Life Line

If you had to name one line from a book, movie, or song, a single line which has changed your life--perhaps forever!--what would it be?

There's a line in Leon Uris's novel Trinity which I return to daily. It's become a stalwart standard of absolute truth in my rapidly changing world.

In the scene, an old, poverty-stricken Irish mother has just set the table with a humble meal of home-grown very red meat, vegetables, and black bread. She turns to her adult sons and their mistrusting friend from the city--who fancies himself used to finer fare--and says with pride, "Don't be afraid of the butter."

How could that line not change my life? In those few words, I came to know that it's the trans-fats that are to be feared, not the God-given butter.

How about you? Give me one good line.

Posted by Katy on 08/16/04 at 11:32 AM

Fallible Comments...

One of my favorite lines is from my favorite movie, Harvey. Elwood (Jimmy Stewart) is talking to the psychologist and he says, "My mother always told me that in this life you must be oh so smart or oh so kind. For thirty years I tried smart. I recommend kind."
-----
Posted by will on 08/16/04 at 11:39 PM
While not nearly so profound, I have line from War Games that I toss out whenever I'm considering some particularly tough problem (computer programmer, so I get to use it a lot :/) ). They're trying to avert an impending computer malfunction that will start a nuclear war and one of the generals, played perfectly by Barry Corbin, utters, "Hell, I'd piss on a spark plug if I thought it would do any good."
Posted by Bob on 08/17/04 at 04:57 AM
In the movie American Beauty. A young adult tells a man going through a mid life crisis
"never underestimate the power of denial"
And it's true, it powers the Aswan Dam
Posted by Tommy on 08/17/04 at 11:51 AM
From Return of the King- Samwise Gamgee, upon waking to the sight of Gandalf in Rivendell, "How do I feel? Well, I don't know how to say it. I feel, I feel...I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!" This kind of pure joy after great difficulty is an unforgettable memory.
Posted by Anne on 08/17/04 at 03:55 PM
My daughter sent me an e-mail with several possible answers to 'why did the chicken cross the road?'. Most of them were quotes from movies. For weeks I wasted valuable time thinking of things to add to the list, like 'One word. Plastics.' or 'Forget about the chicken, Jake. It's Chinatown' or 'Frankly, my dear...." Well, you get the idea. When you see somebody in the next car at a light with a silly grin on his face, that's what he's doing.
There are many quotes from movies that have stuck indelibly in my mind. I don't know that any of them were life changing, though.
My favorite quote is from James Thurber:
You might as well fall on your face as to lean over too far backwards.
Posted by Angus Lewis on 08/18/04 at 02:21 AM
Hey, where are all the chick commenters? Anne, yours is great and reminds me: Do you know that the guy who plays Sam is the real-life son of Patty Duke? Read an article about him recently where he talks about growing up with his mentally unstable mom, and the great gifts he received from her. Seems like a very cool young man.
Posted by Katy on 08/18/04 at 05:16 PM
Sean Astin is Patty Duke's son? The cute little kid (of course, he's not little anymore and almost 10 years older than I am) from The Goonies and the one who stole our hearts as Rudy? I had no idea!

Okay, so after reading your comment I just went to the IMDB and looked him up. His dad is John Astin, famous for playing Gomez on The Addams Family. Crazy.

And Samwise Gamgee was my absolute favorite. What a sweet and faithful friend. Sigh.
Posted by Amber on 08/18/04 at 05:56 PM
One of my favorites has always been from Tootsie, and it deals with relationships. The Dustin Hoffman character says, "We were good FRIENDS..." when he refers to how he first fell in love with the Jessica Lange character. I saw that with my favorite high school boyfriend, and it always stuck with me. :)
Posted by Bridget on 08/19/04 at 02:59 AM
I think I skimmed that article you read, Katy. I vaguely remember thinking how inexplicable grace is; one person is overcome by the circumstances they're born into and another is able to grow despite all. Sometimes there's just no other explanation for it.

I love quotes - here's my very favorite, but it's not in a book, movie or song. It's from a letter that Louise Bogan wrote to William Carlos Williams commenting on one of his poems.
"I cannot believe the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering. Surely, the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy." And I can only say "Amen!"
Posted by Anne on 08/19/04 at 06:49 AM
One phrase which has had a profound affect on my understanding of the way God loves me is pretty simple. It came from a song from a team from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. "Even in my weakness, you have found me lovely." God in his great mercy and love, loves me even in the middle of my weaknesses. It blows me away every time I hear it.
Posted by joshua on 08/19/04 at 06:40 PM
I have whole journals devoted to my collection of quotes. This one is not from a movie, but is one of my guiding lights: "Don't let what you are being get in the way of what you might become." Harry Palmer

But a classic movie line? That I never forgot? And have seen repeated for however many years in a row now? Dorothy to the Scarecrow: "What would you do with a brain if you had one?" Now THERE'S a loaded question. :-)
Posted by Jennifer on 08/21/04 at 09:46 PM
In the book _The Chosen_, Chaim Potok describes the scene between a Jewish father and his son. The father is encouraging his son to befriend a boy who was formerly his enemy. He says to him: "Reuven,listen to me. The Talmud says a person should do two things for himself. One is acquire a teacher. The other is acquire a friend." When the son blithely responds that he likes him, his father continues, "No. Listen to me. I am not talking about liking him. I am telling you to make him your friend and to let him make you his friend." That is rich.
Posted by Tim Keel on 08/24/04 at 03:10 AM
I'll get this partly wrong since I don't have the book with me, but in The Plague, Albert Camus writes, "There is no love which can't be bettered; nevertheless we reconcile ourselves more or less easily to the fact that ours has never risen above average."
Posted by Mary on 08/26/04 at 08:55 PM
Wow. These are so profound that I don't want to stop the flow by commenting just yet...
Don't stop now!
Posted by Katy on 08/26/04 at 11:56 PM
I believe this was an extemporaneous comment from a speaker at church a few years ago, "When angels show up, they're not out of breath". Good to know.
Posted by Anne on 08/27/04 at 06:38 AM
"You sure do know how to rehydrate a pizza."
Posted by Kevin on 08/31/04 at 07:08 PM
Hi there, I am from india and my favorite line is from the song of a movie title KAL HO NA HO (May not be tommorrow. It's in hindi and am translating it in rnglish. It is sonmething like this.

Life is changing it's beauty every time,
Sometimes it's shadow, sometimes it's sunshine,
Live every moment here to your heart's content,
The time that is here may not be tomorrow

Every time i hear this song, it just blows me away. I feel so motivated and inspired every time i listen to this song. It makes me comprehend the fact that i should live life by moment rahter than dwelling in past mistakes or thinkin' about future. Awe-inspiring song that strike a chord deep within you.
Posted by Manish on 09/06/10 at 12:35 AM
GOOD share…i m successful the midst of rebranding my situation..this makes lots of fresh genius juice…cheers and thanks
<a href="http://car-mats-uk.com/">car mats</a>
Posted by jony on 09/08/10 at 01:22 PM
This post contain an awesome lesson for us. I'm now excited to read Leon Uris's novel Trinity. You described very brilliantly. Thanks mate. :)
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Posted by ROBERT on 05/23/12 at 11:00 AM
I love the blog due to its exceptional feature. This dealing point with life line issue is really supportive that it could happen a significant change a life through read a book or sing.
Posted by Used cars on 05/27/12 at 06:29 AM
In recent days, I am trying to understand it, and searched a lot from the internet.but I still can not find a reasonable one. This article gives a good description about it,and help me understand the issue which confused me a lot.Thanks for your sharing! <a href="http://www.inetcheck.com/">WebsiteChecker</a>
Posted by WebsiteChecker on 05/27/12 at 08:10 AM
Really good job! I think that this is an awesome lesson and it can change a man's life style forever. Thanks for this interesting blog.

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Posted by best pizza on 06/25/12 at 01:46 AM

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Personal blog of christian writer & fallible mom Katy McKenna Raymond in Kansas City, Missouri Katy is represented by Greg Johnson at WordServe Literary Read more Katy at LateBoomer.net Follow Katy on Twitter Follow Katy on Facebook 123 Recent Posts Try Becoming Brenda Starr Off Beat Scattered That’s It So I’ve Finally Signed With An Agent. Now What? The Spoon Sciatica Sweetheart A Woman’s Train of Thought Has No Caboose However much we own, we are all still living on borrowed time After all, when restaurants shrink portions, they don’t shrink prices. As with everything in life, balance is key. Slow down, you move too fast… Yeah, I know. I have issues. Search Advanced Search Syndicate Login E me at katy @ ngenius.com	Life Line If you had to name one line from a book, movie, or song, a single line which has changed your life--perhaps forever!--what would it be? There's a line in Leon Uris's novel Trinity which I return to daily. It's become a stalwart standard of absolute truth in my rapidly changing world. In the scene, an old, poverty-stricken Irish mother has just set the table with a humble meal of home-grown very red meat, vegetables, and black bread. She turns to her adult sons and their mistrusting friend from the city--who fancies himself used to finer fare--and says with pride, "Don't be afraid of the butter." How could that line not change my life? In those few words, I came to know that it's the trans-fats that are to be feared, not the God-given butter. How about you? Give me one good line. Posted by Katy on 08/16/04 at 11:32 AM Fallible Comments... One of my favorite lines is from my favorite movie, Harvey. Elwood (Jimmy Stewart) is talking to the psychologist and he says, "My mother always told me that in this life you must be oh so smart or oh so kind. For thirty years I tried smart. I recommend kind." ----- Posted by will on 08/16/04 at 11:39 PM While not nearly so profound, I have line from War Games that I toss out whenever I'm considering some particularly tough problem (computer programmer, so I get to use it a lot :/) ). They're trying to avert an impending computer malfunction that will start a nuclear war and one of the generals, played perfectly by Barry Corbin, utters, "Hell, I'd piss on a spark plug if I thought it would do any good." Posted by Bob on 08/17/04 at 04:57 AM In the movie American Beauty. A young adult tells a man going through a mid life crisis "never underestimate the power of denial" And it's true, it powers the Aswan Dam Posted by Tommy on 08/17/04 at 11:51 AM From Return of the King- Samwise Gamgee, upon waking to the sight of Gandalf in Rivendell, "How do I feel? Well, I don't know how to say it. I feel, I feel...I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!" This kind of pure joy after great difficulty is an unforgettable memory. Posted by Anne on 08/17/04 at 03:55 PM My daughter sent me an e-mail with several possible answers to 'why did the chicken cross the road?'. Most of them were quotes from movies. For weeks I wasted valuable time thinking of things to add to the list, like 'One word. Plastics.' or 'Forget about the chicken, Jake. It's Chinatown' or 'Frankly, my dear...." Well, you get the idea. When you see somebody in the next car at a light with a silly grin on his face, that's what he's doing. There are many quotes from movies that have stuck indelibly in my mind. I don't know that any of them were life changing, though. My favorite quote is from James Thurber: You might as well fall on your face as to lean over too far backwards. Posted by Angus Lewis on 08/18/04 at 02:21 AM Hey, where are all the chick commenters? Anne, yours is great and reminds me: Do you know that the guy who plays Sam is the real-life son of Patty Duke? Read an article about him recently where he talks about growing up with his mentally unstable mom, and the great gifts he received from her. Seems like a very cool young man. Posted by Katy on 08/18/04 at 05:16 PM Sean Astin is Patty Duke's son? The cute little kid (of course, he's not little anymore and almost 10 years older than I am) from The Goonies and the one who stole our hearts as Rudy? I had no idea! Okay, so after reading your comment I just went to the IMDB and looked him up. His dad is John Astin, famous for playing Gomez on The Addams Family. Crazy. And Samwise Gamgee was my absolute favorite. What a sweet and faithful friend. Sigh. Posted by Amber on 08/18/04 at 05:56 PM One of my favorites has always been from Tootsie, and it deals with relationships. The Dustin Hoffman character says, "We were good FRIENDS..." when he refers to how he first fell in love with the Jessica Lange character. I saw that with my favorite high school boyfriend, and it always stuck with me. :) Posted by Bridget on 08/19/04 at 02:59 AM I think I skimmed that article you read, Katy. I vaguely remember thinking how inexplicable grace is; one person is overcome by the circumstances they're born into and another is able to grow despite all. Sometimes there's just no other explanation for it. I love quotes - here's my very favorite, but it's not in a book, movie or song. It's from a letter that Louise Bogan wrote to William Carlos Williams commenting on one of his poems. "I cannot believe the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering. Surely, the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy." And I can only say "Amen!" Posted by Anne on 08/19/04 at 06:49 AM One phrase which has had a profound affect on my understanding of the way God loves me is pretty simple. It came from a song from a team from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. "Even in my weakness, you have found me lovely." God in his great mercy and love, loves me even in the middle of my weaknesses. It blows me away every time I hear it. Posted by joshua on 08/19/04 at 06:40 PM I have whole journals devoted to my collection of quotes. This one is not from a movie, but is one of my guiding lights: "Don't let what you are being get in the way of what you might become." Harry Palmer But a classic movie line? That I never forgot? And have seen repeated for however many years in a row now? Dorothy to the Scarecrow: "What would you do with a brain if you had one?" Now THERE'S a loaded question. :-) Posted by Jennifer on 08/21/04 at 09:46 PM In the book _The Chosen_, Chaim Potok describes the scene between a Jewish father and his son. The father is encouraging his son to befriend a boy who was formerly his enemy. He says to him: "Reuven,listen to me. The Talmud says a person should do two things for himself. One is acquire a teacher. The other is acquire a friend." When the son blithely responds that he likes him, his father continues, "No. Listen to me. I am not talking about liking him. I am telling you to make him your friend and to let him make you his friend." That is rich. Posted by Tim Keel on 08/24/04 at 03:10 AM I'll get this partly wrong since I don't have the book with me, but in The Plague, Albert Camus writes, "There is no love which can't be bettered; nevertheless we reconcile ourselves more or less easily to the fact that ours has never risen above average." Posted by Mary on 08/26/04 at 08:55 PM Wow. These are so profound that I don't want to stop the flow by commenting just yet... Don't stop now! Posted by Katy on 08/26/04 at 11:56 PM I believe this was an extemporaneous comment from a speaker at church a few years ago, "When angels show up, they're not out of breath". Good to know. Posted by Anne on 08/27/04 at 06:38 AM "You sure do know how to rehydrate a pizza." Posted by Kevin on 08/31/04 at 07:08 PM Hi there, I am from india and my favorite line is from the song of a movie title KAL HO NA HO (May not be tommorrow. It's in hindi and am translating it in rnglish. It is sonmething like this. Life is changing it's beauty every time, Sometimes it's shadow, sometimes it's sunshine, Live every moment here to your heart's content, The time that is here may not be tomorrow Every time i hear this song, it just blows me away. I feel so motivated and inspired every time i listen to this song. It makes me comprehend the fact that i should live life by moment rahter than dwelling in past mistakes or thinkin' about future. Awe-inspiring song that strike a chord deep within you. Posted by Manish on 09/06/10 at 12:35 AM GOOD share…i m successful the midst of rebranding my situation..this makes lots of fresh genius juice…cheers and thanks <a href="http://car-mats-uk.com/">car mats</a> Posted by jony on 09/08/10 at 01:22 PM This post contain an awesome lesson for us. I'm now excited to read Leon Uris's novel Trinity. You described very brilliantly. Thanks mate. :) <a href="http://aokc.net/">knee clinic</a> Posted by ROBERT on 05/23/12 at 11:00 AM I love the blog due to its exceptional feature. This dealing point with life line issue is really supportive that it could happen a significant change a life through read a book or sing. Posted by Used cars on 05/27/12 at 06:29 AM In recent days, I am trying to understand it, and searched a lot from the internet.but I still can not find a reasonable one. This article gives a good description about it,and help me understand the issue which confused me a lot.Thanks for your sharing! <a href="http://www.inetcheck.com/">WebsiteChecker</a> Posted by WebsiteChecker on 05/27/12 at 08:10 AM Really good job! I think that this is an awesome lesson and it can change a man's life style forever. Thanks for this interesting blog. <a href="http://www.barryspizza.com/">best pizza</a> Posted by best pizza on 06/25/12 at 01:46 AM Page 1 of 1 pages Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. Next entry: Tell It to Oprah Previous entry: The Benefits of Heritage << Back to main


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Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri