; and those who ask 'what train?'."
John Tupman
"There are three types of people in the world — those who know how to count and those who don't."
Common quote among math students
July
"When you get to a fork in the road, take it."
Yogi Berra
"When you get to a fork in the road, there is always one route that no one considers taking — the road one takes to arrive at the fork."
June
"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before."
Philippians 3:13
"One should keep moving forward, but forgetting the path one has already trekked do so at their own peril."
May
"Public service means serivce to the public, not service the public has to put up with."
John Major
"How often does one hear that people enter politics to serve the public, only to discover that those people decide to make a career out of it later on?"
April
"It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperilled in every single battle."
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
"The first thing you need to understand when you are trying to know yourself is that you don't know much about yourself."
February
"All your life, people will taking your accomplishments away from you. Don't you take them away from yourself."
Sarah Harding in The Lost World
"No one will be able to take your accomplishments away from you if you take them away from yourself beforehand."
December
"Behind every successful two-dollar bill you have to have a successful one-dollar coin."
Peter Morici
"The world will move at a much faster pace if not for all the coins changing hands."
February
"In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes."
Andy Warhol
"They say any publicity in good publicity."
Sideshow Mel in The Simpsons
January
"Voting is power."
"Get out and Vote" slogan in Hong Kong, circa 1991
"Voting cannot reduce number of smokers, price hike is power; voting cannot relieve congestion, price hike is power."
Headliner (circa 1991)