Some phrases stick with you even apart from their context.
"Steel true, blade straight." A favorite quotation of Arthur Conan Doyle (Not his own words).
"Alea iacta est." The die is cast. Attributed to Julius Caesar as he crossed the Rubicon. Or something. I don’t really know my Roman history. My teacher, who will remain unnamed, chose to skip over that era in my world history class.
"Life is a warfare and a stranger’s sojourn." Marcus Aurelius, in his Meditations. The quote goes on. I encountered the passage first in "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" by Carl Sagan and wrote it down somewhere. He elaborates on his philosophy of duty and pursuit of understanding even in the midst of hardship.
In an interview with the members of the band Beach House, which I love, the singer said there are some phrases that stick with her for days or weeks, cycling in her mind until she finally puts them down in a song. I love their album "Teen Dream," but sometimes it does seem like the lyrics are just a bunch of significant-sounding phrases strung together. I am looking forward to May 15 when their new album comes out.
pseudoisaac 