16 February 2006

"It's time to play... Mystery Quotation (#2)!"

by Dan Phillips

(Reminder: please, no Googling!)

This blast from the past, for two main reasons:

  1. It is a "Whoa, dude" quotation, that hits dead-center, takes no prisoners, leaves no survivors. It's worth a reading, a re-reading, a re-re-reading....
  2. As a sincere compliment to our readership. That is, it is quite obscure, but you folks are so sharp, I bet someone gets it.
And so, "without further eloquence" (-- name the movie that comes from for bonus points):
The Christian is to proclaim and prosecute an irreconcilable war against his bosom sins; those sins which have lain nearest his heart, must now be trampled under his feet. ...Soul, take thy lust, thy only lust, which is the child of thy dearest love, thy Isaac, the sin which has caused most joy and laughter, from which thou has promised thyself the greatest return of pleasure or profit; as ever thou lookest to see my face with comfort, lay hands on it and offer it up: pour out the blood of it before me; run the sacrificing knife of mortification into the very heart of it; and this freely, joyfully, for it is no pleasing sacrifice that is offered with a countenance cast down — and all this now, before thou hast one embrace more from it.

...Who is able to express the conflicts, the wrestlings, the convulsions of spirit the Christian feels, before he can bring his heart to this work? Or who can fully set forth the art, the rhetorical insinuations, with which such a lust will plead for itself? One while Satan will extenuate and mince the matter: It is but a little one, O spare it, and thy soul shall live for all that. Another while he flatters the soul with the secrecy of it: Thou mayest keep me and thy credit also; I will not be seen abroad in thy company to shame thee among thy neighbors; shut me up in the most retired room thou hast in thy heart, from the hearing of others, if thou wilt only let me now and then have the wanton embraces of thy thoughts and affections in secret. ...Now what resolution doth it require to break through such violence and importunity, and notwithstanding all this to do present execution? Here the valiant swordsmen of the world have showed themselves mere cowards who have come out of the field with victorious banners, and then lived, yea, died slaves to a base lust at home. As one could say of a great Roman captain who, as he rode in his triumphant chariot through Rome, had his eye never off a courtezan that walked along the street: Behold, how this goodly captain, that had conquered such potent armies, is himself conquered by one silly woman.
Have at it! And...

(Reminder: please, no Googling)

Dan Phillips's signature


27 comments:

Dan B. said...

I'll take the first stab--Jonathan Edwards?

DJP said...

That's a sharp guess, fellow-dan. Myself, I've never read anything by Edwards that has so given me that butterly-pinned-to-a-collector's-board feeling.

(c;

NEB said...

Poor Dan. No matter what he does, folks nail his quote either by Googling it or knowing it before he can even get five comments.

Maybe you could try leaving out every fifth word, so we have to fill in the blanks and THEN guess the quote.

DJP said...

lol, nwc, I know; clearly I'm among my betters.

{ Hmm... wonder how many here read, or would admit reading, Stephen King....? }

But hey! No one's gotten the movie quotation yet.

NEB said...

I would never publicly admit that I devoured It, The Stand, and The Shining in an exceedingly short period of time.

Robert said...

A hint for the movie. John Wayne.

FX Turk said...

The real problem with King is that he's so readable. Tom Clancy churns out 1500 pages and I can't get past the first chapter in less than 8 hours. I pick up a King novel, and you can can forget about me for the next 10 hours, but I'll finish that book, boy.

And then not sleep for two night because I can see that little vampire floating at my window, or I can hear that kid saying, "I have something for you, Mommy."

}shudder{

NPE said...

Thomas Watson!

Kate said...

Here is a good one for all you men!

"It will, I believe, be everywhere found, that as the clergy are, or are not what they ought to be, so are the rest of the nation."

Can you tell me where that is from? Some of your ladyship readers may just know...

:+)
Kate

Kate said...

No googling!!

:+)
Kate

DJP said...

"Ladyship readers"? Ooh, that's a hint!

Lewis Farrakhan! (Oh! no! that's the mother-ship!)

Jan Crouch?

Kate said...

Daniel J. Phillips,

You are a smart one in that your caught the "ladyship readers" hint, but you missed it on the writers.

You live near me, where do you fellowship if you don't mind sharing? underthesky@gmail.com

Keep thinking! :+)
Kate

Kate said...

Whoops, I meant to say, "writer."

Sorry!
Kate

Gordon said...

Let me guess about the movie--Gladiator?

IB Dubbya said...

...I knew it had to be A Puritan!

Cent: Not to swell your head, but, you're like 1 of maybe3 or 4 bloggers who can - from a short comment, even - make me laugh ALOUD while at work!

(...maybe it's all those dastardly King novels we share in common...)

¡SBGTFA!

IB Dubbya said...

lzjthp[Ooops! Did I say that aloud? Er...uh...]

No, folks, I too, wouldst never have partakeneth of It, The Stand, and The Shining (...The Talisman, Thinner...) in an exceedingly short period of time, eitherest!

¡SBGTFA!

Chris said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Kate said...

OK,

You can go about your regular life now, Mr. Daniel J. Phillips, for the answer to my quote is Jane Austen. :+)

"Ladyship..."
Kate

LeeC said...

OK, I just got here so I'm sure someone else has already gotten the "Bonus Question" so I'm going to post the answer then look to see who got it first.

Michelene O'Flynn from "The Quiet Man"


But do you know The Peeler and the Goat?

Rose~ said...

Centurion: Pet Cemetery?
(scariest, creepiest, most disturbing book I ever read)

DJP said...

THE ANSWER

Brian, of course, got it right off the bat. You guys are awesome. I will have to get more obscure! (I have one coming up that should be a hoot.)

The source:

The Christian in Complete Armour, William Gurnall (Banner of Truth: 1995 [reprint of 17th century work]), p. 13

As to the movie, leec got the movie right (as did a sharp emailer who doesn't want to open a Blogger account) -- except it was Squire Will Dannaher who said it, echoed by his toadie. "The Quiet Man," John Wayne's favorite movie, and a delightful little gem it is. It's a chick flick guys can enjoy; equally, a guy movie that, er, chicks can enjoy.

DJP said...

...and nwc and others... I also wouldn't publicly admit having read everything King ever wrote except for the last couple, either. He and his love-hate (mostly the latter) relationship with Christianity would make an interesting essay -- obviously (badly) working out personal issues in his earlier novels, yet quoting the Bible appropriately all over the place, and saying that if any religion is true, it's probably Christianity... yet evidently never having met anyone who doesn't swear worse than a sailor, nor has higher morality than a lower dog....

DJP said...

Student of History / kate --well, I wouldn't know Jane Austen. I was publick skooled, so my edumication is cramped. (Blame the student, too, though, in this case.)

Dan

LeeC said...

Gah, Squire Danaher!
Somehow I just could get the sound of Barry Fitzgerald saying the line out of my head!

Don't be fooled by the modern classification of Jane Austens work as "Chick books" djp. If you get the chance read them. I find them delightful. She was a wonderful wordsmith, with an excellent eye for the social issues of that time.

None of my history studies have given me an incite into that era, like Jane Austen has.

DJP said...

leec -- Did you know that the men who played Michaleen and The Rev. Mr. Playfair were brothers?

Darel said...

Sorry to put this here, but I'm on one of those "remember to tell people that have you helped you 'Thank You'".

So, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate this blog.

That's all.

DJP said...

Never apologize for saying "thanks"!

I'm glad you're here -- even if only for having one of my favorite, glowering avatars. (Though not only for that.)