The Rich and Poor Dichotomy

Rich. Poor.

These, I think, are the most common labels we use to identify people. There is nothing wrong with labels and labelling because they provide the world order and clarity; unless of course you are a postmodernist who believes otherwise. But, I will save my arguments for and against postmodernism for now.

During the period of classical antiquity, the period when Plato and Aristotle lived, the view was your status presupposes your existence. This means that when you are born into this world, you already carry with you a certain status. This is manifested in Plato’s writings, specifically, in the Republic and his “three divisions in an ideal society”: the guardians – philosopher kings or those who rule; the auxiliaries – warriors and the producers – artisans, craftsmen and the like. This then implies that you can never transcend your current station in life; if you are born as a producer, you will die as a producer. Your children will be producers; your children’s children will be producers and so on.

Fast forward to the modern period.

I have learned in my modern political thought class that modernity is a contextual rather than a temporal concept. We define modernity as a meta-narrative of progress that can be realized in history and the motor for realizing progress in history is reason understood as science. This basically means that progress is not just a shift from one form to another; progress in modernity means incessant stages of development and these are radical changes because we ourselves, the actors, CHANGE. History is not static; history is the movement from a lower to a higher form of civilization.

This then implies a change in the view of life. There are no fixed stations in life. Men can always do better. This view started during the Renaissance wherein there was a glorification of man and his achievements. Nothing impedes man to transcend himself.

And this just strengthened my belief that it is human nature to want to better off oneself. We evolve, we become better. We become more useful to society. We choose to progress; not regress.

Now, the Philippines.

There is a big gap between the rich and the poor.

We probably heard this a million times before. They say that the rich become richer and richer everyday and the poor become poorer and poorer just the same.

I am from a middle class family and I have a different level of consciousness from the rich and the poor. We all have different patterns of socialization and orientation to different things. Each of us has a different set of values and principles passed on to us and they have a legitimate right to exist because they are a product of the past. This is the reason why society is very dynamic. Diversity makes this possible.

However, this also makes members of society in constant conflict with one another. I believe this emanates from the lack of respect for each other’s existence. Most of the time, this also clouds our judgment of people: BE IT THE RICH OR THE POOR.

IT IS HIGH TIME WE START JUDGING PEOPLE, NOT BASED FROM WHERE THEY COME FROM BUT FROM WHAT THEY BRING ON THE TABLE. IT IS HIGH TIME WE BECOME A BETTER JUDGE OF CHARACTER.

I observe one thing particularly fascinating about Filipinos: we love the underdog.

In Philippine reality shows, our love for the underdog is manifested to its full glory. The “one who needs it more” or the “more kawawa” always bags the top prize. Let me be clear that I am NOT implying that they do not deserve it. They do. However, there had been times that the “better off in life” contestant deserves the prize more but the prize goes to the “one who needs it more” instead.

MERITOCRACY OVER SYMPATHY.

We should be more objective and less subjective. We should appreciate the beauty of a meritocracy. People rise and fall based on how hard they work. If everything was relative and was based on subjectivity ALONE then, what is the essence of actually giving out rewards? We might as well give it on a silver platter to the person who claims that it needs it more than anyone else.

I have been watching Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition Season Two lately. There is really a lot of wrong in that show. But, I watch it anyway. Seriously, come on.

The housemates are my number one problem.

There is this guy from Ateneo, Robi. He is more well-off than the others in the house. He is probably upper middle class. He is also a very intelligent and talented kid. And, for the past few weeks, he has been nominated to be booted out of the show. The drill of course is that the housemates are the ones who are going to nominate who should be out.

Here are some of the reasons why his housemates deem it necessary that he should be out:

1. Kasi, mayaman na siya.
2. May maganda siyang buhay sa labas ng bahay.
3. Masyado siyang seryososa mga tasks.
4. Responsable siya at natutunan niya na yun sa bahay.

Preposterous to the point of being outrageous!

Robi did nothing in the house but prove himself worthy. I am NOT portraying him as someone who is perfect. He also has his flaws. But, using the above as reasons for him to be booted out is just unacceptable.

The same goes for punishment.

NO ONE IS EXEMPTED FROM THE LAWS THAT GOVERN US.

IT IS HIGH TIME WE BECOME BETTER CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY.

Everyone, without question, must submit to the supremacy of the laws. Should we rather be in a STATE OF NATURE where everyone is free to do whatever they want, regardless of the consequences of these actions and our perceptions of right from wrong are based from the vital motions of our bodies? I do not think so.

Pay your taxes; the RIGHT AMOUNT OF TAXES. The rich have all the money at their disposal but they are the ones who do not pay their taxes. It is not like you are going to be poor of all a sudden. Come on!

Do not put the law in your own hands. We have institutions for that.

I do not buy the argument of people who commit crime saying that they did what they did because they had to; they had to because either that or their family is going to die. Again, we should stop using the “I am this kind of person” card. I am a fan of Machiavellian political thought but in this particular context, the END does NOT justify the means.

If there is one thing that holds true for everyone is that THERE IS GOOD AND BAD IN ALL OF US.

There are rich people who shove their richness down our throats. Elitista as they say. It is not wrong to be an ELITE but to be an ELITISTA is an altogether different thing.

There are also rich people who give to charity. But, I only appreciate the ones who do not publicize what they do. Charity with all the publicity is not charity at all. It is all pakitang tao. Let other people give you credit for what you do.

There are poor people who have so little already but still choose to share what they have to the ones poorer than them. That is impractical but it merits credit.

We can always be better people if we want to. The choice is entirely ours. We have to retain the good values and the good principles that we have. We should acknowledge the fact that in order for society to be less “disorderly”, we have to coexist with other people.

The universe does not revolve around on one person alone or one particular class.

We are all CITIZENS of the world. Acknowledge that.

For "THAT" Someone: This One is For You

I am bitter like the two cups of coffee I induced in my desperate attempt to keep myself awake forgetting, that I already have this very high tolerance for caffeine. Regardless, I choose to keep myself awake so that I will be able to keep myself busy. I want to keep myself busy because every idle moment, I get to think of you and that brings great happiness and extreme frustration. Do not get me wrong. I do not want to deprive myself of happiness but it is the feeling of frustration that particularly bothers me.

On the one hand, I feel great happiness because I get to see a glimpse of your face: your smile that is very genuine; those eyes that reflect the mystery surrounding you and your unkept hair which I could only long for my fingers to run over.

On the other hand, there is extreme frustration because well, I may never get to have you. And that is sad. I like you like the way I get obsessive compulsive with what pair of slippers I am going to wear for the day. I like you because you are a puzzle I seek to accomplish. You are riddled with the most complicated construct I have ever seen but I still like you.

Indeed, there is definite pain, not on who forgets, but on being the one who remembers everything: it could be something left unsaid, a reckless confession, a cliche or a rhetoric. We isolate ourselves from the real world because we are afraid of the truth. Some of us run as fast as we could so that we well not have to look at ourselves because we are ashamed. We look for loopholes so that we can rationalize the lies we tell ourselves; appendages to justify the diversion we choose to take. But after everything that had been said and done, we still choose to love. But why? Was it Shakespeare who said that if you love and get hurt, love even more; if you love even more and get hurt even more, love some more; if you love some more and get hurt, love, until it hurts no more? Humans just do not give up. And we are crazy that way.

I choose to tread the path where the destination is masked by an abyss because I know that my journey is worth it; YOU are worth it.

But, why do I feel this way? I feel so hopeless, helpless.

I have tried so hard to get your attention but you treat me like I do not even exist. Why do you have to make me feel so invsible?

I lie awake at night thinking that there will come a time that you will see how far I have come. I lie awake at night preparing for that day, that day when all that matters is YOU and I will never regret any decision I make because you were there.

I WANT YOU TO BE THE PARAGON OF MY RIGHT KIND OF WRONG.


I like you but it seems that at best, I should not.

This is the tragedy of I.Love.You. :

I may never get to say it. And for that, I lie.

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Hanggang dito nalang ba
ang aking pagtingin?

Hanggang kailan ko hihintayin
ang iyong mga mata na ako'y
masilayan?

Hanggang saan ang kaya
kong takbuhin?

Sino pa ba ang kailangan kong
bigkasin?

Ano pa ba ang kailangan kong gawin?

Pagod na akong sumigaw.
Pagod na akong mag-isip.
Pagod na akong makadama.

Hanggang dito nalang ba ang aking pagtingin?
Hanggang dito nalang ba ang aking pagtingin?

The Tragedy of Intimate Friendship

Once I had a friend who was a guy. For our own intents and purposes we will call him Favian (not his real name). We almost did everything together. We regularly hang out after school and talk about stuff. Then one day, he stopped hanging out with me. I did not know the reason why until one of his friends talked to me about it. Apparently, the reason was he did not want to be seen hanging out with me BECAUSE one of his friends thought that Favian and I were together. No offence to Favian but he is not exactly my type. I like hanging out with him and that is just about it; to think that I thought that I finally found my best friend here in UP. This is not the first time that this happened to me.

Society sets its own standards of behaviour and these become norms. We all exist inside the sphere of the social so it is inevitable that we will be scrutinized by its norms. This does not mean that we have to consciously abide by its rules BUT whether we act in accordance to these set rules or NOT, people or some people society will always find a way to judge you. In this particular context, it is like there is this societal imperative that two men cannot share an intimate friendship with one another.

I have intimate friendship with women but people do not seem to be bothered by it. Once, Lauren (not her real name) and I were mistaken as a couple. We just laughed it out. A man and a woman who share an intimate friendship is okay but two men who share the same kind of friendship is unacceptable? Did I get the definition of intimate wrong? What then do we call the friendship that two men who are best friends for 10 or more years have? That is NOT ROMANTIC. I am not really your idea of the alpha male. People who know me know this. In the spectrum of the alpha male and the “not”-alpha male, I lie somewhere in the “middle”.

But that is not the issue here. Or is it?

I am writing this in lieu of the sermon of Father Jboy today during the 11 am mass at the UP Parish of Holy Sacrifice today. In his sermon, he asked who among us were lonely. He said that the way to transcend loneliness was solitude and that it is a facet of human nature to want to be connected. We ask our friends out to watch a movie or for coffee because we do not want to be lonely. We do not want to be alone. He also asked who among us were lonely but can work or lonely and cannot work. Those who were lonely but can work are those who are emotionally mature, meaning, they are not dependent on other people for their happiness. Those who were lonely and cannot work are those who are emotionally dependent. I am wondering if being emotionally dependent translates to emotional immaturity. And, what about the gray area of emotional maturity and emotional dependence? I mean, what about those people who are lonely and can work but still want to be connected? Like me?

I am wary of forming any intimate friendship now especially with guys. I talk about my issues, problems and concerns with other people but it is still different when you talk about it with a best friend. I have super close girl friends and I value their insights deeply. However, an insight from a guy best friend will provide balance to the entire thing. I call this the man’s perspective.

I really miss those long conversations over coffee or those really long walks.

DO I NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO HAVE AN INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP WITH A GUY AND NOT BE ACCUSED WRONGLY ABOUT IT?

This is the tragedy of intimate friendship.

I may never find that guy best friend in UP. For that, I am really sad.

Yet, I will still hope that I will.
After all, hoping is a very mature thing;
believing that some things can work out for the best.

What Keeps Me Sane Part 2

Top 20 Movies! (I am a sucker for tearjerkers).

20. Snow White: A Tale of Terror

- The fairy tale is over. -

Based somewhat more authentically on the Grimm Brothers' story of a young woman who is unliked by her stepmother, the film includes the talking mirror, a poisoned apple, and some ruffian gold (not diamond) miners. It takes place at the time of the Crusades, and depicts the attitudes of the wealthy and the peasant classes toward one another. What I like about this is movie is its dark tone, really, dark tone.

19. The Polar Express

- Journey Beyond Your Imagination -

Santa Claus does not exist. Or does he? For one doubting boy (voice of Daryl Sabara and Tom Hanks), an astonishing event occurs. Late on Christmas Eve night, he lies in bed hoping to hear the sound of reindeer bells from Santa's sleigh. When to his surprise, a steam engine's roar and whistle can be heard outside his window. The conductor (voice of Tom Hanks) invites him on board to take an extraordinary journey to the North Pole with many other pajama-clad children. There, he receives an extraordinary gift only those who still believe in Santa can experience.

18. Legally Blonde 1

- This summer go blonde! -

Elle Woods has it all. She's the president of her sorority, a Hawaiian Tropic girl, Miss June in her campus calendar, and, above all, a natural blonde. She dates the cutest fraternity boy on campus and wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But, there's just one thing stopping Warner from popping the question: Elle is too blonde. Growing up across the street from Aaron Spelling might mean something in LA, but nothing to Warner's East-Coast blue blood family. So, when Warner packs up for Harvard Law and reunites with an old sweetheart from prep school, Elle rallies all her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. But law school is a far cry from the comforts of her poolside and the mall. Elle must wage the battle of her life, for her guy, for herself and for all the blondes who suffer endless indignities everyday.

17. Brokeback Mountain

- Love Is A Force Of Nature -

A raw, powerful story of two young men, a Wyoming ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy, who meet in the summer of 1963 sheepherding in the harsh, high grasslands of contemporary Wyoming and form an unorthodox yet life-long bond--by turns ecstatic, bitter and conflicted. I was hoping to see more of Heath Ledger because he is like a very good actor and all but, well, we all know what happened to him.

16. The Lion King

- Life's greatest adventure is finding your place in the Circle of Life. -

A young lion prince is born in Africa, thus making his uncle Scar the second in line to the throne. Scar plots with the hyenas to kill King Mufasa and Prince Simba, thus making himself King. The King is killed and Simba is led to believe by Scar that it was his fault, and so flees the kingdom in shame. After years of exile he is persuaded to return home to overthrow the usurper and claim the kingdom as his own thus completing the "Circle of Life".

15. Scent of a Woman

- Col. Frank Slade has a very special plan for the weekend. It involves travel, women, good food, fine wine, the tango, chauffeured limousines and a loaded forty-five. And he's bringing Charlie along for the ride. -

Frank is a retired Lt Col in the US army. He's blind and impossible to get along with. Charlie is at school and is looking forward to going to university; to help pay for a trip home for Christmas, he agrees to look after Frank over thanksgiving. Frank's niece says this will be easy money, but she didn't reckon on Frank spending his thanksgiving in New York. I love the speech of Al Pacino near the end of the movie.

14. Silence of the Lambs

- Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Brilliant. Cunning. Psychotic. In his mind lies the clue to a ruthless killer. - Clarice Starling, FBI. Brilliant. Vulnerable. Alone. She must trust him to stop the killer.-

Clarice Starling, a young intelligent FBI trainee, has been sent to the Batlimore state hospital for the Criminally insane to interview an inmate Dr. Hannibal-the cannibal- Lecter. A Brilliant renowned psychiatrist turned infamous Psychopathic Serial killer. She must match wits with Lecter -who has the darkest of all minds- and trust him to give her clues in the search for "Buffalo Bill". a nick name for a loose,unknown, unstoppable pyschopathic serial killer.

13. The Road Home

-
City businessman Luo Yusheng returns to his home village in North China for the funeral of his father, the village teacher. He finds his elderly mother insisting that all the traditional burial customs be observed, despite the fact that times have changed so much, and that it involves many people carrying his father's body back to the village - the road home. As Yusheng debates the complications involved in organising such a big feat, he remembers the magical story of how his father and mother first met and got together. *This movie made me cry buckets.*

12. Madrasta

One of the best Filipino films ever. I am not a fan of Sharon Cuneta but I really love her performance here. Memorable line: "You're right, you're absolutely right. Yan lang naman tingin mo sa akin: tagahanda ng isusuot mo, tagahanda ng kakainin mo, tagasalo ng problema mo. I was never your partner. I'm just your wife . . . kaya hindi mo ko nirerespeto!". Very powerful performances from Christopher de Leon and Claudine Barretto as well. I cried in that scene where Sharon was about to leave and young Camille Prats was crying and saying "Tita Mariel, are you leaving". I told I was a sucker for tearjerkers.

11. Shakespeare in Love

..A Comedy About the Greatest Love Story Almost Never Told...

Romantic comedy set in London in the late 16th century: Young playwright William Shakespeare struggles with his latest work "Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter". A great fan of Shakespeare's plays is young, wealthy Viola who is about to be married to the cold-hearted Lord Wessex, but constantly dreams of becoming an actress. Women were not allowed to act on stage at that time (female roles were played by men, too), but dressed up as a boy, Viola successfully auditions for the part of Romeo. Soon she and William are caught in a forbidden romance that provides rich inspiration for his play.

10. Finding Nemo
- 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by water. That's a lot of space to find one fish. -

A tale which follows the comedic and eventful journeys of two fish, the fretful Marlin and his young son Nemo, who are separated from each other in the Great Barrier Reef when Nemo is unexpectedly taken from his home and thrust into a fish tank in a dentist's office overlooking Sydney Harbor. Buoyed by the companionship of a friendly but forgetful fish named Dory, the overly cautious Marlin embarks on a dangerous trek and finds himself the unlikely hero of an epic journey to rescue his son. Meanwhile, the young Nemo hatches a few daring plans of his own to return home safely.

9. Malena
- An intimate portrait and an epic story of the courage we discover, the innocence we surrender, and the memories we cherish.....forever. -

On the day in 1940 that Italy enters the war, two things happen to the 12-year-old Renato: he gets his first bike, and he gets his first look at Malèna, a beautiful, silent outsider who's moved to this Sicilian town to be with her husband Nico who promptly goes off to war, leaving her to the lustful eyes of the men and the sharp tongues of the women. During the next few years, as Renato grows toward manhood, he watches Malèna suffer and prove her mettle: her loneliness, then grief when Nico is reported dead, the effects of slander on her relationship with her father, her poverty and search for work, and final humiliations. Will Renato learn courage from Malèna and stand up for her?

8. Schindler's List
- Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire. -

"Schindler's List" is the based-on-truth story of Nazi Czech business man Oskar Schindler, who uses Jewish labor to start a factory in occupied Poland. As World War II progresses, and the fate of the Jews becomes more and more clear, Schindler's motivations switch from profit to human sympathy and he is able to save over 1100 Jews from death in the gas chambers.

7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life. -

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a timeless story that takes place in QING China when miracles were credible and spirits and gods were present in man's world. It is not unbelievable that zen warriors float through the air, skim the water and battle in trees and on rooftops. Pain, revenge and duty are the stuff that bind us in this world and are the main plot line of the movie, but in the afterlife love and faith linger on.

6. Little Miss Sunshine
- Where's Olive? -

Olive is a little girl with a dream: winning the Little Miss Sunshine contest. Her family wants her dream to come true, but they are so burdened with their own quirks, neuroses, and problems that they can barely make it through a day without some disaster befalling them. Olive's father Richard is a flop as a motivational speaker, and is barely on speaking terms with her mother. Olive's uncle Frank, a renowned Proust scholar, has attempted suicide following an unsuccessful romance with a male graduate student. Her brother Dwayne, a fanatical follower of Nietzsche, has taken a vow of silence, which allows him to escape somewhat from the family whose very presence torments him. And Olive's grandfather is a ne'er-do-well with a drug habit, but at least he enthusiastically coaches Olive in her contest talent routine. Circumstances conspire to put the entire family on the road together with the goal of getting Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine contest in far off California.

5. The Devil Wears Prada
- Hell On Heels. -

In New York, the simple and naive just-graduated in journalism Andrea Sachs is hired to work as the second assistant of the powerful and sophisticated Miranda Priestly, the ruthless and merciless executive of the Runway fashion magazine. Andrea dreams to become a journalist and faces the opportunity as a temporary professional challenge. The first assistant Emily advises Andrea about the behavior and preferences of their cruel boss, and the stylist Nigel helps Andrea to dress more adequately for the environment. Andrea changes her attitude and behavior, affecting her private life and the relationship with her boyfriend Nate, her family and friends. In the end, Andrea learns that life is made of choices.

4. Not One Less
- In her village, she was the teacher... In the city, she discovered how much she had to learn. -

In a remote mountain village, the teacher must leave for a month, and the mayor can find only a 13-year old girl, Wei Minzhi, to substitute. The teacher leaves one stick of chalk for each day and promises her an extra 10 yuan if there's not one less student when he returns. Within days, poverty forces the class troublemaker, Zhang Huike, to leave for the city to work. Minzhi, possessed of a stubborn streak, determines to bring him back. She enlists the 26 remaining pupils in earning money for her trip. She hitches to Jiangjiakou City and begins her search. The boy, meanwhile, is there, lost and begging for
food. Minzhi's stubbornness may be Huike and the village school's salvation. Again, this film made me cry. Made me realize the extent of human emotion and human reason. Serioulsy.

3. Sana Maulit Muli

Aga Muhlach is the boyfriend of Lea Salonga. Aga is a successful employee in a private corporation. Then, Lea was petitioned by his mother to go to the United States. Lea becomes somebody and Aga decides to follow her in the US and becomes nothing. Will love be enough to keep this two together? Or will this be the greatest challenge of their life? This movie is very powerful. Aga and Lea both give amazing performances. Yay to Filipino talent.

2. A Beautiful Mind
- He Saw The World In A Way No One Could Have Imagined. -

From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash, Jr. experienced it all. A mathematical genius, he made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery. After many years of struggle, he eventually triumphed over his tragedy, and finally - late in life - received the Nobel Prize. At Princeton University, John Nash struggles to make a worthwhile contribution to serve as his legacy to the world of mathematics. He finally makes a revolutionary breakthrough that will eventually earn him the Nobel Prize. After graduate school he turns to teaching, becoming romantically involved with his student Alicia. Meanwhile the government asks his help with breaking Soviet codes, which soon gets him involved in a terrifying conspiracy plot. Nash grows more and more paranoid until a discovery that turns his entire world upside down. Now it is only with Alicia's help that he will be able to recover his mental strength and regain his status as the great mathematician we know him as today.

NUMBER 1: CRASH

- You think you know who you are. You have no idea. -

Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of inter-related characters, a police detective with a drugged out mother and a thieving younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, the white district attorney and his irritated and pampered wife, a racist white veteran cop (caring for a sick father at home) who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, a successful Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with the racist cop, a Persian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter who is afraid of bullets, and more.

What Keeps Me Sane Part 1

In this day and age of pirated DVDs and laptops, I have never been happier. Hahahaha! Here are some of the dialogues and quotes from my favourite TV series.

Let us start with DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. I love this series. I love the character of Marcia Cross as Bree (van de Kamp) Hodge. And, I love the voice over of Mary Alice Young at the end of every episode.

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Mrs. McCluskey (she said this to honor Aida Greenberg, who died).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6OAzkJxVzo - here is the actual thing

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I'm a thousand winds,

that blow.

I'm the diamond glimpse of snow.

I'm the sunlight on the thriving green

I am the gentle autumns rain.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there. I didn't die.

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Lynette: "Hi. (to Bree) My babysitter cancelled."
Bree: "I've got millions of errands to run so...."
Lynette: "Please hear me out. This is important. Today I have a chance to join the human race for a few hours. They're actual adults waiting for me with margaritas. Look, I'm in a dress. I have make-up on."
Bree: "If it were any other day."
Lynette: "Oh, for Gods sake, Bree, I'm wearing pantyhose."

----

Bree: "Rex, if you walk out of this restaurant, I will scream.
Rex: "Bree..."
Bree: "I will scream about your cruelty. Then I will scream about your infidelity. And just to make sure it really hurts, I will scream about your distasteful sexual habits. You want to know what true humiliation is, you just take one step."

----

Bree: "Good friends offer to help in a crisis; great friends don't take no for an answer."

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Bree (whispering): "As of this moment, Rex, I am no longer your wife. I am going to go out, and find the most vindictive lawyer I can find, and together, we are going to eviscerate you. I'm going to take away your money, your family, and your dignity. Do you hear me?"
Rex: "Bree..."
Bree: "And I am so thrilled to know that you still love me. Because I want what's about to happen to you...to hurt as much as humanly possible. I'm so glad you didn't die before I got a chance to tell you that."

----

Bree: "This is the most impoverished neighborhood in the city. Trust me, someone will steal the car."
Rex: "How can you be so sure?"
Bree: "Because I have faith in the poor."

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Bree: "Is that how you see me? As some sort of prude who just lays there like a cold fish? I love sex."
Dr. Goldfine: "All right."
Bree: "I love everything about it. The sensations, the smells. I especially love the feel of a man. All that muscle and sinew pressed against my body. And then, when you add friction. Mmm ... The tactile sensation of running my tongue over a man’s nipple ever so gently. And then there’s the act itself - two bodies becoming one in that final eruption of pleasure. To be honest, the only thing I don’t like about sex is the scrotum. I mean, obviously it has its practical applications, but I’m just not a fan."

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Martha: "I was just thinking of that expression, ‘I’ll make mincemeat out of you.’ Mincemeat used to be made up of little bits of meat chopped up, so the expression was like saying, ‘I’ll chop you up into little pieces!’"

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Susan: Okay, yes I am closer to your father than I have been in the past, the bitter hatred has now settled to a respectful disgust.

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John Rowland: This is great. Got tons of homework tonight. It's always easier to concentrate after sex.
Gabrielle: Well, I'm glad I could help. Education's very important.

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Carl: "The heart wants what it wants."
Susan: "Well, my heart wants to hurt you, but I can control myself!"

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Bree: The opposite of love isn't hate. It's indifference. And if you hate me, that means you still care and we're still connected and I still have a chance to set you right.

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Dr. Goldfine: I'm sure Freud would not approve of this.
Bree: Oh, who cares what he thinks. I took psychology in college. We learned all about Freud. A miserable human being.
Dr. Goldfine: What makes you say that?
Bree: Well, think about it. He grew up in the late 1800s. There were no appliances back then. His mother had to do everything by hand, just backbreaking work from sunup to sundown, not to mention the countless other sacrifices she probably had to make to take care of her family. And what does he do? He grows up and becomes famous, peddling a theory that the problems of most adults can be traced back to something awful their mother has done. She must have felt so betrayed. He saw how hard she worked. He saw what she did for him. Did he even ever think to say thank you? I doubt it.

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Zach: "You didn't put in an obituary?"
Paul: "I've been busy."
Zach: "Maybe when you die, I won't put in an obituary."

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And now the Mary Alice Young Quotes

Mary Alice (voiceover): "Competition, it means different things to different people. But whether it’s a friendly rivalry...or a fight to the death...the end result is the same. There will be winners...and there will be losers. Of course, the trick is to know which battles to fight. You see, no victory comes without a price."

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Mary Alice: Trust is a fragile thing. Once earned, it affords us tremendous freedom. But once trust is lost, it can be impossible to recover. Of course the truth is, we never know who we can trust. Those we're closest to can betray us, and total strangers can come to our rescue. In the end, most people decide to trust only themselves. It really is the simplest way to keep from getting burned.

----

Mary Alice: An odd thing happens when we die, our senses vanish. Taste, touch, smell and sound become a distant memory, but our sight? Ah, our sight expands and we can suddenly see the world we left behind so clearly. Of course most of what's visible to the dead could also be seen by the living, if they would only take the time to look.

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Mary Alice: It's not enough to want to the truth. You must know where to look for it. And the truth is elusive, because it knows where to hide.

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Mary Alice: The search for power begins when we're quite young. As children, we're taught that the power of good triumphs over the power of evil. But as we get older, we realize that nothing is ever that simple. Traces of evil always remain.

----

And my favorite:

Mary Alice: Yes, each new day in suburbia brings with it a new set of lies. The worst are the ones we tell ourselves right before we fall asleep. We whisper them in the dark, telling ourselves we're happy, or that he's happy. That we can change, or that he will change his mind. We persuade ourselves that we can live with our sins, or that we can live without him. Yes, each night before we fall asleep we lie to ourselves in a desperate, desperate hope that come morning -- it will all be true.

----

Next is from House MD. I really love the witty banter.

Dr. Wilson: Beauty often seduces us on the road to truth.

Dr. Gregory House: And triteness kicks us in the nads.

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Dr. Wilson: That smugness of yours really is an attractive quality.

Dr. Gregory House: Thank you. It was either that or get my hair highlighted. Smugness is easier to maintain.

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Dr. Gregory House: Ah, the Socratic Method. The best way we have of teaching everything-apart from juggling chainsaws.

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Dr. Eric Foreman: No neurologist in his right mind would recommend that.

Dr. Gregory House: Show of hands: who thinks I'm not in my right mind? And who thinks I forget this very basic neurological fact? Who thinks there's a third option?

[Dr. Chase raises his hand]

Dr. Gregory House: Very good. What's the third choice?

Dr. Robert Chase: No idea. You just asked if I thought there was one.

----

Dr. Cameron: I'm uncomfortable about sex.

Dr. Robert Chase: Well, we don't have to talk about this...

Dr. Cameron: Sex COULD kill you. Do you know what the human body goes through when you have sex? Pupils dilate, arteries constrict, core temperature rises, heart races, blood pressure skyrockets, respiration becomes rapid and shallow, the brain fires bursts of electrical impulses from nowhere to nowhere, and secretions spit out of every gland, and the muscles tense and spasm like you're lifting three times your body weight. It's violent. It's ugly. And it's messy. And if God hadn't made it UNBELIEVABLY fun, the human race would have died out eons ago.

----

Dr. Cameron: I'm the only one who's always stood behind you when you've screwed up.

Dr. Gregory House: Why? Why would you support someone who screws up?

Dr. Cameron: Because I'm not insanely insecure, and because I can actually trust in another human being, and I am not an angry, misanthropic son of a bitch.

Dr. Gregory House: I'm sorry. You said you *weren't* angry.

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House: Everybody lies.

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House: I don't ask why patients lie; I just assume they all do.

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House: It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.

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House: ...like the philosopher Jagger once said, 'You can't always get what you want.'"

· "Humanity is overrated."

· "Reality is almost always wrong."

· "We all make mistakes, and we all pay a price."

· "People like talking about people. Makes us feel superior. Makes us feel in control. And sometimes, for some people, knowing some things makes them care."

· "Men are pigs. [They will] pretty much have sex
with anyone, fat, skinny, married, single, complete strangers, relatives.

· "I choose to believe that the white light people sometimes see... they're all just chemical reactions that take place when the brain shuts down.... There's no conclusive science. My choice has no practical relevance to my life, I choose the outcome I find more comforting.... I find it more comforting to believe that this isn't simply a test."

· "It's been established that time is not a rigid construct."

· "It's one of the great tragedies of life — something always changes.”

· "I was never that great a math, but next to nothing is higher than nothing, right?"

Then, there is Criminal Minds. This series is just wow.

Almost every episode of Criminal Minds begins and ends with a quote. This is a comprehensive list of the quotes, the episodes they were in, and which character said them.

The quotes used on the show might not be the "entire" actual quote written and may be edited for the shows purposes.

Joseph Conrad: The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.

Winston Churchill: The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you will see.

Albert Einstein: imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

William Faulkner: Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.

Samuel Johnson: Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.

Euripides: When love is in excess, it brings a man no honor, nor worthiness.

Friedrich Nietzsche: The irrationality of a thing is not an argument of its existence, rather, a condition of it.

Sir Peter Ustinov: Unfortunately, a super-abundance of dreams is paid for by a growing potential for nightmares.

Albert Pine: What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world, remains and is immortal.

Diane Arbus: A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.

Francois de la Rochefoucauld: The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body. After all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind.

Rose Kennedy: It has been said that time heals all wounds. I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue, and the pain lessens, but it is never gone.

Milan Kundera: The basis of shame is not some personal mistake of ours, but that this humiliation is seen by everyone.

Erich Fromm: The ultimate choice for a man, in as much as he is given to transcend himself, is to create or destroy, to love or to hate.

Cory Doctorow: All secrets are deep. All secrets become dark. That's in the nature of secrets.

Socrates: From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.

Herman Melville: Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity, nothing exceeds the criticisms made of the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.

Oscar Wilde: I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects.

Eleanor Roosevelt: You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.

Lucy Maud Montgomery: For we pay a price for everything we get or take in this world; and although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won.

And the dialogues:

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JJ: [about the incredible Sir Kneighf] Please don’t tell me you have a crush on a fictional character.

Garcia: He’s not fictional. He’s the online alter-ego of a real person.

JJ: Hmmm, you don’t even know anything about him, even if it is…him.

Garcia: Look, we meet online at specified times that he is never late to. We spend hours adventuring and chatting during which time I have his undivided attention and he lavishes me with flattery. When was the last time you had a date go that well?

JJ: See if he’s got a fictional brother.

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Garcia: What was the thing that Jack the Ripper took from one of his victims, besides, well, you know, her life?

Emily: Oh, uh...

Garcia: Mmm. Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Emily: I don't know.

Garcia: A kidney. How horrifingly fantastic is that?

Emily: Mmhmm, and are you going anywhere with this?

Garcia: Just that I found an unsolved murder that happened four months ago in Galveston, Texas, with the same MO - the victim missing that very organ. I amaze myself.

Emily: Yeah, me too. Great work.

----

And, of course, the forever Grey’s Anatomy. Go Meredith!!

Dr. Meredith Grey: Did you let me scrub in for this operation because I slept with you?

Dr. Derek Shepherd: Yes.

Dr. Derek Shepherd: Just kidding.

----

Katie Bryce: My head is full.
Dr. Meredith Grey: It's called thinking. Go with it.

----

Dr. Meredith Grey: At some point, you have to make a decision. Boundaries don't keep other people out. They fence you in. Life is messy. That's how we're made. So, you can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them. But there are some lines... that are way too dangerous to cross.

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Dr. Meredith Grey: You know how when you were a little kid and you believed in fairy tales, that fantasy of what your life would be, white dress, prince charming who would carry you away to a castle on a hill. You would lie in bed at night and close your eyes and you had complete and utter faith. Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Prince Charming, they were so close you could taste them, but eventually you grow up, one day you open your eyes and the fairy tale disappears. Most people turn to the things and people they can trust. But the thing is its hard to let go of that fairy tale entirely cause almost everyone has that smallest bit of hope, of faith, that one day they will open their eyes and it will come true.

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Dr. Meredith Grey: At the end of the day faith is a funny thing. It turns up when you don't really expect it. It's like one day you realize that the fairy tale may be slightly different than you dreamed. The castle, well, it may not be a castle. And it's not so important happy ever after, just that its happy right now. See once in a while, once in a blue moon, people will surprise you , and once in a while people may even take your breath away.

----

Dr. Meredith Grey: A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that till tomorrow, he said, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can't pretend we hadn't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying.

----

Dr. Meredith Grey: I've heard that it's possible to grow up - I've just never met anyone who's actually done it. Without parents to defy, we break the rules we make for ourselves. We throw tantrums when things don't go our way, we whisper secrets with our best friends in the dark, we look for comfort where we can find it, and we hope - against all logic, against all experience. Like children, we never give up hope...

----

Dr. Meredith Grey: I've heard that it's possible to grow up - I've just never met anyone who's actually done it. Without parents to defy, we break the rules we make for ourselves. We throw tantrums when things don't go our way, we whisper secrets with our best friends in the dark, we look for comfort where we can find it, and we hope - against all logic, against all experience. Like children, we never give up hope...

----

Dr. Meredith Grey: Maybe we're not supposed to be happy. Maybe gratitude has nothing to do with joy. Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes simply to be human. Maybe we're thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe we're thankful for the things we'll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.

----

Dr. Meredith Grey: No-one likes to lose control, but as a surgeon there's nothing worse. It's a sign of weakness, of not being up to the task. And still there are times when it just gets away from you. When the world stops spinning and you realize that your shiny little scalpel isn't gonna save you. No matter how hard you fight it, you fall. And it's scary as hell. Except there's an upside to freefalling. It's the chance you give your friends to catch you.

----

Dr. Meredith Grey: The key to surviving a surgical internship is denial. We deny that we're tired, we deny that we're scared, we deny how badly we want to succeed. And most importantly, we deny that we're in denial. We only see what we want to see and believe what we want to believe, and it works. We lie to ourselves so much that after a while the lies start to seem like the truth. We deny so much that we can't recognize the truth right in front of our faces.

----

Dr. Meredith Grey: At the end of the day, there are some things you just can't help but talk about. Some things we just don't want to hear, and some things we say because we can't be silent any longer. Some things are more than what you say, they're what you do. Some things you say cause there's no other choice. Some things you keep to yourself. And not too often, but every now and then, some things simply speak for themselves.

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Dr. Meredith Grey: At the end of the day, when it comes down to it, all we really want is to be close to somebody. So this thing, where we all keep our distance and pretend not to care about each other, is usually a load of bull. So we pick and choose who we want to remain close to, and once we've chosen those people, we tend to stick close by. No matter how much we hurt them, the people that are still with you at the end of the day - those are the ones worth keeping. And sure, sometimes close can be too close. But sometimes, that invasion of personal space, it can be exactly what you need.

----

Meredith Grey: Maybe we like the pain. Maybe we're wired that way. Because without it, I don't know; maybe we just wouldn't feel real. What's that saying? Why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer? Because it feels so good when I stop.

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Meredith Grey: Intimacy is a four syllable word for, "Here's my heart and soul, please grind them into hamburger, and enjoy." It's both desired, and feared. Difficult to live with, and impossible to live without. Intimacy also comes attached to the three R's... relatives, romance, and roommates. There are some things you can't escape. And other things you just don't want to know.

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Meredith Grey: I wish there were a rulebook for intimacy. Some kind of guide to tell you when you've crossed the line. It would be nice if you could see it coming, and I don't know how you fit it on a map. You take it where you can get it, and keep it as long as you can. And as for rules, maybe there are none. Maybe the rules of intimacy are something you have to define for yourself.

-----

Meredith Grey: Okay, here it is, your choice... it's simple, her or me, and I'm sure she is really great. But Derek, I love you, in a really, really big pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window, unfortunate way that makes me hate you, love you. So pick me, choose me, love me.