simpsons – My Geek Wisdom

“Sorry, mom. The mob has spoken.”

From: The Simpsons

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Bart Simpson

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from one of the episodes of The Simpsons. As one of the longest running shows ever (and since I’ve already used a lot of Simpsons quotes in the past), this show needs no introduction anymore.

The quote comes from 4th season episode entitled “Marge vs. The Monorail.” When the town of Springfield suddenly becomes flush with cash, the town holds a meeting in order to decide how to use the money. While there are suggestions on how to use the money to improve Springfield, a quick talking shyster named Lyle Lanley persuades everyone to use the funds to buy a slick monorail. During the end of the song number, Marge Simpson laments that main street is still full of potholes. However, her son, Bart Simpson, slyly remarks that the town has already made the ill-fated decision to go build the monorail.

Geek wisdom: Sometimes, the most popular decision is not the correct one. There are going to be times when the most prudent choice might be unpopular but, ultimately, still the right one. So always keep an open mind to other thoughts and ideas.

“Gentlemen, to evil.”

From: The Simpsons

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Mr. Blank

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the long running animated sitcom, The Simpsons. Specifically, the first episode of the fourth season, Kamp Krusty. The episode has Bart and Lisa Simpson going to summer camp, which is supposedly run by Krusty the Clown himself. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case as Mr. Blank, a corrupt businessman, has just licensed the name and, to ensure that his profits are high, equips the camp with rickety amenities. This is all while Mr. Blank and the “camp counselors” he hired, who happen to be Jimbo Jones and his gang of bullies enjoy a luxurious lifestyle.

The quote comes from the middle of the episode wherein we do see Mr. Blank, Jimbo Jones and the rest of the bullies enjoying a banquet while the camp kids have to eat gruel. Jimbo asks for another brandy and this is when Mr. Blank delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom: While we would like to see the good in people but there are always going to be people who will do corrupt and immoral things for various reasons. Maybe it’s because they want to enrich themselves off the backs of other. Maybe they want to show they’re “better” than everyone else. Or maybe they just enjoy it. Whatever the reason, we all have to recognize that there will be bad people in the world.

“Good ol’ rock. Nothing beats that!”

From: The Simpsons

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Bart Simpson

The quote comes from 4th season episode entitled “The Front.” The episode has siblings Bart and Lisa Simpson, dissatisfied by the quality of the new Itchy and Scratchy episodes, decide to write their own story and submit it. Inspired by seeing Homer accidentally cut off most of Marge’s hair, they write “Little Barbershop of Horrors.” When deciding on who’s name to put on the script first, Lisa suggests that they play a game of rock-paper-scissors. However, the game is rigged against Bart as he has the tendency of only using rock.

Geek wisdom: We can get too settled in our ways and just do things because we’ve gotten so used to our daily and repetitive lives. We can get too set in our ways and think our way of doing things is the best. This is actually a bad thing as we can never better ourselves this way. We sometimes have to be adventurous and try new things as that’s the only real way to gain new experiences and actually see if there is something better out there for us.

“You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.”

From: The Simpsons

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Homer Simpsons

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the longest running animated series in the United States, The Simpsons. The show has been on for 29 straight seasons and counting and is a general smorgasbord for quotes.

The quote comes from the 18th episode of the 5th season, Burns’ Heir. In the episode, Mr. Burns has a near death experience and decides to hold an audition for all the kids in Springfield to become his heir. The Simpsons has their kids, Lisa and Bart Simpson try out but they fail to pass the audition. The kids are heartbroken and Marge asks Homer Simpson to cheer his kids up. Unfortunately, he doesn’t do a good job…

Geek wisdom: Homer Simpsons’ reaction is probably one we’re all familiar with. We try something once and, when we initially fail at whatever it is, we give up. This isn’t the way to get better at anything. If anything, this is a call for us to pick ourselves up and try again to get better at whatever it is.

Oh, and because of this “pep talk,” Bart Simpson pulls a prank at Mr. Burns house, which does get him signed as the heir apparent.

“Won’t somebody please think of the children?”

From: The Simpsons

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Helen Lovejoy

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote was actually popularized by The Simpsons. However, it is important to note that this wasn’t the first time it was used. In fact, the quote was already a rather cliche argumentative point way before it was popularized by the popular cartoon.

In the episode entitled “Much Apu About Nothing,” a bear wanders into the town by accident. Although the animal is immediately taken care of by the town’s authorities, Homer Simpson gets the other townsfolk rally to get Mayor Quimby to create a “bear patrol.” This does cause taxes to increase, which, once again, Homer Simpson and some people to go to city hall to lower taxes. Mayor Quimby, in the hopes of shifting blame to something else, says that the problem of higher taxes is due to illegal immigrants.

Throughout all this, Helen Lovejoy yells out the quote, exclaiming that the children need protection from the bears… and illegal immigrants.

Geek wisdom: Parents love their children and only want the best for them and to protect them from any harm. However, sometimes, they can get a little too overprotective which can be just as harmful to their kids as they will not be able to grow up and experience the world as it is. Sometimes, you have to let go and let them commit their own mistakes so they can learn from them.

“I have to go now. My planet needs me…”

From: The Simpsons

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: “Poochie” (voiced by Roger Meyers, Jr.)

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the ever popular show, The Simpsons. However, the actual quote itself has now become misquoted as most people remember the line to be “I must go” because of the very meme that made the line so popular in the first place.

The quote comes from the 14th episode of the 8th season of the show entitled “The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show.” In an attempt to boost ratings for the flailing Itchy and Scratchy Show, the show’s producer, Roger Meyers, Jr. decides to add a new character into the mix, a hip dog named Poochie. Homer Simpson is hired to do the voice of the character. However, the character is universally disliked (except by Homer, of course). Homer’s plea to prevent the character from being killed off seems to have touched the show’s writers as he thinks the character can be bigger than every other character before. However, when the episode finally airs, the show airs as such…

Geek wisdom: There are people who think so highly of themselves that they can overstay their welcome. This was certainly true for Poochie in the show, even though he was only in a couple of episodes. Try to avoid those people as they will just bring everyone down.

“We said ‘meh’!” “M-E-H. Meh!”

From: The Simpsons

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Bart Simpson

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from The Simpsons’ episode entitled “Hungry Hungry Homer” which is the 15th episode of the 12th season of the long running cartoon. The episode is actually all about Homer Simpson staging a hunger strike when no one believes him when he tries to tell everyone that Springfield’s baseball team, the Isotopes, is movie to Albuquerque.

However, like all Simpsons episodes, things start of rather tamely. The Simpsons family is watching television when a commercial for Blockoland, a theme park much like Legoland, is shown. Thinking that the kids would love going there, Homer asks his children, Bart and Lisa if they would want to go there. He unfortunately gets a rather unenthusiastic response…

Geek wisdom: At times, we can get excited over the things that interest us and we try to share our love for those things to others. However, we do have to realize that some people may not feel the same way you do. They may feel totally disinterested in it or even hate whatever it is.

We can’t really get mad at them because all of us have different likes and dislikes. People are all different and will feel differently regarding different things. We have to respect their opinions and not force them to like or dislike something to conform with our own ideas.

“Stupid sexy Flanders”

From: The Simpsons

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Homer Simpson

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from The Simpsons’ episode entitled Little Big Mom, which was first aired way back in January 9, 2000.

In a memorable scene, Homer sees Ned Flanders in a very skintight skiing outfit and Flanders innocently mentions that it feels like he’s wearing “nothing at all.” When Homer loses control while skiing downhill, he desperately tries to remember what his instructor told him to do when he does get into trouble… but he just can’t get the image of Flanders shaking his tuckus.

Geek wisdom: Our mind will tend to wander to different things throughout the day. This habit can easily distract us from what were supposed to be doing, making it difficult to focus. It’s very difficult to overcome this interference as it can even take over when we’re trying to remember something important.

During times like this, it may be better to try not to think about the thing we want to remember. Rather, just relax and let your mind wander back to what it’s supposed to be thinking off in the first place.

“Don’t blame me. I voted for Kodos.”

From: The Simpsons

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Homer Simpson

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from The Simpsons’ 7th Treehouse of Horror special. The Treehouse of Horror is the show’s annual Halloween television special where the show spoofs various films and television shows. As such, they don’t fall into the regular “continuity” of the show’s illustrious 25 years of being on the air. One of the mainstays of the Treehouse of Horror specials is the appearance of the aliens Kang and Kodos. While they do appear in the episodes, they mostly are relegated to the background.

However, the segment Citizen Kang, they’re actually the ones that push the story forward. The aliens replace Bill Clinton and Bob Dole and run for the presidency in their place. Even after Homer exposes the aliens’ plot, Kang gets elected as “it’s a two-party system.” While the human race is building a weapon for the aliens, Homer reveals who he voted for.

Geek wisdom: It’s easy to focus blame on someone else. It’s almost instinctive for a lot of people and it’s understandable. No one wants to be the cause or the one at fault for anything bad. But someone has “to take the blame” and most of us are fine as long as it’s not them!

However, this is the wrong way of thinking. We have to own up to our mistakes when we commit them. That’s the only way we’ll learn from them. If we steer blame away from ourselves, the only thing we learn is how to avoid taking responsibility.

“Me fail English? That’s unpossible!”

From: The Simpsons

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Ralph Wiggum

The story behind the quote: GeekWisdom has been running for more than a year now and I’ve never posted a quote from one of the longest running series of all time. The Simpsons has been on air for over 24 seasons, had a feature-length film and has entered pop culture consciousness but this is the first time a quote is being posted here. One of the reasons is because I can’t embed most of the Simpsons video clips on YouTube. Another is, well, nothing really is super memorable from the main cast… but I forgot about Ralph Wiggum.

Ralph is the dim-witted son of the dim-witted Police Chief of Springfield, Clancy Wiggum. He tends to do incredibly odd things that are pretty stupid and he has the tendency to make unrelated comments with the situation he’s in. Unfortunately, it seems that he’s pretty much in the dark about his clue about how clueless he really is.

In the clip below, Principal Skinner is announcing the children who are failing in English. Ralph is overjoyed and actually thinks he won something. When Principal Skinner corrects Ralph, he smiles and expresses disbelief since he thinks he’s really great in speaking the language.

Geek wisdom: We can be extremely ignorant of our own… ignorance. We like to believe that we are so totally awesome and great. However, it’s totally possible that we’ve put ourselves on an extremely high pedestal and actually fail to see our own… well, failures.

It’s easy to be blind to our own weaknesses. We sometimes have to take a long, hard and impartial look at ourselves to really see who we are.