Victor de la Cruz

“Hail Hydra”

From: The Marvel Cinematic Universe (but popularized in Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Various Characters

The story behind the quote: The quote is actually what all Hydra agents say, even in the comics. It was even yelled out a lot during the first Captain America film. However, the quote rose to popularity during one particular scene in the film’s sequel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

In the scene in question, SHIELD Agent Jasper Sitwell meets with Senator Stern. As Stern leans over and gives a friendly hug to Agent Sitwell, the senator whispers the quote, revealing that both agents are working for the underground terrorist group.

Geek wisdom: Even the people you trust the most may have ulterior motives. They may seem friendly and nice people but you don’t really know what they are thinking or what they’re like behind closed doors.

In this day of age, it’s a good idea to remain skeptical regarding people.

“See? I’m not a monster. I’m just ahead of the curve.”

From: The Dark Knight

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: The Joker

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from one of the most quotable characters of fiction, The Joker, from one of the most modern quotable movies, The Dark Knight.

After The Joker (played by Heath Ledger) is captured, the newly promoted Commissioner Gordon leaves the Clown Prince of Crime in an interrogation room with Batman. The Joker will not reveal where Harvey Dent is located, even after being threatened with bodily harm. The Joker then continues to expound on why the “regular” citizens of Gotham are only “good” because everything is right with the world. But he’s different…

Geek wisdom: Whenever someone tries to create some new innovation, the people who are stuck to the old ways will try to stop them. It doesn’t matter if it will better the world, as long as it threatens the way they do things, they will treat that person like a monster.

We have to think of the future, even though people will try to stop you. Progress is always better than following traditions blindly.

“No sir. I don’t like it.”

From: The Ren & Stimpy Show

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Mr. Horse

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the 90’s Nickelodeon cartoon The Ren & Stimpy Show. Ren is frail Chihuahua who is prone to violent outbursts. He’s usually accompanied by Stimpy, a dim-witted and cheerful cat. Although targeted at kids (it is a cartoon after all), the show became controversial because they would show some adult humor which would go over children’s heads.

The quote comes from one of the supporting cast, Mr. Horse. The quote is actually Mr. Horse’s catchphrase of sorts. Generally, whenever Mr. Horse is asked to give his opinion about anything, he would express his negative feelings regarding it.

Geek wisdom: You can’t always be agreeable with everything and/or everyone. Each of us has his own opinions regarding various topics. However, even though something goes against popular opinion, that doesn’t mean that person’s viewpoint is invalid.

We like and dislike things to different degrees. We have to be tolerant with how other people feel on certain topics.

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”

From: The Usual Suspects

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Roger “Verbal” Kint

The story behind the quote: The quote comes The Usual Suspects. The film is about Roger “Verbal” Kint (played by Kevin Spacey) telling the police about the crime lord known as Keyser Soze and how he and four other criminals got entangled in his plot.

The first time you hear the quote is during the early part of the film. Kint starts the tale by telling the detective of the brutal origins of Keyser Soze and how he became a legend in the criminal underworld.

But that’s not the only time the quote is mentioned in the film. It’s actually remembered because of the massive twist at the end of the film…

It’s advisable that you watch The Usual Suspect BEFORE you go watch the video posted below as it is one of the best twists in movie history. But, if you’ve watched it before or you don’t care about spoilers, go ahead!

Geek wisdom: There is evil in the world and that’s a fact. But people try to avert their eyes from the fact. We try to pretend it doesn’t exist and all’s right with the world. And that is specifically why bad things happen. It’s because we don’t do anything to fight back.

When we see injustice, we shouldn’t turn a blind eye. Rather, we should take a good hard look at it and try to right the wrong.

“Keep moving forward!”

From: Meet The Robinsons

Genre: Movies, Cartoons

Who said it?: The Robinsons Family

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from Disney/Pixar’s Meet The Robinsons. The film is about a boy named Lewis, an aspiring child inventor that hasn’t had that much success. During a science fair, he meet Wilbur Robinson, a boy who claims to come from the future. Wilbur enlists the help of Lewis as he’s the only one that can help him repair his time machine and assist him in the capture of the mysterious “bowler hat” guy who has stolen a more advance prototype time machine and will use it to destroy the current timeline.

The quote, actually The Robinson’s family motto, is said several times. However, the motto is most remembered in one scene where Lewis attempts to repair a gadget. Unfortunately, the gadget malfunctions and creates a colossal mess. Lewis tries to apologies as he expects The Robinsons to get angry. However, the family reacts in the opposite way…

Geek wisdom: It’s very easy to give up when you fail. After all, you’ve didn’t succeed in your task, so why bother even trying? But the thing is we shouldn’t get discouraged from our mistakes and we shouldn’t give up. Rather, we should learn from our mistakes! It’s actually okay to commit mistakes. What’s not okay is we keep repeating the same mistakes and not learn from them.

“Four for you, Glen Coco! You go, Glen Coco!”

From: Mean Girls

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Damian

The story behind the quote: The quote comes the cult classic, Mean Girls. Even though it was released over 10 years ago, many fans still remember the quotes from the film. While some of these quotes weren’t put in the film to be memorable or quotable, the writing of Mean Girls as well as the delivery of the lines actually inserted them into the public consciousness. One such quote comes from the middle of the movie.

Cady and her friends (Janis and Damian) continue with their plot to take down The Plastics, the most popular and meanest clique of the school. One of the ways they plan to do it is to get Gretchen Wieners to turn on Regina George, the leader of the Plastics. One such way was to trick Gretchen into thinking Regina was cutting her out of the group. In order to do this, Damian starts distributing candy canes which were supposed to have come from the other students. And, apparently, Glen Coco, managed to score four candy canes…

Geek wisdom: When people do things that are spectacular, we do take these achievements for granted or, even worse, tell them what they did wasn’t anything special at all. Always remember to give props to people who deserve it as it does help them recognize that what they did was actually something to be admired.

“‘Maybe, Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, in fact, means a little bit more.”

From: How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: The Narrator

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the Dr. Seuss’ classic How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Dr. Seuss’ book was already very popular but what catapulted it into the public consciousness was the 1966 animated version. It’s been repeated on television ever since.

The quote comes from the very end of the story. The Grinch after stealing all of the Christmas gifts down in Whoville, waits upon a mountaintop, hoping to hear the villagers wait out in sadness as all their gifts have been stolen. However, instead of crying, The Grinch sees the citizens of Whoville singing for joy. After pondering as to why they’re celebrating, The Grinch comes to a realization about the holiday.

Geek wisdom: Every Christmas, we all get wrapped up with all of the gift buying and all of the gifts we’re going to receive. But, like the Grinch realized at the end of the story, Christmas is much more than that. Christmas is about spreading good cheer to your fellow man, regardless of race, religion and gender. It’s a time to get together with others.

Merry Christmas!

“I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow in the knee.”

From: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Genre: Video Games

Who said it?: Lots of NPC guards in the world

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. The game is a massive game that has many people to talk to and many places to explore. However, the game’s most memorable quote doesn’t come from any of the main characters. Rather, it comes from the lowly town guards you see throughout the your time in Skyrim.

The guards have a lot of stock dialog but the most popular one is regarding their past before they became guards…

Geek wisdom: As we grow older, it becomes harder to do the same rigorous activities we used to be able to do in our youth. We also tend to outgrow all of the ridiculous and dangerous activities we did in our younger days. But that doesn’t mean that these days should be forgotten. These are important parts of our life and actually help form you into the person you are now.

There’s nothing wrong with reminiscing about the past. It’s only a problem if we get stuck in the past.

“I’m the best there is at what I do. But what I do isn’t very nice…”

From: X-Men

Genre: Comics

Who said it?: Logan/Wolverine

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from Wolverine, everyone’s favorite yellow spandex wearing, cigar chomping Canadian mutant. He is probably the most popular and most recognizable X-Men character in the world today. Which is kind of astonishing since, originally, his first appearance was in Hulk #181 (as an opponent to both The Incredible Hulk and Wendigo). It wasn’t until much later that Logan joined a new group of X-Men to rescue the original members.

Logan pretty much acknowledges that he is a vicious killer and will do things that may seem unnecessarily violent. But he does recognize that his skills do serve a purpose as noted by his catchphase.

Geek wisdom: Everyone has his or her own special talent and, no matter what it is, it’s something that you should be proud of. There may be times when you feel your special gift should be hidden away or it should be something you should be ashamed of. But everything you’re good at has to be shared with everyone… because it deserves to be shared with others.

“I love it when a plan comes together!”

From: The A-Team

Genre: Television

Who said it?: John “Hannibal” Smith

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the 80s television show, The A-Team. The basic story of the show is actually told in the intro of the show. Essentially, a special commando unit was tried unjustly of a crime they didn’t commit. After escaping the group, consisting of John “Hannibal” Smith (leader and master of disguise), Templeton “Face” Peck (suave con man), “Howling Mad” Murdoch (delusional ace pilot) and BA Baracus (the team’s strong man), now lends their services as soliders of fortune called The A-Team. The show was a massive success, partly because of the entertaining interactions between the characters as well as Mr. T’s charisma and popularity at the time.

The quote is actually Hannibal’s catchphrase. As he’s the one who lays out the schemes and works them to suit each team member’s individual strengths, he’s able to create ingenious and unorthodox strategies that, against all logic, work out in the end.

Geek wisdom: We like to rush things out and hope for the best, hence, we love to just fly by the seat of our pants and let the chips fall where they may at times. Of course, when something goes wrong, we have to keep improvising quick fixes instead of finding solutions. This can prove to be costly and a waste of time when, if you actually tried to resolve the issue by creating meticulous plans, these problems could’ve been avoided.

“Winging it” may work sometimes but nothing beats a good plan.