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Inspirational quotes turn NIMBY

by David Alpert   •   August 4, 2012 11:06 am

Blogger Tales from the Sharrows mashed up a classic inspirational quote with an equally classic argument opposing urban change. This sparked a hilarious set of #inspirationalNIMBY tweets yesterday.

Here are some favorites. For each, I've added attribution, put them all into a standard format, and corrected any spelling errors.

SharrowsDC @sharrowsdc

"Some people see the world as it is and ask why. I see the world as it could be and ask where will they all park."  — Robert F. Kennedy/George Bernard Shaw

Will Sommer @willsommer

"Never underestimate that a small group of people can hold up a liquor license. Sometimes, it's the only thing that can."  — Margaret Mead

J. T. E @jtedc

"The only thing we have to fear is density itself."  — Franklin D. Roosevelt
 

J. T. E @jtedc

"The only constant is change. Unless you get a small group of neighbors together to stop it."  — Heraclitus

SharrowsDC @sharrowsdc

"Be the obstruction you wish to see in the world."  — Mahatma Gandhi
 

David Alpert @alpert

"If they have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; now, argue they violate zoning."  — Henry David Thoreau

David Alpert @alpert

"Life has no smooth road for any of us; but at least it has no overhead wires."  — William C. Doane

David Alpert @alpert

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door, but only as long as it's not visible from the street."  — Milton Berle

Brandon Essley @No_Brand_Hero

"If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him and preserve your property values."  — Lin Chi

The Greater Marin @theGreaterMarin

"The only medicine for suffering, crime, and all the other woes of mankind, is a parking minimum."  — Thomas Huxley

Emily @stayawaystars

"Ask not what your community can do for you; ask what your community can not do for anyone else."  — John F. Kennedy

Emily @stayawaystars

"Whenever God closes a door, he keeps out undesirable elements that bring down the property values."  — Maria, in The Sound of Music

Marc Mitcham @TwoWheelsDC

"Good fences make good neighbors as long as they're no taller than 7 ft and made of period-correct materials."  — Robert Frost, based on a proverb

Aimee Custis @AimeeCustis

"Inaction may not always bring happiness ... but there is no happiness without inaction."  — Benjamin Disraeli

Emily @stayawaystars

"If I have seen a little further, it is because of the height limit and absence of overhead wires."  — Isaac Newton

Ron Knox @ronmknoxDC

"It is by acts, and not by ideas, that people ensure the bar down the street cannot have a patio."  — Anatole France

Emily @stayawaystars

"Let he who would move the world, first complete an environmental impact assessment and a 90-day public comment period."  — Socrates

mikezdc @mikezdc

"Give a man a fish and you feed him a day. Move the food kitchen off your block and it's not your problem anymore."  — Proverb

Emily @stayawaystars

"Better to light one small candle than to allow one small solar installation."  — Proverb

♭oſsi @thisisbossi

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I don't want a stop sign. That would make all the difference."  — Robert Frost

Chewy @CapCityChewy

"It takes a village to raise a child, but only if all of the structures are of a neutral palette."  — Proverb, popularized by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Marc Mitcham @TwoWheelsDC

"Home is where the heart is, unless you don't have a permit for it."  — Proverb
 

J. T. E @jtedc

"How many roads must a developer walk down, before they accept the amenities package?"  — Bob Dylan

Jacqueline Dupree @jacdupree

"We shall fight in parking lots, we shall fight in empty fields and on wide streets, we shall never surrender."  — Winston Churchill

Kevin Bourne @kevinrbourne

""Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of condos."  — Martin Luther King, Jr.

SharrowsDC @sharrowsdc

"I've been to the mountaintop. Because it blocked my view and it never should been approved in the first place."  — Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Greater Marin @theGreaterMarin

"A man's home is his castle, and his neighbor's home is his moat."  — Proverb
 

Eric C. @transbay

"For what do we live, but to make sport by subjecting our neighbors to endless discretionary review for minor additions?"  — Jane Austen

Randall Myers @ranpuba

"The best laid plans take 40 years to complete."  — Robert Burns
 

Mr. T in DC @MrTinDC

"We have nothing to fear, but fear itself, and main street turning into another Adams Morgan."  — Franklin D. Roosevelt

Randall Myers @ranpuba

"All the world's a stage ... and you better have a zoning variance or it's coming down."  — William Shakespeare

Eric C. @transbay

"If you would build something, you must first be something. But really, it's better just to not build anything."  — Goethe

Christopher Kidd @BikeBlogChris

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win, then they build nothing."  — Mahatma Gandhi

Tim Rood @Rood4Piedmont

"If we are together, nothing is possible."  — Winston Churchill
 

Randall Myers @ranpuba

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you—unless they covet a sidewalk—then hit them with an injunction."  — Proverb

Tim Rood @Rood4Piedmont

"If they can dream it, you can stop it."  — Walt Disney
 

Emily @stayawaystars

"Never tell me the sky is the limit when the zoning code clearly imposes a stricter limit."  — Paul Brandt

SharrowsDC @sharrowsdc

"A house divided (into multiple units) cannot stand."  — Abraham Lincoln
 

Tiffany Bridge @tiffany

"Teach your children well, so they don't live in off-campus group houses and throw loud parties while I'm trying to sleep."  — Graham Nash

Mr. T in DC @MrTinDC

"A chicken in every pot, NOT in every backyard!"  — Herbert Hoover
 

City Beautiful 21 @citybeautiful21

"Scuttle no small plans. They have no magic to stir single issue individuals into a group of people against everything."  — Daniel Burnham

What would you add?