“And at the instant he knew, he ceased to know.”

“Man is free at the instant he wants to be.”

Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher

“He judged the instant and let go; he flung himself loose into the stars.”

Annie Dillard (1945) American writer

“A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you.”

Brigitte Bardot (1934) French model, actor, singer and animal rights activist

“Then she smiled, and in that instant, if such a thing were possible, Pasquale fell in love, and he would remain in love for the rest of his life--not so much with the woman, whom he didn't even know, but with the moment.”

Jess Walter book Beautiful Ruins

“it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty”

Don Marquis (1878–1937) American writer

“In a controversy, the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.”

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher

“Mike, however, heard nothing at all. Lost in her breathlike touch, he knew only one thing for sure: In the instant their lips first met, there was a flicker of something almost electrical that made him believe the feeling would last forever.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Guardian

“As serious as a heart attack. Maybe those were Ken Kramer's last words, like a final explosion of panic in his mind as he stopped breathing and dropped into the abyss. He was out of line, in every way there was, and he knew it. He was where he shouldn't have been, with someone he shouldn't have been with, carrying something he should have kept in a safer place. But he was getting away with it. He was playing and winning. He was on top of his game. He was probably smiling. Until the sudden thump deep inside his chest betrayed him. Then everything turned around. Success became instant catastrophe. He had no time to put anything right.”

Lee Child book The Enemy

“The mindless ferocity of this man, and all those like him, their real loathing born of nothing more solid than insecurity and fear…It was a channel. Will knew that he had been gazing into the channel down which the powers of the Dark, if they gained their freedom, could ride in an instant to complete control of the earth.”

Susan Cooper (1935) English fantasy writer