Portrait of Richard Stallman

Richard Stallman

Free software zealot, eccentric habits

Contemporary weird famous 227 sayings

Sayings by Richard Stallman

Cooking that makes you sick is called queasine.

2000-2024 — Puns section on his personal website.
Food & Drink Unverifiable

McDonald's sells 'fast food', so called because it is made for not eating.

2000-2024 — Puns section on his personal website.
Food & Drink Unverifiable

I decided not to have children. (...) Not having children is an important contribution to humanity. My decision probably reduced the 2050 population by 5 to 10 people.

~2007 — Goodreads quotes, reflecting on his life decisions and their impact.
General Unverifiable

As a matter of principle, I refuse to own a tie. I find ties uncomfortable, so I don't wear them. (...) I think the tie means, 'I will be so subservient as an employee that I will do even totally senseless things just because you tell me to.'

~2000s — Goodreads quotes and personal website, describing his stance on ties and their societal meaning.
Self-Deprecating Unverifiable

Well I guess it probably was Funny on my shoulder. Funny is a cockatiel parrot… That likes to lick my hair. (...) I guess I just felt loved. (...) Sometimes I feel admired, but that's different from being loved.

2024 — Interview, referring to his parrot.
Relationships Unverifiable

…and do not post it to YouTube, as it doesn't work with free software!

2024 — Said at the end of an interview.
Work & Money Unverifiable

If battered shrimps are your interest, we should have some here soon.

2000 — Making a pun at dinner in a Japanese restaurant.
General Unverifiable

throw Windows out of the computer, or the computer out the Window.

~2010s — Commencement speech at Lakehead University.
General Unverifiable

It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign. … Somebody is saying this is inevitable – and whenever you hear somebody saying that, it's very likely to be a set of businesses campaigning to make it true.

2008 — Commenting on "cloud computing" in an interview for The Guardian.
Work & Money Unverifiable

My Saint iGNUcius comedy routine consists of a series of jokes about the fictional Church of Emacs that humorously compare ideas of the free software movement with real aspects of various world religions.

2023 — Describing his comedy routine on his personal website.
General Unverifiable

When I introduced the Virgin of Emacs as a character into the routine, she was female because she was an allusion to the Virgin Mary, and an 'Emacs virgin' in the sense that she had never used Emacs.

2023 — Describing his comedy routine on his personal website.
General Unverifiable

I wouldn't accept a jailbroken iPad because it still would have proprietary software in it so it would still be an ethical a giant ethical step down from where I am now and I wouldn't do that.

2017 — Interview segment in a YouTube compilation.
Self-Deprecating Unverifiable

I dislike c…rap music.

2021 — Statement often found in compilations of his quotes, likely from his personal site.
General Unverifiable

I don't smile artificially for photos because such smiles look insipid to me. Old photos from before 1950 seem much more dignified because the subjects did not smile. I'd rather be photographed that way.

2021 — Statement often found in compilations of his quotes, likely from his personal site.
Self-Deprecating Unverifiable

'Breakfast'? Is that the thing some people eat in the 'morning'?

~1970s-present — Statement often found in compilations of his quotes, likely from his personal site, discussing his u…
Food & Drink Unverifiable

None of my shirts carry messages (such as words or symbols). That practice strikes me as lacking dignity, almost like being a sandwich man, so I won't wear clothing with symbols, not even for causes I support.

2021 — Statement often found in compilations of his quotes, likely from his personal site.
General Unverifiable

The GNU GPL is not Mr. Nice Guy.

~1989 — Describing the GNU General Public License.
General Unverifiable

Even I, the only man in the world who can get angry from looking at a picture of a penguin, find this bad news.

~2000s — Wikiquote, in context of bad news.
General Unverifiable

The only way to keep something from being copied is to make it so bad it's not worth copying.

~2000s — General philosophy on intellectual property.
General Unverifiable

The idea that music is private property took hold in the digital age, but it is an absurd and unjust idea.

~2000s — General philosophy on digital rights.
Life & Aging Unverifiable
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