Judicial Executions in Hamilton Co. TN

Judicial executions were originally a local affair, always by hanging and usually in the county seat, which in Hamilton County, Tennessee, was at Harrison after 1840.  Only one person was ever executed there.  In all, only three public judicial executions were ever carried in the county, with the rest of the eight (total) performed in the gallows in the basement of the old Hamilton County Jail.

Washington Gann, white, was the first person in Hamilton County to be convicted of first-degree murder since the county’s incorporation in 1819.  Gann was sentenced to hang on 10 July 1857 at Harrison for the murder of William (or David) Wilcoxen at Dallas, Hamilton Co., but escaped custody.  A team from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office captured him at Independence, Missouri, and brought him back to Knoxville, but there is no further record.

Joseph (or Jacob) Huff, black, was hanged 27 December 1867 at Harrison for the murder of Kilpatrick.  Reportedly 2000 attended his execution, the first in the county.

In 1870, the county seat moved from Harrison to the railroad center at Chattanooga to the southeast.

In 1871, Hamilton County split at a line from the mouth of Harrison Spring Branch to Blackwell’s Ford on the Chickamauga River (South Chickamauga Creek), with the eastern portion becoming James County.  Ooltewah was voted the county seat.  In the whole time of its existence into 1919, its courts never handed down a death penalty.

Shade Westmoreland (or Wood), white, was hanged 19 November 1874 in Chattanooga at the intersection of Baldwin and Vine Streets (the site of the seal in front of the UTC student center) for the murder of William Emberling.  The first to be hanged in Chattanooga, reportedly 5000 attended his execution.

Henry Lawson, black, was hanged 2 September 1881 in Chattanooga at the commons just east of the East Tennessee, Virginia, & Georgia Railroad between Oak Street and McCallie Avenue (the site of the outdoor seating for the Yellow Deli) for the rape of Miss Donaldson of Missionary Ridge.

Jesse Frierson (or Trierson), black, was hanged 2 January 1892 at Hamilton County Jail in Chattanooga for the murder of CPD Officer David Musgrove.  He was the first to be hung from the gallows in the basement.

George Mapp and Buddy Wooten, both black, were hanged 11 January 1895 at Hamilton County Jail in Chattanooga for murder and robbery of white saloonkeeper Marion L. Ross.

Ed Turner, white, was hanged 27 February 1908 at Hamilton County Jail in Chattanooga for murder of his wife Lillie.

Dave Dudley Edwards, white, was hanged 29 January 1909 at Hamilton County Jail in Chattanooga for the murder of J.W. Davis (one of sixteen men he’d killed by his own account).  Edwards, who was contracted by Sheriff Sam Conner to track down Ed Turner while out on bail on charges of manslaughter over the killing of Sam Brooks, was the last person executed in the county jail.

Malcolm and Martin on the White Liberal/Moderate

In 1963, both Malik Shabazz (formerly Malcolm X) and Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the fecklessness and superficiality of white liberals, Malik in two at least two speeches and Martin in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”.  Malik uses the term “white liberal” where Martin uses the term “white moderate” but they clearly refer to the same sorry faithless, spineless group.

Speech by Malik Shabazz at the University of California in early 1963 (excerpts)

‘The white liberal is the worst enemy to America, and the worst enemy to the black man.  Let me explain what I mean by the white liberal.

‘In America there is no such thing as Democrat or Republican anymore.  In America you have liberals and conservatives.  The only people living in the past who think in terms of I’m a Democrat or Republican, is the American Negro.  He’s the one that runs around bragging about party affiliation.  He’s the one that sticks to the Democrat or sticks to the Republican.

‘But white people are divided into two groups, liberals and conservative.  The Democrats who are conservative vote with the Republicans who are conservative.  The Democrats who are liberal vote with the Republicans that are liberal.  The white liberal aren’t white people who are for independence, who are moral and ethical in their thinking.  They are just a faction of white people that are jockeying for power.

‘The same as the white conservative is a faction of white people that are jockeying for power.   They are fighting each other for power and prestige, and the one that is the football in the game is the Negro, 20 million black people.  A political football, a political pawn, an economic football, and economic pawn.  A social football, a social pawn.

‘The liberal elements of whites are those who have perfected the art of selling themselves to the Negro as a friend of the Negro.  Getting sympathy of the Negro, getting the allegiance of the Negro, and getting the mind of the Negro.  Then the Negro sides with the white liberal, and the white liberal use the Negro against the white conservative.  So that anything that the Negro does is never for his own good, never for his own advancement, never for his own progress, he’s only a pawn in the hands of the white liberal.

‘The worst enemy that the Negro have is this white man that runs around here drooling at the mouth professing to love Negros, and calling himself a liberal, and it is following these white liberals that has perpetuated problems that Negros have.  If the Negro wasn’t taken, tricked, or deceived by the white liberal then Negros would get together and solve our own problems.

‘I only cite these things to show you that in America the history of the white liberal has been nothing but a series of trickery designed to make Negros think that the white liberal was going to solve our problems.  Our problems will never be solved by the white man.  The only way that our problem will be solved is when the black man wakes up, clean himself up, stand on his own feet and stop begging the white man, and take immediate steps to do for ourselves the things that we have been waiting on the white man to do for us.  Once we do for self then we will be able to solve our own problems.

‘The white conservatives aren't friends of the Negro either, but they at least don't try to hide it. They are like wolves; they show their teeth in a snarl that keeps the Negro always aware of where he stands with them.  But the white liberals are foxes, who also show their teeth to the Negro but pretend that they are smiling.  The white liberals are more dangerous than the conservatives; they lure the Negro, and as the Negro runs from the growling wolf, he flees into the open jaws of the “smiling” fox.  One is the wolf, the other is a fox. No matter what, they’ll both eat you.’

Letter From The Birmingham Jail (excerpts)

Martin Luther King, 16 April 1963

(I just recently learned that Martin included this portion in his letter because a group of eight white clergymen had published an open letter to Dr. King and his associates and followers admonishing him and them over their “aggressive” tactics and calling on them to be less confrontational.)

‘First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate.  I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;” who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season.

‘Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.  Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

‘In spite of my shattered dreams of the past, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause, and with deep moral concern, serve as the channel through which our just grievances would get to the power structure.  I had hoped that each of you would understand.  But again I have been disappointed.  I have heard numerous religious leaders of the South call upon their worshippers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers say, “follow this decree because integration is morally right and the Negro is your brother.”  In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churches stand on the sideline and merely mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities.  In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard so many ministers say, “those are social issues with which the gospel has no real concern", and I have watched so many churches commit themselves to a completely other-worldly religion which made a strange distinction between body and soul, the sacred and the secular.

‘So here we are moving toward the exit of the twentieth century with a religious community largely adjusted to the status quo, standing as a tail-light behind other community agencies rather than a headlight leading men to higher levels of justice.’

Speech by Malik Shabazz, New York, 1 December 1963

(excerpts)

‘In this deceitful American game of power politics, the Negroes (i.e., the race problem, the integration and civil rights issues) are nothing but tools, used by one group of whites called Liberals against another group of whites called Conservatives, either to get into power or to remain in power.  Among whites here in America, the political teams are no longer divided into Democrats and Republicans.  The whites who are now struggling for control of the American political throne are divided into “liberal” and “conservative” camps.  The white liberals from both parties cross party lines to work together toward the same goal, and white conservatives from both parties do likewise.

‘The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way: the liberal is more deceitful than the conservative.  The liberal is more hypocritical than the conservative.  Both want power, but the white liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro's friend and benefactor; and by winning the friendship, allegiance, and support of the Negro, the white liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or tool in this political “football game” that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white conservatives.

‘Politically the American Negro is nothing but a football and the white liberals control this mentally dead ball through tricks of tokenism: false promises of integration and civil rights.  In this profitable game of deceiving and exploiting the political politician of the American Negro, those white liberals have the willing cooperation of the Negro civil rights leaders.  These “leaders” sell out our people for just a few crumbs of token recognition and token gains.  These “leaders” are satisfied with token victories and token progress because they themselves are nothing but token leaders.

‘…The three million Negro voters are the so-called middle-class Negroes, referred to by the late Howard University sociologist, E. Franklin Frazier, as the “black bourgeoisie”, who have been educated to think as patriotic "individualists," with no racial pride, and who therefore look forward hopefully to the future “integrated-intermarried” society promised them by the white liberals and the Negro “leaders”.  It is with this hope that the "integration-minded" three million remain an active part of the white-controlled political parties.  But it must never be overlooked that these three million “integration seekers” are only a small minority of the eleven million potential Negro voters…

‘…In this deceitful American game of power politics, the Negroes (i.e., the race problem, the integration and civil rights issues) are nothing but tools, used by one group of whites called Liberals against another group of whites called Conservatives, either to get into power or to remain in power.  Among whites here in America, the political teams are no longer divided into Democrats and Republicans.  The whites who are now struggling for control of the American political throne are divided into “liberal” and “conservative” camps.  The white liberals from both parties cross party lines to work together toward the same goal, and white conservatives from both parties do likewise.

‘The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way: the liberal is more deceitful than the conservative.  The liberal is more hypocritical than the conservative.  Both want power, but the white liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro’s friend and benefactor; and by winning the friendship, allegiance, and support of the Negro, the white liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or tool in this political “football game” that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white conservatives.

‘Politically the American Negro is nothing but a football and the white liberals control this mentally dead ball through tricks of tokenism: false promises of integration and civil rights.  In this profitable game of deceiving and exploiting the political politician of the American Negro, those white liberals have the willing cooperation of the Negro civil rights leaders.  These “leaders” sell out our people for just a few crumbs of token recognition and token gains. These “leaders” are satisfied with token victories and token progress because they themselves are nothing but token leaders…

‘…The three million Negro voters are the so-called middle-class Negroes, referred to by the late Howard University sociologist, E. Franklin Frazier, as the “black bourgeoisie”, who have been educated to think as patriotic “individualists”, with no racial pride, and who therefore look forward hopefully to the future “integrated-intermarried” society promised them by the white liberals and the Negro “leaders”.  It is with this hope that the “integration-minded” three million remain an active part of the white-controlled political parties.  But it must never be overlooked that these three million “integration seekers” are only a small minority of the eleven million potential Negro voters…

‘…Think how the late President himself got into office by only scant margin which was “donated” to him by Negro voters, and think how many governors and other white politicians hold their seats (some by less than five thousand votes).  Only then can you understand the importance of these white liberals place on their control of the Negro vote!…

‘…Let us examine briefly some of the tricky strategy used by white liberals to harness and exploit the political energies of the Negro.  The crooked politicians in Washington, D.C., purposely make a big noise over the proposed civil rights legislation.  By blowing up the civil rights issue they skillfully add false importance to the Negro civil rights “leaders”.  Once the image of these Negro civil rights “leaders” has been blown up way beyond its proper proportion, these same Negro civil rights “leaders” are then used by white liberals to influence and control the Negro voters, all for the benefit of the white politicians who pose as liberals, who pose as friends of the Negro.

‘The white conservatives aren’t friends of the Negro either, but they at least don’t try to hide it.  They are like wolves; they show their teeth in a snarl that keeps the Negro always aware of where he stands with them.  But the white liberals are foxes, who also show their teeth to the Negro but pretend that they are smiling.  The white liberals are more dangerous than the conservatives; they lure the Negro, and as the Negro runs from the growling wolf, he flees into the open jaws of the “smiling” fox.

‘The job of the Negro civil rights leader is to make the Negro forget that the wolf and the fox both belong to the (same) family.  Both are canines; and no matter which one of them the Negro places his trust in, he never ends up in the White House, but always in the dog house.

‘The white liberals control the Negro and the Negro vote by controlling the Negro civil rights leaders.  As long as they control the Negro civil rights leaders, they can also control and contain the Negro’s struggle, and they can control the Negro’s so-called revolt.  The Negro “revolution” is controlled by these foxy white liberals, by the government itself. But the black revolution is controlled only by God…

‘…The Negro “revolt” is controlled by the white man, the white fox.  The Negro “revolution” is controlled by this white government.  The leaders of the Negro “revolution” (the civil rights leaders) are all subsidized, influenced and controlled by the white liberals; and all of the demonstrations that are taking place on this country to desegregate lunch counters, theaters, public toilets, etc., are just artificial fires that have been ignited and fanned by the white liberals in the desperate hope that they can use this artificial revolution to fight off the real black revolution that has already swept white supremacy out of Africa, Asia, and is sweeping it out of Latin America...and is even now manifesting itself also right here among the black masses in this country…’

Facebook is a shit show

I was first going to call this “Why I am quitting Facebook”, but since I am retaining my account for reasons of communicating with those still active, I figured a name change was in order.

I first joined Facebook at Dalton State College back in the late ‘00s, when My Space was still a big thing.  But I didn’t really do anything with it until the Green Movement broke out in Iran in June 2009, when I joined with countless others distributing news and information about what was going on inside the country. 

As far as I know, the Green Movement’s use of Facebook was what began the website’s use to disseminate news and to politically organize.  I kept posting information almost solely about Iran for the next couple of years as the movement continued, if in a somewhat shrunken form.  Then came the Arab Spring, the indignado movement in Spain, and the Occupy movement in the USA and the rest of the world.

Remember the Wall?  That was the old set up, the one operating when I first joined back in the ‘00s.  It was great; you could post as much stuff as you liked to your Wall and it was then accessible to all those on your Friend list and anyone else if you wanted to expand that.  Then Facebook completely fucked that up with Timeline. 

So I created a group that eventually became Terran News, so titled to show its global character news-wise, and later Chattanooga Queer News.  I have now archived both those and will limit my posting to strictly local news, moving to Twitter for national and global news both regional and world, for the reasons given below.

Before I get into my stuff, it has bothered me for quite some time that Facebook has without much justification eliminated large swaths of groups such as news group for Palestinians with little justification, while allowing some of the most heinous right-wing and fascist crap to remain.

On 10 February, Facebook hit me with a 24 hour suspension from posting or commenting based on my posting this article from The Guardian, saying it violates the website community standards on nudity:

On 23 March, Facebook suspended me from posting or commenting for 3 days then upped that to 7 days, restricting me also from Messenger for posting this article from The Guardian, saying it violates the website community standards on nudity.

The most egregious case came on 25 May, when Facebook suspended me from posting and commenting for 30 days for "hate speech" because I posted the following article, yet again from The Guardian, with the comment "American Idiots", confirming its degree when I protested, despite the fact that (1) I am an American myself, (2) my comment is a clear reference to the song by the band Green Day, and (3) the behavior of these people who crowded beaches and pools over Memorial Day weekend with no distancing or PPE is not only idiotic but potentially harmful to vast numbers of people, and may indeed be the spark which restarted the COVID-19 surge.

If you want to follow me for the news I used to post to Facebook or just to stay in contact, follow me on Twitter; my ID is natty4bumpo.  Being on a 30-day suspension from Facebook taught me that I can do on Twitter what I did on Facebook in half the time.

On the relevance of the Founding Fathers today

“Fuck ’em; they’re dead.”

(The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living. And just as they seem to be occupied with revolutionizing themselves and things, creating something that did not exist before, precisely in such epochs of revolutionary crisis they anxiously conjure up the spirits of the past to their service, borrowing from them names, battle slogans, and costumes in order to present this new scene in world history in time-honored disguise and borrowed language. – Karl Marx, “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte”, Die Revolution, 1852)

(White) Liberalism, Black Lives Matter, and Historical Accuracy

I’m a socialist, specifically a communist, a communist being a revolutionary socialist advocating the total destruction of capitalism and the erection in its place of not a hierarchical dictatorship of one party but a cooperative commonwealth which replaces the sham of political democracy limited to selection of one’s rulers from among a narrow elite with a real political democracy in which economic, industrial, and social democracy are intrinsic, one in which the needs of the many outweigh the greed and ambition of the few and which rejects both capitalism of the elite and capitalism of the state a la Leninism and its offspring, both being equally destructive of the freedom, security, and general welfare of the people.

(White) Liberalism & the CBC

Having said that, let me stress how much I hate liberalism.  Martin called its adherents “white moderates”, Malik (Malcolm) called them “white liberals” (read both if their denunciations in 1963).  Liberals, centrists, moderates, “pragmatic progressives” are all the designations for the same group, and appending the adjective “white” to liberalism in America is always accurate since that ideology of status quo is dominated by and most benefits White People of the Nordic, Gentile, mostly Protestant variety.

Take, for instance, the endorsement of Joe Biden by Jim Clyburn in the 2020 Democratic primary of South Carolina.  Or the endorsement of Hillary Clinton, the woman Sister Souljah referred to as a “plantation mistress”, in 2016 by the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus (without consulting its membership), following its likewise initial endorsement of Hillary Clinton in 2008 despite Barack Obama having already declared, though CBC did later switch.  Or, much more recently, the CBC’s endorsement of Eliot Engel over Jamaal Bowman for the Democratic nomination to the 19th Congressional District of the State of New York.  The last reminds me in so many ways of the Human Rights Campaign and the Stonewal Democrats endorsing establishment Democrat Andrew Cuomo over queer progressive Cynthia Nixon in 2018.

As a representative of the interests of Black People, the CBC sold its soul long ago in 1994 when it voted to allow the bill drafted by Sen. Joe Biden and Sen. Strom Thurmond which became the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act out of the committee into which it had been introduced.  CBC members had been holding up what many have described as the Mass Incarceration Act but caved into pressure to allow it out of the committee and onto the floor where passage was all but guaranteed.  And indeed, that is what happened, even though many CBC members such as John Lewis who’d allowed it out of committee onto the floor where passage was inevitable voted against it.

Origins of the Mass Incarceration Act of 1994

The bill was part of the Democratic Leadership Council, the “Third Way” group of neo-Dixiecrats who’d remained in the party after the hardcore Dixiecrat exodus to the Republican Party in the 1980s, program to realign the Democratic Party to the right, one part of this recasting Democrats as the “law-and-order” party (see Lee Atwater).  Clinton introduced that phase of his plan during the 1992 campaign at Stone Mountain Correctional Facility, in the same community as the founding of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in 1915 and with the nation’s largest idol to the Lost Cause of the Confederacy, with fellow neo-Dixiecrats Zell Miller and Sam Nunn flanking him in front of row upon row of inmates standing at parade rest, all of them Afro-American, a scene which was meant to send a message to its intended target.

Naturally, I support Black Lives Matter and the related Movement for Black Lives, support which is merely a continuation of my involvement with the original group of Chattanooga’s Concerned Citizens for Justice from the early 1990s to its dissolution (the group’s revival in 2012 after the murder of Trayvon Martin by white vigilante George Zimmerman was endorsed by my friend Maxine Cousin, the first group’s principal founder).  That is why I find it necessary to correct certain positions adopted by some advocates based on what are either historical misperceptions or historical outright deceptions, most of these actually arising from the afore-denounced white liberalism.

The actual end of slavery

Slavery did not end with the Emancipation Proclamation proclaimed in 22 September 1862 and taking effect on 1 January 1863.  In fact, that document specifically exempted West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, certain counties in northern Virginia, and parishes of Louisiana east of the Mississippi River.  Nor was slavery ended in those territories on 19 June 1863, when the last slaves in the State of Texas were liberated under the provisions of the proclamation.  No, the slaves in the above exempt territories were not freed until the 13th Amendment went into effect 18 December 1865.  However, that date being just a week before Christmas, Juneteenth is the best day to celebrate the end of that atrocity.  Especially since the 13th Amendment did not really end slavery either, but contains a loophole allowing it to continue to this day.

Master bedrooms

The first use of the term “master bedroom” occurred in the house section of the 1926 Sears & Roebuck catalog, where the term was actually “master’s bedroom”.  Being sixty-one years after the afore-mentioned 13th Amendment, trying to connect this designation with slavery is more than a bit of a stretch, but liberals are trying really hard, calling it both racist and sexist.  The publishers of the catalog realized the second point early on, changing the designation to “master bedroom”, master in this case signifying main, principal, or predominant.  The move of Texas realtors to change the terminology smacks of pandering, but, really, who gives a shit one way or the other?

Rhode Island

Another name change currently being pushed is that of the state officially known as Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, under the historically inaccurate assertion that the word plantations here refers to slavery.  Under early modern English law, a plantation was a particular type of colony, the first in the Americas being the colony of Providence Plantations granted to Roger Williams in 1636.  Plantations were first granted to English lords in Ireland in the 1500s in the Irish provinces of Munster and Leinster, in the province of Ulster at the turn of that century, and in the province of Connacht in the mid-1600s.  Since Rhode Island legally abolished slavery in 1652, keeping Providence Plantations in its name was out of deference to its primary founder and not a reference to slavery.  However, the full official name is a mouthful and inconvenient, so change it.

Origin of police in America

Municipal police departments in the United States did not arise from slave patrols, but from the night watch brought over from England that were the primary law enforcement and security vehicles until being dissolved to make way for said police departments.  This is true even in Southern cities.  Did the practices of the former slave patrols make it into the later practices of those police departments?  Indubitably, especially in the South once Jim Crow became the norm.  But to say that police in the United States came from slave patrols is either badly mistaken or utter bullshit.

Why I’m pointing these things out

Black Lives Matter is a movement I really care about and I don’t want to see it go down the same sorts of rabbit holes American (white) liberalism often does.  Like, for instance, the current manufactured shitstorm deriving from the recent New York Times fiction about Russians paying the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. 

This article is sourced from “anonymous intelligence officials”, the same amorphous group which gave us the stories about Saddam Hussein’s massive stockpiles of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons of mass destruction in 2003. 

The tall tale is being promoted by literally the very same people who pushed the invasion of Iraq in 2003 over those fictitious WMDs, now calling themselves the Lincoln Project.  You don’t believe me?  Check its roster.  After Dick Cheney tweeted a pic of himself wearing a mask, the Lincoln Project welcomed the author of the Iraq War into #TheResistance.

Taking or advocating actions based on faulty historical premises runs the risk of discrediting the movement, much as liberals seizing onto such an obviously fictitious story will make themselves look ridiculous.

Favorite quotes from The Magicians

While some of these will definitely fit into almost any Fillorian’s list of the best quotes, this list is of my personal favorites.

“There’s no such thing as safe magic; you should know that Quentin.  Might as well take a risk.” – Alice to Quentin, S01E01 ‘Unauthorized Magic’

“Funny little irony they don’t tell you: Magic doesn’t come from talent; it comes from pain.” – Eliot to Quentin, S01E02 ‘The Source of Magic’

“You're not very remarkable. You're smart, but no genius. You do magic, but nothing special. And the worst is, you're so eager to belong, you even forget why you're here.” – Eliza (Jane) to Quentin, S01E02 ‘The Source of Magic’

“There is no destiny, no born heroes.  I can’t tell you why - why The Beast came sniffing for you.  There’s no reason it should be you.  You can either step up to it or not, it’s up to you.  We’ll just hope for the best.” – Eliza (Jane) to Quentin, S01E02 ‘The Source of Magic’

“You don’t see color and want to go back to black and white.” – Quentin to Eliot, S01E02 ‘The Source of Magic’

“It doesn’t matter what anyone tells you; you make the web you’re in.  You’re the spider and the fly.” – Eliza (Jane) to Quentin, S01E04 ‘The World in the Walls’

“The Madness Maker didn’t play for the joy of winning, just the fear of losing.  The real curse was he only played when he could win, which cut home off from the surprise, horror, sadness, and wonder of life.  Jane saw only one way out for him: stop playing; start living.” – Quentin reading from Fillory Further #1: The World in the Walls, S01E04 ‘The World in the Walls’

“I don’t need to be taught what magic is or isn’t; I need to be taught magic, so that I can decide what it is or isn’t, for me.” – Quentin to Henry, S01E04 ‘The World in the Walls’

“Please tell me that someone has pointed out to you that magic doesn’t come from sunshine and ice cream.  For any of us.” – Margo to Quentin, S01E05 Mendings, Minor and Major’

“A great way to get the things you want is to be so miserable that you don’t want them anymore.” – Margo to Quentin, S01E05  ‘Mendings, Minor and Major’

“Hell is real, and it smells like Axe body spray.” – Penny 40 to Quentin and Alice, S01E08 ‘The Strangled Heart’

“There’s a word for when you lean on something:  a crutch.  Replacing drugs or booze or porn or whatever with a Higher Power is just swapping out one crutch for another.” – Julia to Richard in group, S01E08 ‘The Strangled Heart’

“My brain breaks sometimes.” – Quentin to Alice, S01E09 ‘The Writing Room’

“The world never did help a smart girl.  Why would it?   We scare the shit out of the world.  If the world comes after you, take it as a compliment.” – Kira to Julia, S01E09 ‘The Writing Room’

“Life ain’t fair.  Why in the high holy fuck should death be any different?  Thinking that you can change anything, it’s such a monumental act of ego.  I mean, who the fuck do you think you really are?  I mean you’re just an arrogant little twat, so just suck it up.” – Eliot to Alice, S01E09  ‘The Writing Room’

“People who read their (own) books often discover that they don’t like the main character, and are rarely happy with how it ends.” – Zelda to Penny 40, S01E10 ‘Homecoming’

“Life is a unicorn shitting rainbows of candy.” – Eliot to Margo, S01E10 ‘Homecoming’

“Giving a shit about someone that you give a shit about doesn’t just evaporate the second that they fuck up.” – Quentin to Kady, S01E11 ‘Remedial Battle Magic’

“There’s this thing about you, Q; you actually believe in magic.  We all know it’s real, but you believe in it.  You just love it, pure and simple.” – Margo to Quentin, S01E11 ‘Remedial Battle Magic’

“You’re the volunteer tomato.  In a garden, you pull everything up. Sometimes a stray vine just keeps coming back. It volunteers. That's really why you, Quentin, you just keep coming.” – Eliza (Jane) to Quentin, S01E13 ‘Have You Brought Me Little Cakes?’

“I’m so fucking bored, children of Earth.” – Ember to Quentin and Alice, S01E13 ‘Have You Brought Me Little Cakes?’

“We’re stuck in some epic fantasy that likes to behead its heroes halfway through season one.” – Margo to Eliot, S02E01 ‘Knight of Crowns’

“Come near me and the knife won’t kill you, ‘cause you can still live without a dick.” – Julia to The Beast, S02E02 ‘Hotel Spa Potions’

“You’re acting like this is your first regicide.” – Margo to Penny 40, S02E03 ‘Divine Elimination’

“Since when are you Fillory Clinton?” – Eliot to Margo, S02E04 ‘The Flying Forest’

“Everything I’ve ever wanted I’ve got.  Magic is real, and it can fix anything except what I need.  I loved a girl.  My entire life I’ve dreamed of Fillory, that I would be like Martin Chatwin; I’d find a way to stay here forever.  Send me home.” – Quentin to The White Lady, S02E04 ‘The Flying Forest’

“Get over yourself, Ned Stark.” – Margo to Eliot, S02E05 ‘Cheat Day’

“When we’re the least snobby people in the room, there’s something wrong with the room.” – Margo to Eliot, S02E05 ‘Cheat Day’

“I know the difference between magic and miracles.  One is real and one is a lie with sparkles.” – Julia to Kady, S02E05 ‘Cheat Day’

“This would only be equivalent if Ess was a girl and you found pussy, you know, interesting in a ‘sometimes you like Thai food’ kind of way.  And now it’s all Thai food, forever, until you die.” – Eliot to Margo, S02E06 ‘The Cock Barrens’

“You fucked with us.  You fucked with out castle.  And now we’re gonna put our Jimmy Choos so far up your ass; you’re gonna taste next season!” – Margo to Prince Ess, S02E06 ‘The Cock Barrens’

“It’s not up to you to decide if you’re worth my time.  I get to do whatever the fuck I want with it, even if it is spend it on a girl who threatens to bail all the time.  ‘Cause guess what, Kady?  I didn’t think I was ever gonna see you again, and that puts shit into perspective.  I love you, okay?  Deal.” – Penny 40 to Kady, S02E08 ‘Word as Bond’

“I need a free moment to rub one out in a hot bath before I fucking kill someone.  That someone being you.” – Margo to Quentin, S02E10 ‘The Girl Who Told Time’

“Always the one to tell the impossible to go fuck itself, huh?” – Richard to Julia, S02E11 ‘The Rattening’

“You are a god of Fillory.  Why are you just sitting here and letting your brother shit all over it?  You let The Beast happen.  You shut out a child who needed shelter, and when he became a monster, you ran.  You hate chaos?  Then fix the chaos that you created! – Quentin to Umber, S02E12 Ramifications

“You know what you learn when you’re a High King?  Screwing up is inevitable, and there are some fuck-ups you can never un-fuck.  It’s infuriating and it’s heartbreaking.” – Eliot to Quentin, S02E13, “We Have Brought You Little Cakes’

“Bland is never really good or bad.  Usually people, creatures who can think, gods even, sometimes like the unknown, the unexpected, even the offensive, a little bit of…(chaos).” – Quentin to Umber, S02E13, “We Have Brought You Little Cakes’

“You fired me up.  You showed me that there’s a fight to fight.  Now I am the official sidekick to whatever it turns out you are, okay?  Get used to it.” – Quentin to Julia, S03E01 ‘The Tales of the Seven Keys’

“I'm sorry.  I just really loved doing magic.  And I was good at it.  Should have tasted my tomatoes.  Just the air smelled different, right?  And I could turn into a bird or make a rose bloom.  And I saw actual Fillory.  And I banged a werewolf!  Yes, that is weird, but also rad because who gets to do that?  And I wasn’t just some extremely average nobody.  I was gifted.  I didn’t just belong somewhere, I belonged anywhere because I was a magician.  I just…I don’t even know what anything is even about anymore.” – Josh to Julia, S03E01 ‘The Tales of the Seven Keys’

“What would Quentin Coldwater do?” – Eliot to Margo, S03E01 ‘The Tales of the Seven Keys’

“Technically, Buffy’s sister was never a baby.  She just appeared out of nowhere, and oh my God, two months without dick, I sound like Quentin.” – Margo to Eliot, S03E02 ‘Heroes and Morons’

“I get what you did.  You were raging against the dying of the light.  We really didn’t know how good we had it, did we?  We whined and complained about everything that magic couldn’t do because we couldn’t see that a world without it was dark and mean and pointless.” – Quentin to Eleanor, S03E02 ‘Heroes and Morons’

“I smell like a horse fucked a bird.” – Margo to Tick and Gillen, S03E03 ‘The Losses of Magic’

“Although Her Majesty lacks depth perception, she does not lack in depth or perception.” – Tick to Margo, S03E03 ‘The Losses of Magic’

“Ovary up, Tick.” – Margo to Tick, S03E05 ‘A Life in the Day’

“Wait!  You bitches looking for these?  Fuck!  That entrance line was the only thing that kept me going through six feet of dirt and corpse.” – Margo to Eliot and Quentin, S03E05 ‘A Life in the Day’

“You want to rid yourself of the one thing we all so desparately want.  I am a magician with no magic.  A dean with no school.  Just a blind, unemployed black man in America, who, shockingly, actually, was being kept 38% more tolerant through a series of enchantments, which have now died, in case you hadn’t noticed or perhaps or maybe you weren’t in a position to need to.” – Henry to Julia, S03E06 ‘Do You Like Teeth?’

“I chose to be High Queen.  And I have had to fight for every shred of authority.  And no offense, but you can’t understand because it was handed to you.” – Margo to Eliot, S03E07 ‘Poached Eggs’

“I’m the sanest woman in America, thanks to the fourteen pills I took this morning.  I actually can’t really feel anything; it’s fantastic!” – Eleanor to Alice, S03E07 ‘Poached Eggs’

“Who am I to judge?  I almost blew a werewolf just so he’d turn me.  Magical creatures; they can hang onto magic just fine.” – Eleanor to Alice, S03E07 ‘Poached Eggs’

“I know you don’t wanna talk right now.  Hate me later.  I’m going to the underworld, Katie, give me this.  You’re the best thing in my life.  Short life, granted, but I want you to know, I don’t regret a fucking second.  It’s crazy we lived this long.  We met, we had great sex, I got to know you.  I’m lucky.”  - Penny 40 to Katie, S03E07 ‘Poached Eggs’

“Not enough to deal with Hedge Witch Buffy.” – Vince (vampire) to Alice (referring to fairy-juiced Julia) after she noted she had already paid him to turn her, S03E07 ‘Poached Eggs’

“I reject your whole premise.  That’s all people do; try to change.  The real me is an asshole with no filter.  Believe me, I tried.  Eventually, I realized the brave thing is to be you, and accept the consequences.” – Poppy to Quentin, S03E08 ‘Six Short Stories About Magic’

“Umber’s ass, I am drunk!” – Fen to Alice, S03E08 ‘Six Short Stories About Magic’

“Look, I have this tiny spark of magic, and it seems like when I use it to do good things, to help people, it grows.  I didn’t ask for it and I can’t get rid of it.  If I want it to be anything but a burden, I have to use it.” – Julie to Fen, S03E08 ‘Six Short Stories About Magic’

“We’re all fucked in our own way, like always, but if we do not do this, then the quest is done.” – Quentin to the group, S03E09 ‘All That Josh’

“Magic always comes back.  It may take a millennium and your species verging on the brink of extinction, but it will, because ultimately magic is a carrot the gods use to keep human in check. – Hades to Penny 40, S03E10 ‘The Art of the Deal’

“You are not gonna cock out on me!   I'd say pussy, but let's be honest; which one is tougher?” – Ghost Margo 23 to Ghost Eliot 23, S03E11 ‘Twenty-Three’

“Giving people shit is easy; taking it away is almost impossible.  Like Obamacare.  Or herpes.” – Margo to Josh, S03E12 ‘The Fillorian Candidate’

“Whimsy.  I fucking hate it.” – Margo to Tick, S04E02 ‘Lost, Found, Fucked’

“Magic has been a brutal series of disappointments.  And after living forty timelines, thirty-nine of which ranged from the comically horrendous to the apocalyptically absurd, to find it was all for nothing, well, leaving this life actually feels liberating.” – Henry to Todd, S04E02 ‘Lost, Found, Fucked’

“I’m pretty sure it’ll fucking kill them.  And I’ll do it, unless you start acting like a real pussy and take one for the fucking team.” – Margo to Josh, S04E03 ‘Bad News Bear’

“Well, shit.  Alright, Fen.  I think I will do a ritual, Earth specialty, the sleep of solitude.  I pop an Ambien, everyone leaves me alone till noon.  That’ll be perfect.” – Margo to Fen, S04E05 ‘Escape from the Happy Place’

“Q, c’mon, I love you, but you have to know that that’s not me and it’s definitely not you, not when we have a choice.” Eliot to Quentin in S04E05 ‘Escape from the Happy Place’

“You have a classic case of white male protagonism, Derek, and a librarian simply can’t have that.  That’s why these books are so important, they’re such a gift.  They can allow you to see other points of view.  And once you start seeing that, you’ll find the story doesn’t end how you think, and the most important characters aren’t who you expect.” - Penny 40 to Derek, S04E07 ‘The Side Effect’

“You reek of non-dairy creamer and despair.” – Baba Yaga to Kady, S04E07 ‘The Side Effect’

“Ember’s balls!  This is a dream!” – Fen to herself, S04E07 ‘The Side Effect’

“They're trying to find someone, and we're just collateral damage.  So ask yourselves if this is what they do when they're not even thinking about us, what happens when they decide we're a threat?  Are we just going to let people like them tell us we're not important?  That we're just some side characters in their fucked up fascist plot?  My mom was a hedge, and she was killed by another hedge.  You think that would turn me against you, but it didn't.  It just made me realize that it doesn't have to be this way.  If we can stop screwing each other over long enough to work together, then it's not The Library's story!  It's our story.” – Kady to the Hedges, S04E07 ‘The Side Effect’

“When you file people away as sidekicks you don’t realize their importance to the story, and this story belongs to a lot more people than you think.  Where to shelve a book, it’s not a little thing.  You’re telling the world what to value.  Who to value.” – Penny 40 to Derek, S04E07 ‘The Side Effect’

“Jesus based on the novel Christ by Sapphire!” – Margo to Fen, S04E08, ‘Home Improvement’

“I’m a king.  Not a goddamned princess.  A king.  I’m still a king.” – Margo to Hallucination Eliot, S04E10 ‘All That Hard, Glossy Armor’

“How can you enjoy life if you’re in constant fear of its end?” – Enyalius to Quentin, Julia, & Penny 40, S04E10 ‘All That Hard, Glossy Armor’

“And I’m still rinsing desert sand out of my twat, alright, I’m not going to fucking Antarctica.  Grow a pair of tits, Coldwater.” – Margo to Quentin, S04E11 ‘4-1-1’

“You don’t get to be a magician my age, dear, without a healthy sense of self-preservation.” – Henry to Kady, S04E11 ‘4-1-1’

“You both sacrifice your own joy to help others.  Julia gave up all that power, and you, I mean other Penny, died because of it.  Think about it; it’s a sad twist.  You can’t blame me for wanting the two of you to be happy, ‘cause you will never do it for yourself.” – Hyman to Penny 23, S04E11 ‘4-1-1’

“Great Umber’s tits!” – Fen to Margo, S04E12 ‘The Secret Sea’

“You don’t get to hide behind the library.  You think if you’re a cog in a fascist machine that you’re not responsible for the people that it kills?” – Kady to Zelda, S04E12 ‘The Secret Sea’

“When we first met, I was clinging onto some naïve, idealistic notions of what the world should be, how people should be.  And I think that I’ve realized if I just throw away all that childish bullshit that I can forgive people for not living up to my stupid expectations.” – Quentin to Alice, S04E12 ‘The Secret Sea’

“Being an adult doesn’t mean that you have to throw away what you used to love.” – Alice to Quentin, S04E12 ‘The Secret Sea’

“You know the worst part about getting exactly what you want?  When it’s not good enough.  And then what do ya do?  If this can’t make me happy, then what would?  Fillory was supposed to mean something.  I was supposed to mean something here.  But’s it’s all, it’s just so, it’s random, it’s so random that the only way to save my friends is to yell at a fucking plant.  Honestly, fuck Fillory for being so disappointing.  You know what?  Maybe I was better off believing that it was just fiction.  The idea of Fillory is what saved my life.  This promise…that people like me…people like me can somehow…find an escape.  There has gotta be some power in that.  Shouldn’t loving the idea of Fillory be enough?” – Quentin to the Drowned Garden, S04E12 ‘The Secret Sea’

“There’s something I want you to know, Sister.  It’s not just the bad things or the ones who wronged us.  There’s such beauty in everything, even the quiet.  Especially the quiet.” – The Monster, S04E13 ‘No Better To Be Safe Than Sorry’

“Most of my life I’ve been in and out of hospitals, and suicidal thoughts, and notes, and a lot of notes, attempts, and meds and therapy.  And then I found Brakebills and all that went away.  Or I thought, but did I do something brave to save my friends or did I finally find a way to kill myself?” – Quentin to Penny 40, S04E13 ‘No Better To Be Safe Than Sorry’

“The story for them, it’s just starting.  But it won’t be the same story, because of you.  You didn’t just save their lives; you changed their lives, as much as they changed yours.  You didn’t want to leave all that, did you?” – Penny 40 to Quentin, S04E13 ‘No Better To Be Safe Than Sorry’

“Oh, grow a clit, willya?” – Margo to Eliot, S05E01 ‘Do Something Crazy’

“Bitch, I would if I could.” – Eliot to Margo, S05E01 ‘Do Something Crazy’

“No one gets to tell you how to grieve, Alice.  You’re on this journey by yourself.  Only you know where it’s gonna take you.  If you need to do something crazy to get through it, do something crazy, okay?” – Stephanie to Alice, S05E01 ‘Do Something Crazy’

“My dad says when I get sad about something, it’s gonna end.  I should just imagine this is the first page in a new book.  The gift your fiend gave you…it wasn’t his life.  It was yours.  That story just started.” – 12-year-old Quentin golem to Alice, S05E02 ‘The Wrath of the Time Bees

“Fuck Netflix, that is peak television.” – Eliot to the court at Whitespire, S05E04 ‘Magicians Anonymous’

“Look, guys, if you’re looking for some inspirational speech on why you should stay and fight, I can’t help you.  It’s gonna suck.  And even if we do succeed, which we might not, it’s not like we’re gonna get any credit.  The world ends, I end with it, knowing that I did everything I could, because I won’t be able to live with myself otherwise.” – Julia to the group, S05E05 ‘Apocalypse Now’

“We’re stuck in a game that keeps hitting reset.  Infinite time, zero consequences, just you and me saving the world through unbridled hedonism.” – Eliot to Margo, S05E06 ‘Oops…I Did It Again’

“We have friends to save, a Dark King to re-kill.  Hang with Mad Libs Pedophile all you want.  I’m going back to double-tap the motherfucker like he’s Osama and I’m SEAL Team Bitch.” – Margo to Fen, S05E09 ‘Cello Squirrel Daffodil’

“Voldemort’s clit!” – Margo to herself, S05E10 ‘Purgatory’

“What the fuck’s a Charlton?” – Julia to Eliot, S05E10 ‘Purgatory’

“Who the Disney princess fuck are you?” – Marina to Fen, S05E12 ‘The Balls’

“You see?  This is why I don’t hang out with you people!” – Marina to Zelda, S05E12 ‘The Balls’

“But on the bright side, we were pitch perfect!” – Zelda to Marina, S05E12 ‘The Balls’

“You either get onboard with the me who’s me or you can fuck off.” – Marina to Anna, S05E12 ‘The Balls’

“Ho, ho, ho, motherfuckers!” – Santa Claus, S05E12 ‘The Balls’

“What the pumpkin spice fuck?” – Margo to the room, S05E13 ‘Fillory and Further’

“You can never fully control external circumstances.  They may even be actively hostile.  But you can control the ones inside you, and one hand is plenty.” – Zelda to Alice, S05E13 ‘Fillory and Further’

“For a Librarian, death isn’t the end, it is merely a transfer to another branch.” – Zelda to Alice, S05E13 ‘Fillory and Further’

“If I learned one thing from Quentin, it’s that sometimes you sacrifice for those you love.  I’m doing this so you two can live, so don’t you dare follow me.” – Margo to Josh and Eliot, S05E13 ‘Fillory and Further’