# Quotations IV

Originally published: 2016-02-02
Canonical URL: /2016/Feb/quotations-iv/

> MISTY: You know, I usually burn incense when I meditate, but the smell of a burning city can be just as relaxing.  
> JENNY: People are in danger! Why don't you do something?!  
> MISTY: They stiffed me.  
> JENNY: What?  
> MISTY: Your town. Tremorton. They wouldn't cough up the cash for services rendered.  
> JENNY: I have no idea what you're talking about.  
> MISTY: I'm a hero for hire. I save people for money. You knew that.  
> JENNY: And if they don't pay up, you just _let them get pummeled?_  
> MISTY: Pretty much. I have to eat, don't I?  
> (JENNY flies away, disgusted)  
> MISTY: I'm not living with my mom, like some people!

—_My Life as a Teenage Robot_, "Mist Opportunities"

> A second way of interpreting the effort level $e^{MIN}$ is to consider that the principal and the agent do not have completely conflicting objectives. It is possible that the agent gets some utility from his work, but only up to a certain effort level. We assume that the level that the agent is willing to spontaneously offer is $e^{MIN}$. The agency problem turns up in this case since the principal would like the agent to offer an effort greater than his spontaneous level.

—Inés Macho-Stadler and J. Davis Pérez-Castrillo, _An Introduction to the Economics of Information_

> The judge currently accepts programs written in C, C++, Pascal, and Java, so your favorite language is probably available.

—Steven S. Skiena and Miguel A. Revilla, _Programming Challenges: The Programming Contest Training Manual_

> I'm a slave to my spells  
> And yes it's true, well  
> I don't have as many friends as you  
> But I think you're nice and maybe we could be friends  
> And if you say no, you're toast

—"Ashley's Song", _Super Smash Bros. Brawl_

> First world problems  
> They cause frustration  
> Forget starvation  
> In nations abroad  
> We've got plenty  
> That bug so many  
> I doubt that anyone's happy

—["First World Problems"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zUjSHL_Fks), AVbyte

> He is teasing me. Joviality is one of Max's preferred diffusion tactics. Taking on a deliberately inflated voice when directly addressing our differences is designed to produce an effect whereby we might wink at one another: _We are both metacognizant, we both know the clichés about the other side._ It isn't entirely ineffective.

—[Emmett Rensin](http://www.vox.com/2015/2/5/7942623/mens-rights-movement)