As a writer, I am always thinking about words, and how they go together. And as a writer who uses Kindle, I am always fascinated to see when my fellow readers highlight a passage that I also think is great. I am not talking about the catch phrases or one-liners that we are all familiar such as: Hasta la vista, baby!, Use the force, We’re gonna need a bigger boat. Those are great and memorable. I am thinking about more of the “brick” type sentences squirreled away in the text, song, script, speech, etc.
Is it their delivery by the actor? Could be, but I still think they stand strong, no matter who says or reads them (as exhibited by Kindle’s highlighter function). A great sentence tends to have some poetry, or deep theme, that makes you think about them long after you are done with the original material. Great sentences can be written out on index cards; feel their strength when read you read them aloud. Go on, I dare yay. Here are a few of my current favorites.
- “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
Roy Batty – Blade Runner:
This is probably the first sentence that made me stop and think about my mortality. When each of us pass we take unique memories that only we have. I still think about this and yes, it can keep you up at night.
2) Hey, now, you’re an all-star, get your game on, go play
Hey, now, you’re a rock star, get the show on, get paid
And all that glitters is gold
Only shooting stars break the mold
All-Star Smash Mouth
3) “This is blood for blood, and by the gallons. These are the old days man, the bad days, the all-or-nothing days. They’re back! There’s no choices left. And I’m ready for war.”
Marv – Sin City – Frank Miller
Man, Frank has a lot of great lines. This is the kind of thing you say late at night with your collar up and a cold winter sky overhead.
4) “We had a nice marriage,” she added. “It’s going to be a Bill and Melinda Gates divorce.”
Judge Judy
Zing! This tells the whole tale from beginning to end. Concise. William Strunk would be proud!
5) “Career suicide is not so bad when you consider the alternative is suicide by career.”
Ms. Sloan
Wow, way to sum up a character’s arc. I had to re-watch this five times and I am still thinking about this statement.
6) “It was the luster of metal, that made people lust after it. In a world of mud, trees, and rocks you have polished metal; and that was different.”
Ric Furrer – Master Swordsmith +ULFBERH+T
The first +ULFERH+T sword made in a thousand years being wax poetically, by Master Swordsmith, Ric Furrer.
Thanks for reading. Let me know in the comment section, if you have any favorites.
Warren Nast - Writer 