Quote I can't remember

[Andraste]

I vaguely recall hearing/reading a quote once that was like, "you don't truly know a man until you hold him over a volcano and look into his soul", or something like that. All my searching has been fruitless, so I'm starting to think I might have made it up. Does it sound familiar to anyone?

[Tirian]

It's a fictional quote from Firefly.

Book: He said, "Live with a man forty years. Share his house, his meals… speak on every subject… then tie him up, and hold him over the volcano's edge. And on that day, you will finally meet the man."
Simon: What if you don't live near a volcano?
Book: I expect he was being poetical.

[Andraste]

That's it, thank you! And here I was thinking it was from some ancient leader or something.

[Jack Squat]

Well, it was supposed to be. In the show it was attributed to Xiang Yu, a prominent leader during the later part of the Qin Dynasty.

[Adumbration]

Say, if you don't mind me using this thread, I have a quote too that I can't place.

It goes something like this: "I'd rather be a gentle man than a gentleman." Ring any bells?

[Manga Shoggoth]

Say, if you don't mind me using this thread, I have a quote too that I can't place.

It goes something like this: "I'd rather be a gentle man than a gentleman." Ring any bells?

It's from The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett - Actually it's Sybil Ramkin musing about her husband, reflecting that he is a gentle man rather than a gentleman.

[Adumbration]

It's from The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett - Actually it's Sybil Ramkin musing about her husband, reflecting that he is a gentle man rather than a gentleman.

Thanks, that has been bugging me for a while.

[Dr.Epic]

That's it, thank you! And here I was thinking it was from some ancient leader or something.

It sounds like something a Bond villain would say because Bond villains think of crazy plans with huge flaws the hero can easily escape from (like slowly lowering them into a volcano).

It also kind of sounds like a variant on a line from the first Batman film: Have you ever danced with a fire elemental in the hot molten lava?