The Great "Blackbeltninja needs a clever quote for his PhD thesis" HT thread 2012

[blackbeltninja]

Right

So... this thread hopefully does what it says on the box: it's finally time to send in the PhD so I need a dedication for the thesis, but I am struggling for inspiration. Basically, I want something which says "thanks mom and big sister for all your support; couldn't have done it without you", preferably wrapped in something profound/witty/without too much cheese.

The front-runner (and only runner at the mo) is the Chinese Proverb "when eating bamboo shoots, remember the men who planted them." It works, but I'm not sure it has the kinda pizazz I am looking for. I also like Beavis and Butthead's brilliant and apt "Science sucks. Let's go break something" but it doesn't quite fit this particular bill. So this is where you lot come in - thanks in advance.

Right, everyone, you have your mission. So... 3... 2... 1... go!

-d-

 

[cynicus]

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton.

 

[SLOPPYSECONDS]

phd is ass a usefulls a dead planet

ajust if like it a quicky

thankyou

 

[Telstra]

"why do you ask that question?" ...

 

[pat grimshaw]

BBN, are you giving it to some tutor or professor to mark?
Or has it already been approved?

 

[looseliam]

"I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific."
-Lily Tomlin

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
-Albert Einstein (disputed)

 

[bullwing413]

What's the doctorate in? It should be creative writing but since you speak of the "lab" it is probably something else

From the internet..

I would thank you from the bottom of my heart, but for you my heart has no bottom.
~ Famous thank you quotes ~

One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind. ~Malayan Proverb

The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you. ~John E. Southard

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.
-- Cicero

That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.
Thomas Paine

Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel. ~Author Unknown

So long, and thanks for all the fish.
~ Douglas Adams ~

“Omnis fama a domesticis emanat.” (All fame proceeds from servants.)
...Francis Bacon

"I was going to thank all the little people, but then I remembered I am the little people," deadpanned the diminutive composer Paul Williams in 1977 on receiving his Oscar for writing "Evergreen" with Barbra Streisand.

And this site is great for acceptance speech quotes from the Oscars.

Congratulations BBN and special thanks to his mother, for bearing him, and his big sister, for not smothering him like mine tried to do to me as an infant -although she claims she didn't mean too the drain bramage persists!

BW

 

[bankside]

I'd go with:
"Are we there yet?!"

or perhaps:
"Lector si monumentum requiris circumspice"

or even:
"And without further ado…"

"In your face, Doctor Sheldon Cooper."

"My brain hurts."

"You mean I could have just slept with you for an A?"

Or you could simply be explicit about the "pizzaz:"
"When eating bamboo shoots, remember the men who planted them. Jazzhands!!!!"

 

[blackbeltninja]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Not to look gift horses in their mouths, but please keep them coming (the suggestions, not the gift horses).

BBN, are you giving it to some tutor or professor to mark?
Or has it already been approved?

It's being submitted for examination this week - goes to 3 external reviewers selected by the University's Doctoral Degrees Board. With a bit of luck, in 2 months' time I shall return as the all-conquering Dr Blackbeltninja and you will all be my bitches.

-d-

 

[looseliam]

 

[fetaby]

Aren't you already a dr?

Basically, I want something which says "thanks mom and big sister for all your support; couldn't have done it without you"

Why not just use this? It says what you want to say. Of course, fluff it up a bit.

Dedicated to ... and ... who without their support this thesis would not have been possible. Thank you.

I think anything other than just saying what you want would end up cheesy regardless of how profound and witty you think it is.

Second hand wit...

 

[pat grimshaw]

Well i'd be having just a brief personal acknowledgment and leave all the flippant self-indulgence until later in your career.

If your professional scene is as small and bitchy as mine your rivals will take any opportunity to mock you.

 

[palbert]

A Philosophical pot pourri:

Child 1: "whatja doin?"

Child 2: "eatin' raisins"

Child 1: "Where'd ya get them?"

Child 2: "off the dog"

 

[jackmanor]

Can't go wrong with Shakespeare:

"Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks." -- Hamlet.

 

[Corny]

please take into account being a contestant at either

http://phdchallenge.org/call-for-participation

or

http://io9.com/5851521/check-out-the-winners-of-this-years-dance-your-phd-competition

 

[rareboy]

A physicist is just an atom's way of looking at itself.
Niels Bohr

An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.
Niels Bohr

An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes, which can be made, in a very narrow field.
Niels Bohr

Einstein, stop telling God what to do!
Niels Bohr

Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it.
Niels Bohr

Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question.
Niels Bohr

Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.
Niels Bohr

How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.
Niels Bohr

If anybody says he can think about quantum physics without getting giddy, that only shows he has not understood the first thing about them.
Niels Bohr

If quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet.
Niels Bohr


Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/n/niels_bohr.html#ixzz1kyTTcoEz

 

[rareboy]

But seriously...I think it is time for you to make up your own great quote.

A Phd should be about creating new knowledge and new memorable observations.

Try to get something about naked into it.

 

[mbamike]

I am not going to sit on my [derriere] as the events that affect me unfold to determine the course of my life. I'm going to take a stand. I'm going to defend it. Right or wrong, I'm going to defend it.

You realize if we played by the rules right now we'd be in gym?

If you're not over here in fifteen minutes, you can find a new best friend.
You've been saying that since the fifth grade.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

I weep for the future.

 

[winterknight]

Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum videtur.

 

[blackbeltninja]

Hmmm. More gift-horses in need of a dental examination.

Thanks again everyone, for your suggestions and for the kind words in here.

I'm thinking of just a heartfelt, humble thanks in the Acknowledgements, and using my original idea for the dedication page, which is a Radiohead lyric - This is what you'll get if you mess with us, from Karma Police, which is actually relevant to the work.

Still, 2 days to print, so... keep 'em coming if you have more.

-d-