General Discussions

Quotes and references in Firefly

POSTED BY: laoshi
UPDATED: Thursday, November 16, 2006 16:10
VIEWED: 7473
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Tuesday, November 14, 2006 10:17 AM

Carrying on from a discussion in the I'm so proud of myself thread. What references and quotes are there in Firefly and Serenity. i just noticed the lovely Leiasky had a Shepherd Book quote as her tag. "A government is a body of people usually notably ungoverned." This sounds an awful lot like the American writer and critic Ambrose Bierce. Does anyone know if it was him?

Alliance n. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pocket that they cannot separately plunder a third. -Ambrose Bierce

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Tuesday, November 14, 2006 10:49 AM

I wish I knew the answer but I've always loved that quote ("...notably ungoverned") and also thought it seemed terribly familiar. Ambrose Bierce seems right for it or perhaps Mark Twain. Good question, I hope someone knows the answer.


"I hate quotations"
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Tuesday, November 14, 2006 11:48 AM

only reference I can find is from Book.

Vote Day 1st December 2006 http://richlabonte.net/tvvote/index.html
Together we will triumph.

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Tuesday, November 14, 2006 9:04 PM

What about that "Copper for a kiss" thing that River says when she wakes up in Ariel?
I always kinda thought it was some kind of reference to something, I just didn't know what.

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Love keeps her in the air when she outta fall down, tells you she's hurting before she keels. Makes her a home.

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Tuesday, November 14, 2006 11:22 PM

Well, I googled "Copper for a kiss" and all I get are links to assorted FF sites and blogs and stuff like that.

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For every battle honour, a thousand heroes die along, unremembered and unsung...

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Wednesday, November 15, 2006 12:10 AM

I'm pretty sure Copper for a Kiss was something English prostitutes used to say. i don't have a specific reference to back it up but it does have that Dickensian feel to it

Alliance n. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pocket that they cannot separately plunder a third. -Ambrose Bierce

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Wednesday, November 15, 2006 12:12 AM

That's a good point.

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For every battle honour, a thousand heroes die along, unremembered and unsung...

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Wednesday, November 15, 2006 12:16 AM

Oh Hello, sorry I'm not used to actual people being logged in at the same time as me. It's the whole China thing. Its 8.15 Wed morning here

Alliance n. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pocket that they cannot separately plunder a third. -Ambrose Bierce

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Wednesday, November 15, 2006 12:17 AM

It's Just after quarter past midnight for me.

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For every battle honour, a thousand heroes die along, unremembered and unsung...

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Wednesday, November 15, 2006 12:21 AM

You know Shan Yu the guy in War stories. Simon calls his work sadistic crap legitimised by florid prose. Is he real or something the writers just made up?

Alliance n. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pocket that they cannot separately plunder a third. -Ambrose Bierce

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