History Quotes / StableTimeLoop

'''Xanatos:''' But you won't, because you didn't. Time travel is funny that way.

->''"So there's this man. He has a time machine. Up and down history he goes, zip zip zip zip zip, getting into scrapes. Another thing he has is a passion for the works of Ludwig van Beethoven. And one day he thinks, 'What's the point of having a time machine if you don't get to meet your heroes?' So off he goes to 18th-century Germany. But he can't find Beethoven anywhere. No-one's heard of him, not even his family have any idea who the time traveler is talking about. Beethoven literally doesn't exist. (This didn't happen, by the way. I've met Beethoven. Nice chap. Very intense. Loved an arm-wrestle.) No, this is called 'The Bootstrap Paradox'. Google it. The time traveler panics, he can't bear the thought of a world without the music of Beethoven. Luckily he'd brought all his Beethoven sheet music for Ludwig to sign. So he copies out all the concertos and the symphonies... and he gets them published. [[YouWillBeBeethoven He becomes Beethoven]]. And history continues with barely a feather ruffled. But my question is this. Who put those notes and phrases together? Who really composed Beethoven's 5th?"''

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'', "Missing Milo"

->'''Mask:'''I just realized- you're me and I'm you. We just insulted ourselves and agreed on it.\\
'''Ocarina:'''Okay, wow. I just gave myself a headache trying to think through that one.\\
'''Mask:'''...Do you mean that ''you'' you gave you a headache, or ''I'' you gave you a headache?\\
'''Ocarina:'''You just made it worse!\\
'''Mask:'''Okay, but is that ''you'' you making it worse or ''I'' you making it worse?\\

'''Ocarina:''' ''groaning''\\

->'''Mask:'''I just realized- you're me and I'm you. We just insulted ourselves and agreed on it.
'''Ocarina:'''Okay, wow. I just gave myself a headache trying to think through that one.
'''Mask:'''...Do you mean that ''you'' you gave you a headache, or ''I'' you gave you a headache?
'''Ocarina:'''You just made it worse!
'''Mask:'''Okay, but is that ''you'' you making it worse or ''I'' you making it worse?
'''Ocarina:''' ''groaning''

'''Ocarina:''' ''groaning''

----

->'''Nagato''': Since there's no conclusion to the paradox theory, there's no way to prove there's no paradox.
->'''Kyon''': Maybe that's a good enough explanation for ''you''...
-->--''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'': Bamboo Rhapsody

-->-- FanFic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality

->The idea here is that you can travel back in time, but you can't actually change history. So if you go back and try to prevent the assassination of [[UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley President McKinley]], it turns out that you killed him yourself. Or if you go back and try and prevent the Black Plague, it turns out that ''you'' are a flea-ridden diseased rat.
-->--'''Lore Sjöberg''', "Alt Text"

->''I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the [[ArcWords words]]... I scatter them. Across time and space. My message to lead myself here.''
-->-- '''Bad Wolf!Rose Tyler''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays "The Parting of the Ways"]]

-->-- ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife "The Doctor's Wife"]]

->''The Destiny Trap: You can't change history if you're part of it.''
-->-- '''The Eleventh Doctor''', ''Doctor Who'', [[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor "The Time of the Doctor"]]

->''So there's this man. He has a time machine. Up and down history he goes, zip zip zip zip zip, getting into scrapes. Another thing he has is a passion for the works of Ludwig van Beethoven. And one day he thinks, 'What's the point of having a time machine if you don't get to meet your heroes?' So off he goes to 18th-century Germany. But he can't find Beethoven anywhere. No-one's heard of him, not even his family have any idea who the time traveler is talking about. Beethoven literally doesn't exist. (This didn't happen, by the way. I've met Beethoven. Nice chap. Very intense. Loved an arm-wrestle.) No, this is called 'The Bootstrap Paradox'. Google it. The time traveller panics, he can't bear the thought of a world without the music of Beethoven. Luckily he'd brought all his Beethoven sheet music for Ludwig to sign. So he copies out all the concertos and the symphonies... and he gets them published. [[YouWillBeBeethoven He becomes Beethoven.]] And history continues with barely a feather ruffled. But my question is this. Who put those notes and phrases together? Who really composed Beethoven's 5th?''
-->--'''[[Series/DoctorWho The Twelfth Doctor]] explains it perfectly''', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood "Before the Flood"]]

-->-- ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "Trials and Tribble-ations"

-->-- '''[[spoiler: Young Xehanort]]''', ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance''

-->--'''Sarda The [[AWizardDidIt Wizard Who Did It]]''', ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', "[[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/06/04/episode-1136-that-is-not-a-predictive-model/ That Is Not A Predictive Model]]"

->If I ever invent a time machine, I'm going to stay as far away from myself as possible. If I were to have a conversation with myself, wouldn't I have to remember it perfectly, or else my memory of the conversation would be different from the actual conversation and it could result in a paradox that could destroy the universe? Unless, of course, I don't remember the conversation well enough to remember what future me was/is supposed to say. I guess my point is, don't go visit yourself yesterday. Wait a decade or two.

-->-- '''[=gallowsCalibrator/Terezi Pyrope=]''', ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''

->'''Present!Vanderbeam''': Wait! Where did you get [[TimeMachine this]]? I was too late to steal it!
->'''Future!Vanderbeam''': I used this suit to steal the one I just gave to you.
->'''Present!Vanderbeam''': But... then where did you get the one you're wearing?
->'''Future!Vanderbeam''': My future self handed it to me two decades ago.

->'''[[KidFromTheFuture Pierce]]''': "I don't believe you, causality is--\\
'''Volair''': Pick a number between ten and oh, sixteen.\\
'''Pierce''': Uh, twelve. Now--\\
'''Volair''': How old were you when I suddenly decided to paint the kitchen green?\\
'''Pierce''': Twel-- (look of sudden realization). Urk. Uh. muhh.. fuh..\\
'''Rhonda''': Told ya.

-->-- '''Professor Farnsworth''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "Roswell That Ends Well"

->''"Well, I guess that wraps everything up in a nice, [[TemporalParadox paradox]]-free bow"''
-->-- '''Professor Farnsworth''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "Bender's Big Score"

->"One cannot damage history because history cannot be changed. I went back in time to steal this because history says it disappeared. And history says it disappeared because I went back to steal it. Past, present, future. It's all written in stone, my dear, [[YouCantFightFate and nothing you do can ever change it.]]"
-->--'''Warp''', ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' "How Long Is Forever?"

->'''Cisco''': Four years from now, [[spoiler: Future Flash]] creates a time remnant to fight Savitar. But Savitar lets that remnant live, so that it can become Savitar. So, once Savitar's imprisoned in the Speed Force, this remnant starts to go crazy, and he goes back in time...to the past...and becomes Savitar. \\
'''Joe''': That doesn't make any sense. Which came first, Savitar or the time remnant?
->'''Cisco''': It's a closed loop. No beginning, no end, it's just one endless cycle.

-> When I was little, a strange man stepped out of a time machine and punched me for no reason. So now I've built a time machine, and I'm going to go and punch him when ''he'' was little, and we'll see how he likes it!
-->-- Joke

'''Cavendish:''' BUT THAT SO-\\
''([[SmashCut scene changes]])''

''' The Stranger:''' You don't know? The letter. You burned it. And yet it still exists. You'll carry that letter for almost 33 years before you pass it on. To yourself. I am you. My name is Jonas Kahnwald. I sent the letter to you. Or should I say, to me. Everything you're experiencing, I've already experienced. I burned the letter, just like you. I got it back from our grandmother. I've already had this conversation. But I was on the other side then. [[YouCantFightFate We think we're free, but we're not]]. [[LampshadeHanging We follow the same old path. Again and again]].

-->--'''Sarah Connor''', ''Film/TheTerminator''

->'''Kyon''': Maybe that's a good enough explanation for ''[[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien you]]''...

->The idea here is that you can travel back in time, but you can't actually change history. So if you go back and try to prevent the assassination of [[UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley President McKinley]], it turns out that you killed him yourself. Or if you go back and try and prevent the Black Plague, it turns out that ''you'' are a [[TomatoInTheMirror flea-ridden diseased rat]].

->''So there's this man. [[Series/DoctorWho He has a time machine. Up and down history he goes, zip zip zip zip zip, getting into scrapes.]] Another thing he has is a passion for the works of Ludwig van Beethoven. And one day he thinks, 'What's the point of having a time machine if you don't get to meet your heroes?' So off he goes to 18th-century Germany. But he can't find Beethoven anywhere. No-one's heard of him, not even his family have any idea who the time traveler is talking about. Beethoven literally doesn't exist. (This didn't happen, by the way. I've met Beethoven. Nice chap. Very intense. Loved an arm-wrestle.) No, this is called 'The Bootstrap Paradox'. Google it. The time traveller panics, he can't bear the thought of a world without the music of Beethoven. Luckily he'd brought all his Beethoven sheet music for Ludwig to sign. So he copies out all the concertos and the symphonies... and he gets them published. [[YouWillBeBeethoven He becomes Beethoven.]] And history continues with barely a feather ruffled. But my question is this. Who put those notes and phrases together? Who really composed Beethoven's 5th?''

->''GC: [=BY NOW YOU SHOULD R34L1Z3 TH1S WHOL3 M3SS W4S 4 B1G S3LF FULLF1LL1NG CLUST3RFUCK=]\\
GC: [=A HUG3 ORG14ST1C MOB1US DOUBL3 R34CH4ROUND=]''

-->-- ''{{Starslip}}''

->''"The Destiny Trap: You can't change history if you're part of it."''

->''"So there's this man. [[Series/DoctorWho He has a time machine. Up and down history he goes, zip zip zip zip zip, getting into scrapes.]] Another thing he has is a passion for the works of Ludwig van Beethoven. And one day he thinks, 'What's the point of having a time machine if you don't get to meet your heroes?' So off he goes to 18th-century Germany. But he can't find Beethoven anywhere. No-one's heard of him, not even his family have any idea who the time traveler is talking about. Beethoven literally doesn't exist. (This didn't happen, by the way. I've met Beethoven. Nice chap. Very intense. Loved an arm-wrestle.) No, this is called 'The Bootstrap Paradox'. Google it. The time traveller panics, he can't bear the thought of a world without the music of Beethoven. Luckily he'd brought all his Beethoven sheet music for Ludwig to sign. So he copies out all the concertos and the symphonies... and he gets them published. [[YouWillBeBeethoven He becomes Beethoven.]] And history continues with barely a feather ruffled. But my question is this. Who put those notes and phrases together? Who really composed Beethoven's 5th?"''

->'''Time Agent 1:''' Captain, why did you take the ''Defiant'' back in time?\\
'''Sisko:''' It was an accident.\\
'''Time Agent 1:''' So you're not contending it was a predestination paradox?\\
'''Time Agent 2:''' A time loop - that you were meant to go back into the past?\\
'''Sisko:''' No.\\
'''Time Agent 1:''' Good.\\
'''Time Agent 2:''' We hate those.
-->-- ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "Trials and Tribble-ations"

->'''Present!Vanderbeam''': Wait! Where did you get [[TimeMachine this]]? I was too late to steal it!
->'''Future!Vanderbeam''': I used this suit to steal the one I just gave to you.
->'''Present!Vanderbeam''': But... then where did you get the one you're wearing?
->'''Future!Vanderbeam''': My future self handed it to me two decades ago.
-->-- ''{{Starslip}}''

->''GC: [=BY NOW YOU SHOULD R34L1Z3 TH1S WHOL3 M3SS W4S 4 B1G S3LF FULLF1LL1NG CLUST3RFUCK=]\\
GC: [=A HUG3 ORG14ST1C MOB1US DOUBL3 R34CH4ROUND=]''
-->-- '''[=gallowsCalibrator/Terezi Pyrope=]''', ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''

->''In fact that was even ''more'' puzzling, when Harry thought about it. Time had presented him with the finished Prank as a ''fait accompli'', and yet it was, quite clearly, his own handiwork. Concept and execution and writing style. Every last part, even the ones he still didn't understand.''
-->-- FanFic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality

-->-- ''Series/DoctorWho'', "The Doctor's Wife"

->''I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the [[ArcWords words]]... I scatter them. Across time and space. My message to lead myself here.''
-->-- '''Rose Tyler''' / '''The TARDIS''', "The Parting of the Ways"

->'''Goliath:''' If I didn't fear the damage you would do to the time stream, I would gladly leave you here.\\
'''Xanatos:''' But you won't, because you didn't. Time travel is funny that way.
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''

->'''1971 Robo:''' You're going to learn the ''hell'' out of hyperdimensional mathematics when you get back. Focus on electrodynamics.\\
'''1926 Robo:''' Why?\\
'''1957 Robo:''' So we'll know how to convert these burnt out powerpacks into a hyper-dimensional bomb to blow up the monster across multiple simultaneous points in space-time.\\
'''1926 Robo:''' How'd you know they burned out?\\
'''2009 Robo:''' Because we just ''told'' you, so you'll ''remember'' they are, so we can ''tell'' you they are. ''Dah!'' Study temporal mechanics while you're at it. Short version: when your future self tells you to do something, ''you do it.''
-->-- ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo and the Shadow from Beyond Time''

->''"No one can unmake the past. It's already happened, there's no 'undo'. Similarly, the future already happened. We just haven't '''reached''' it yet."''
-->--'''Sarda The [[AWizardDidIt Wizard Who Did It]]''', ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', "[[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/06/04/episode-1136-that-is-not-a-predictive-model/ That Is Not A Predictive Model]]"

->''"Though we can move through time, time itself is unmovable."''
-->-- '''[[spoiler: Young Xehanort]]''', ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance''

->If I ever invent a time machine, I'm going to stay as far away from myself as possible. If I were to have a conversation with myself, wouldn't I have to remember it perfectly, or else my memory of the conversation would be different from the actual conversation and it could result in a paradox that could destroy the universe? Unless, of course, I don't remember the conversation well enough to remember what future me was/is supposed to say. I guess my point is, don't go visit yourself yesterday. Wait a decade or two.
-->-- ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' (author's commentary)

->"So there's this man. [[Series/DoctorWho He has a time machine. Up and down history he goes, zip zip zip zip zip, getting into scrapes.]] Another thing he has is a passion for the works of Ludwig van Beethoven. And one day he thinks, 'What's the point of having a time machine if you don't get to meet your heroes?' So off he goes to 18th-century Germany. But he can't find Beethoven anywhere. No-one's heard of him, not even his family have any idea who the time traveler is talking about. Beethoven literally doesn't exist. (This didn't happen, by the way. I've met Beethoven. Nice chap. Very intense. Loved an arm-wrestle.) No, this is called 'The Bootstrap Paradox'. Google it. The time traveller panics, he can't bear the thought of a world without the music of Beethoven. Luckily he'd brought all his Beethoven sheet music for Ludwig to sign. So he copies out all the concertos and the symphonies... and he gets them published. [[YouWillBeBeethoven He becomes Beethoven.]] And history continues with barely a feather ruffled. But my question is this. Who put those notes and phrases together? Who really composed Beethoven's 5th?"
-->--'''[[Series/DoctorWho The Twelvth Doctor]] explains it perfectly in episode 9x04, [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood "Before The Flood"]]'''

->''@@[[color:#008282:\\
GC: [=BY NOW YOU SHOULD R34L1Z3 TH1S WHOL3 M3SS W4S 4 B1G S3LF FULLF1LL1NG CLUST3RFUCK=]\\
GC: [=A HUG3 ORG14ST1C MOB1US DOUBL3 R34CH4ROUND=]]]@@''
-->-- '''[[color:#008282:gallowsCalibrator/Terezi Pyrope]]''', ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''

->'''Vanderbeam''': Wait! Where did you get [[TimeMachine this]]? I was too late to steal it!
->'''Vanderbeam''': I used this suit to steal the one I just gave to you.
->'''Vanderbeam''': But... then where did you get the one you're wearing?
->'''Vanderbeam''': My future self handed it to me two decades ago.

->"So there's this man. [[Series/DoctorWho He has a time machine. Up and down history he goes, zip zip zip zip zip, getting into scrapes.]] Another thing he has is a passion for the works of Ludwig van Beethoven. And one day he thinks, 'What's the point of having a time machine if you don't get to meet your heroes?' So off he goes to 18th-century Germany. But he can't find Beethoven anywhere. No-one's heard of him, not even his family have any idea who the time traveler is talking about. Beethoven literally doesn't exist. (This didn't happen, by the way. I've met Beethoven. Nice chap. Very intense. Loved an arm-wrestle.) No, this is called 'The Bootstrap Paradox'. Google it. The time traveller panics, he can't bear the thought of a world without the music of Beethoven. Luckily he'd brought all his Beethoven sheet music for Ludwig to sign. So he copies out all the concertos and the symphonies... and he gets them published. [[YouWillBeBeethoven He becomes Beethoven.]] And history continues with barely a feather ruffled. But my question is this. Who put those notes and phrases together? Who really composed Beethoven's 5th?

->"One cannot damage history because history cannot be changed. I went back in time to steal this because history says it disappeared. And history says it disappeared because I went back to steal it. Past, present, future. It's all written in stone, my dear, [[YouCantFightFate and nothing you do can ever change it.]]

-->'''[[Series/DoctorWho The Twelvth Doctor]] explains it perfectly in episode 9x04, [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood "Before The Flood"]]'''

-->'''[[Series/DoctorWho The Twelvth Doctor]] explains it perfectly in episode 9x04, [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood "Before The Flood]]'''

-->'''[[Series/DoctorWho The Twelvth Doctor]] explains it perfectly in episode 9x04, "Before The Flood" [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood]]'''

->'''Goliath:''' If I didn't fear the damage you would do to the time stream, I would gladly leave you here.
->'''Xanatos:''' But you won't, because you didn't. Time travel is funny that way.

-> [[KidFromTheFuture Pierce]]: "I don't believe you, causality is--"
-> Volair: "Pick a number between ten and oh, sixteen."
-> Pierce: "Uh, twelve. Now--"
-> Volair: "How old were you when I suddenly decided to paint the kitchen green?"
-> Pierce: "Twel-- (look of sudden realization). Urk. Uh. muhh.. fuh.."
-> Rhonda: "Told ya."
-->-- ''UmlautHouse''

->'''1971 Robo:''' You're going to learn the ''hell'' out of hyperdimensional mathematics when you get back. Focus on electrodynamics.
->'''1926 Robo:''' Why?
->'''1957 Robo:''' So we'll know how to convert these burnt out powerpacks into a hyper-dimensional bomb to blow up the monster across multiple simultaneous points in space-time.
->'''1926 Robo:''' How'd you know they burned out?
->'''2009 Robo:''' Because we just ''told'' you, so you'll ''remember'' they are, so we can ''tell'' you they are. ''Dah!'' Study temporal mechanics while you're at it. Short version: when your future self tells you to do something, ''you do it.''

-->-- '''''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge''''' (author's commentary)

-->--''SuzumiyaHaruhi'': Bamboo Rhapsody