

From: Return of the Jedi

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Darth Vader

The story behind the quote: To commemorate the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it seems only fitting that we focus on a quote from one of the original Star Wars films. This week’s quote comes from Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. More specifically, the final battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

Luke tries to reason with his father, Darth Vader. He reasons that Vader wasn’t able to bring himself to kill his son before, so there’s no way he’ll be able to do it now. This is when Vader delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom: There are actually two pieces of Geek Wisdom we can pick from the quote.

First, the power of darkness is easy to underestimate and can overcome you without you even knowing it. In fact, evil can be downright enticing and captivating! So much so that even the nicest of people can succumb to its allure. It’s human nature. We have to be really strong to not get sucked in.

The second piece of Geek Wisdom actually comes from the second part of the quote. The only thing evil has to happen in order to succeed is for good people to do nothing. We have to be able and ready to fight back when we see injustice happening around us.

“Let the hate flow through you.”

From: Return of the Jedi

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Emperor Palpatine

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from “Episode VI” of the Star Wars film franchise, Return of the Jedi. It is, as of this writing, the last film timeline-wise in the Star Wars movies. However, we are going to get a new trilogy starting with Episode VII: The Force Awakens this December.

But we’re not talking about The Force Awakens. We’re talking about Return of the Jedi!

The quote comes during the final scenes of the film. Luke Skywalker has come aboard the new Death Star to confront his father, Darth Vader. It turns out Emperor Palpatine, the leader of The Empire, is also aboard and the Sith Lord intends to turn Luke to the Dark Side. In order to accomplish this, Palpatine goads Luke to kill his father and, essentially, give in to the intense dark feeling the young Jedi master has against Darth Vader.

Geek wisdom: Hate is a very strong emotion. But that’s all it is: an emotion. It’s something that you can control. Like all emotions, it’s something you can control. In fact, in this day of age, you need to have full control over it and never late hate control you.

“It’s a trap!”

From: Star Wars: Return of The Jedi

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Admiral Ackbar 

The story behind the quote: This week, we have another quote from the Star Wars films. This one, however, is kind of special as it doesn’t come from any of the main cast members. In fact, he was only introduced in Return of the Jedi. This week’s quote comes from Admiral Ackbar, the Mon Calimari (yes, that the name of his species) tactical leader of the Rebel Alliance.

The quote comes from the pivotal scene where Admiral Ackbar leads an assault on the new Death Star. Hoping that Han Solo, Princess Leia and the rest have disarmed the force field emanating from the forest moon of Endor. After realizing that the Empire has actually been waiting for them, he utters one of the most remembered lines on he film.

Geek wisdom: Murphy’s Law states that, if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. No matter how much you plan, there is always the chance you’ll encounter some unforeseeable circumstance that can throw all your meticulous planning out the window.

When these situations do happen, there’s nothing you can really do but just wing it and hope for the best.

“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.