Tag: star wars

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”

From: Star Wars

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: No One (Opening Sequence for all Star Wars films)

The story behind the quote: I don’t think I need to give a synopsis for the Star Wars films. The franchise is heavily ingrained in pop culture history. Its story, characters and even its fictional history is widely known throughout the world and by different ages. But most people don’t consider that the films happen, not only in a totally different galaxy, but way back in the past.

The films actually attempt to remind the viewer of this fact every movie. At the start of each Star Wars films (even before the opening crawl), they would note that the story you are about to watch already happened in a far away place in the stars…

Geek wisdom: History is very important. You may not know it but it has shaped you in ways you may never be aware of. The actions of people way, way in the past have affected the world in different ways, reaching out from time and influences you in some, unforeseen manner. And, in turn, your actions, no matter how small they may be, will have some impact on the world in the future.

“If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”

From: Star Wars

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Obi-Wan Kenobi

The story behind the quote: I’m not sure if I should even be describing where this quote came from since you probably know where it came from…  here goes!

The quote comes from the very first Star Wars film which is, oddly enough, the fourth chapter chronologically story-wise. When I mean “first” I really mean it was the first one to be made and actually the film that made Star Wars the franchise it is today. The quote comes when Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C3-P0, R2-D2 and Obi-Wan Kenobi board the Death Star to rescue Princess Leia. Obi-Wan splits up from the group to disable the tractor beam that trapped the Millennium Falcon on the space station.

Obi-Wan does sabotage the tractor beam but comes face to face with his former apprentice, Darth Vader. They both “unsheathe” their lightsabers to prepare for a duel. During their fight, Obi-Wan warns Darth Vader about what would happen if his former student does best him.

Geek wisdom: There are no immortals in the world and everyone will eventually die… even you. But, even though we do leave the physical world, there is still a way anyone can live forever. And that is to live on in the memories of others.

Think of all the people in history. They may have died but they are still talked about even to this day because of their contributions to the world while they were still in it. Think of your childhood friends and you can see that, even if you don’t have contact with them, you still remember them in one way or another.

Leave your mark on the world and don’t let your time here be for nothing.

“Never tell me the odds!”

From: The Empire Strikes Back

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Han Solo

The story behind the quote: I don’t think this film needs much of an introduction… but I’ll give one anyway. The Empire Strikes back is the second film of the original Star Wars trilogy. The story takes place a few years after the first film where the Rebel Alliance destroyed the first Death Star. Even with this set back, the Empire is still extremely powerful and the Rebels still have to fight back.

The quote takes place while Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and C3-P0 escape from an Empire assault on the Rebel base they were stationed. Unfortunately, the ship they’re on, the Millennium Falcon, has a malfunctioning hyperspace drive and they are unable to just to light speed to evade their pursuers. Han Solo decides to hide out in an asteroid field but C3-P0 nervously informs Han that the odds are against him if he were to make the attempt. This is when Han delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom: People will tell you your dreams and aspirations are going to be just that: dreams and aspirations. They will tell you they are impossible to achieve. But they never see that people do manage to fulfill their dreams.

A lot of us tend to focus on people’s failures and spend the rest of their life playing it safe. We actually should be recognizing the people who did become successful by chasing their dreams and trying really hard to reach their goals… despite the rest of the world telling them the odds are against them.

“Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

From: Star Wars

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Yoda

The story behind the quote: Most people agree that the original Star War trilogy was a great series of films and also introduced us to story of something that happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said for the prequel films. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t any meaningful quotes that can be captured from them, though.

The quote comes The Phantom Menace and it’s delivered by Yoda, the swamp dwelling Jedi Master who gave us another quote before. As this is set before The Empire Strikes Back, he delivers the quote from a more comfortable setting… in the hall of the Jedi High Council. Qui-Gon Jinn is requesting permission to train Anakin Skywalker (SPOILERS! He becomes Darth Vader) from the Council. Yoda looks at the boy denies Qui-Gon’s request as he senses that he is afraid… and being afraid will lead to bad things…

Geek wisdom: The most heinous of acts in the world can be caused by simple fear. It could be the fear of our own insecurities, fear of the unknown, fear of things we can’t understand and the like. Like Yoda said, this fear can take on a life of its own and grow into other negative reactions, like the aforementioned anger, hate and suffering.

Now, most of this fear can actually be controlled with some understanding. Once we get past the fear and actually try to understand why we are afraid of something, then that’s the time we can conquer the fear.

“A roofer listens to [his heart], not his wallet.”

From: Clerks

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: A customer from the store

The story behind the quote: Kevin Smith is a pretty popular filmmaker now. However, in 1994, he started out as a literal unknown and used up a lot of his personal savings to create his first movie, Clerks. The film tells the story of a day in the life of Dante, a down-on-his-luck clerk at a Quick Stop who was called into work on his rest day.

The quote comes from a specific scene where Dante and his friend (and clerk of a video store) Randall are talking about the construction of the Death Star in the third installment of the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi. Randall comments that since the Death Star was still being constructed during the Rebel Alliance’s attach on the station, there must have been some innocent contractors on it when it got blown up.

A roofer who happens to overhear the conversation then interrupts and states that, since he is a contractor himself, his political beliefs actually contributes to his accepting of a job. He then tells the story when he was asked to repair the roof of a certain house and he would be paid much more than what he would usually charge. However, he found out that the house belongs to a dangerous mob boss so he decided to refer another contractor to do the job. Unfortunately for the other contractor, a rival mob decided to attack the house and was killed. The roofer then points to his heart and states that he listens to that when it’s time to select what job to take.

Geek wisdom:  A person’s integrity should not have a price.  There have to be certain limits to what we will do for material items. If you believe in something, no amount of wealth should be enough to change your mind. If there is a certain amount that will make you throw away what you believe is right, then you didn’t really believe in it in the first place.

“I have a bad feeling about this!”

From: Star Wars

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: A lot of the cast!

The story behind the quote: During the Star Wars films, the prequels and the original trilogy, practically all of the heroes (Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and even C3-P0) will deliver this quote. A lot of the time, it’s used for a humorous effect: there’s obviously something wrong is going to happen so it’s obvious that they feel that something wrong will happen. In fact, it became so popular that a lot of geeks will deliver the quote out of instinct when they know something obviously bad is about to happen.

If you want to see the quote delivered in all of the Star Wars movies, you can watch them in the clip below:

Geek wisdom:  You don’t need a mystical Force to know that something is wrong. You’ve got your gut to do that for you. Other people may think it’s just paranoia but there is going to be that time when your gut will be correct even though conventional logic says otherwise.

It’s that gut feeling that tells you to avoid taking that shortcut through a dark alley or crossing the street even though you don’t see any cars incoming. This same instinct help mankind survive for as long as we have. So, it’s something that has worked (and still does) for all of us.

“Use the Force, Luke!”

From: Star Wars

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Obi-Wan Kenobi

The story behind the quote: If you haven’t heard this quote before, you may be on the wrong site. Kidding! Anyway, the quote comes from the first Star Wars film (technically called Episode IV: A New Hope) of the original trilogy. While the Force is mentioned several times throughout the film, the most iconic time it was uttered in the movie was during the attack on the Death Star.

Luke Skywalker flies his X-Wing into the trenches of the massive space station to fire a missile into a hole “that’s no bigger than a womp rat” (meaning its pretty small). While there are computers on board his X-Wing to “accurately” fire the shot, an early attempt failed even with the equipment. As Luke approaches the hole, he hears the ghost of Obi-Wan, his mentor, to turn off the targeting computer and let the Force guide the shot. He does follow the advice and manages to score a direct hit, obliterating the Death Star.

Geek wisdom:  All of us have the potential to do great things, but we are sometimes hindered by the thought that we can’t do it. We essentially don’t believe in ourselves anymore. Sometimes, we have to forget modern conveniences and actually perform the things we need to do by ourselves without assistance.

“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

From: Star Wars

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Darth Vader

The story behind the quote: Ahh, Star Wars. One of the most impressive movies of all time. Released in 1977, the film boasted special effects that was previously unseen before. More than that, however, it was the imaginative universe which included worlds, aliens and technology that could only be found in a galaxy far, far away. This film also introduced the Force. As described by Obi-Wan, the Force “…surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.” While the Force can be used for good and helping people, there is a dark side to it which can be used for evil.

In one of the first scenes of the film, the Empire has just completed the construction of the Death Star, a massive space station capable of destroying a planet in a single blast. Darth Vader comments that, while the station is powerful, it pales in comparison to the power of the Force. One of the lieutenants scoff at this claim saying that it is a very antiquated concept. Vader, however, will have none of it and proceeds to choke the lieutenant using the Force while stating the quote above.

Geek wisdom: Let’s talk about faith. Faith does not have to be about religion. You can have faith in your family and friends that they’ll be there for you, faith in your general community that, deep down, they’re all good people or even faith in yourself.

Having faith is important: we all need something to believe in. It may be in God (or Gods), in other people,with yourself or even an intangible Force that is all around us. We all need to have faith in something to keep us going in order to push through the tough times in life.

“Try not! Do… or do not. There is no try.”

From: Star Wars

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Yoda

The story behind the quote: Probably one of the most popular quotes in the entire history of geekdom. In the Empire Strikes Back, Luke travels to the planet Dagobah to find the last living Jedi, Yoda, to train him in using the Force. During one of the training sessions, R2-D2 alerts Luke that his X-Wing (basically his spaceship) is sinking into the swamp. Luke laments that the ship is stuck too deep in the bog. The aged Jedi Master tells him to use the Force to raise the ship but Luke says its impossible since its too big.

Yoda rebukes this and says that its only impossible since he thinks its impossible. The young apprentice says that he’ll try but this only makes Yoda more adamant, saying that either he does it or he doesn’t. When Luke fails and claims that it was too heavy, Yoda then shows the young Skywalker that it is possible by doing it himself.

Geek wisdom: This is pretty self-explanatory. When most people say that they’ll try something, they’re almost always thinking that they’ll do it to show that its impossible. In their mind, they’ve already failed. Because of this, they don’t really give their best effort to accomplish the task.

I’ll be the first to admit that I do have a pessimistic attitude when it comes to a lot of things, but I always make sure to do my best in the things I plan to do. This is because of the advice I got from a puppet that lives on a planet a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Thanks, Yoda!