Quotes about a smile
page 8

“Kim was more than a little inclined to snarl at him, but in the past few days she had learned that snarling at Mairelon did little good. He simply smiled and corrected her grammar.”

Patricia C. Wrede (1953) author

Source: A Matter of Magic

Learning, Past

“Only yesterday a young woman came to me wanting a trap set for a man with a sweet smile and lithe arms. She was a fool, not for wanting him, but for wanting more of him than that.”

Patricia A. McKillip (1948) American fantasy writer

Fools

“There is joy in self-forgetfulness. So I try to make the light in others' eyes my sun, the music in others' ears my symphony, the smile on others' lips my happiness.”

Helen Keller (1880–1968) American author and political activist

Happiness, Music, Light, Sun

“Will-," Tessa began but it was too late, Church made a yowling noise at being woken, and lashed out with his claws. Will began to swear. Tessa left, unable to hide the slightest of smiles as she went.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

“I told her why we are here. I told you wouldn't hurt Jack."
"The coffin?"
I smiled. I couldn't help it. He was a 'jack in a box.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Guilty Pleasures

Source: Guilty Pleasures

Help, Hurt, Box

“Smile. it's the second best thing you can do with your lips.”

Jill Shalvis (1963) American writer

Source: Head Over Heels

Cute, For Her

“This was, I would later realise, a planet of things wrapped inside things. Food inside wrappers. Bodies inside clothes. Contempt inside smiles. Everything was hidden away.”

Matt Haig (1975) British writer

Source: The Humans

Food, Clothes

“twice I have lived forever in a smile”

E.E. Cummings (1894–1962) American poet

“We need to be together."
"Why?" I asked softly. The word was carried away on the wind, but he heard.
"Because I want you."
I gave him a sad smile, wondering if we'd meet again in the land of the dead. "Wrong answer," I told him.
I let go”

Richelle Mead Blood Promise

Source: Blood Promise

Sadness, Dead

“Together, they would watch everything that was so carefully planned collapse, and they would smile at the beauty of destruction.”

Markus Zusak book The Book Thief

Source: The Book Thief

Beauty

“One last question.”
“Very well, dearling.”
“Can I trust Cadeon?”
Nïx gave her a sunny smile with
blank golden eyes. “As far as you can throw him.”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Dark Desires After Dusk

Question

“Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life,
The evening beam that smiles the clouds away,
And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray!”

George Gordon Byron book The Bride of Abydos

Canto II, stanza 20.
The Bride of Abydos (1813)

Life

“He stopped, turned. He cupped his hands around his mouth. ''For you a thousand times over!'' he said. Then he smiled his Hassan smile and disappeared around the corner.”

Khaled Hosseini book The Kite Runner

Source: The Kite Runner

Time

“Smile… it makes people wonder what you're up to.”

Jill Shalvis (1963) American writer

Source: Simply Irresistible

People

“And smiles to go before I weep,
And Smiles to go before I weep.”

Jerry Spinelli Smiles to Go

Source: Smiles to Go

“He tried to smile, but it was just a shape his mouth made.”

Melissa Bank book The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

Source: The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

“"Your voice will come. We all go through the same thing. You cannot talk when you first arrive." He smiled. "It helps you listen."”

Mitch Albom book The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Source: The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003)

Help

“What does he say?' he asked.
'He’s very sad,’ Úrsula answered, ‘because he thinks that you’re going to die.'
'Tell him,' the colonel said, smiling, 'that a person doesn’t die when he should but when he can.”

Gabriel García Márquez book One Hundred Years of Solitude

Source: One Hundred Years of Solitude

Sadness, Thinking, Personality

“The first time I see a jogger smiling, I'll consider it.”

Joan Rivers (1933–2014) American comedian, actress, and television host

Time

“Well," said Apollo with a brave smile. "You were right, my dear. You had everything under control! Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?”

Rick Riordan book The Titan's Curse

Source: The Titan's Curse

“A slow smile had curved St. Vincent's lips. 'Wives are a different case altogether. They require a great deal of effort but the rewards are substantial. I highly recommend wives. Especially one's own.”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Mine Till Midnight

Effort

“He almosted smiled. "There you go again. Why? Why do yo keep helping me?"
There were a million answers on my lips, everything from It's the right thing to do to I don't know. Instead, I said, "Because I want to.”

Richelle Mead book The Golden Lily

Source: The Golden Lily

Help

“She was staying. A little longer.
V smiled to himself. So this was what winning the lottery felt like.”

Jessica Bird book Lover Unbound

Source: Lover Unbound

“Can you ever get off for good behavior?" he joked.
I gave him what I hoped was a seductive smile as I found my seat. "Sure," I called over my shoulder. "If I was ever good.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Hope, Behavior

“Why are you smiling?'
'I'm relieved,' I said honestly. 'I was worried I'd given myself cadmium poisoning, or I had some mysterious disease. This is just someone trying to kill me.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Variant: Wilem looked at me 'Why are you smiling?'

"I'm relieved", I said honestly." I was worried I had given myself cadmium poisoning, or had a mysterious disease. This is just someone trying to kill me.
Source: The Wise Man's Fear

Disease

“It was one of those fine little love stories that can make you smile in your sleep at night.”

Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) American journalist and author

Source: Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century

Love, Sleep, Night

“She could not ignore life. She had to live it and it was too brutal, too hostile, for her even to try to gloss over its harshness with a smile.”

Margaret Mitchell book Vom Winde verweht (1937 German edition)

Source: Gone with the Wind

Life, Hostility

“When I dream, I dream of him. For several nights now he’s come to me, waving from a distant shore as if he’s been waiting patiently for me to arrive. He doesn’t utter a word, but his smile says everything: I’ve missed you.”

Libba Bray book The Sweet Far Thing

Source: The Sweet Far Thing

Dreams, Distant, Waiting, Night

““From now on I'm thinking only of me.” Major Danby replied indulgently with a superior smile: “But, Yossarian, suppose everyone felt that way?” “Then,” said Yossarian, “I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way, wouldn't I?””

Joseph Heller book Catch-22

Source: Catch-22 (1961)

Fools, Way, Feeling, Thinking

“You wanna-I dunno-get coffee or something sometime?"

Justin smiled "Not coffee. But yes."

"Not Coffee it is, then."

"Yes, Not Coffee.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: How They Met, and Other Stories

Coffee

“If she could have anything in the world, he'd asked her, what would it be?

She'd answered that one without hesitation: a best friend. She hastily added, He'd smiled faintly. he'd thought but not said.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Spell of the Highlander

World

“Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Damn it, Nathan, tell me what you think."
"About what?"
"Lady Sara," Colin persisted. "What do you think of her?"
"The truth, Colin?"
His friend gave a quick nod.
Nathan's smile was slow, easy. "She'll fit through the window.”

Julie Garwood (1946) American writer

Source: The Gift

Truth, Thinking

“She tried to smile sympathetically, but with her face it wasn't quite possible.”

Anthony Horowitz book Point Blanc

Source: Point Blank

“A smile is the best makeup a girl could wear”

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) American actress, model, and singer

Girl

“Han smiled, then, a bright, charming smile that lit up the room, more dangerous than any blade.
All you ever needed was that smile, she thought. I'd have given in immediately.”

Cinda Williams Chima (1952) Novelist

Source: The Exiled Queen

“Jericho lay back down on his side, watching her breathe just an arm's length from him. She was not beautiful while she slept; her mouth hung open and she snored very lightly, and this, despite everything that had happened, made him smile.”

Libba Bray book The Diviners

Source: The Diviners

Beauty

“Surely happiness is reflective, like the light of heaven; and every countenance, bright with smiles, and glowing with innocent enjoyment, is a mirror transmitting to others the rays of a supreme and ever-shining benevolence.”

Washington Irving (1783–1859) writer, historian and diplomat from the United States

Source: Old Christmas: From the Sketch Book of Washington Irving

Happiness, Light

“But this is okay. I smile slightly, looking toward
the sky, knowing
there's one thing I still haven't told you: I now believe,
by the way, that
miracles can happen.”

Nicholas Sparks book A Walk to Remember

Source: A Walk to Remember

Way

“Many undoubtedly owe their good fortune to the circumstance that they possess a pleasing smile with which they win hearts. Yet these hearts would do better to beware and to learn from Hamlet's tables that one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher

Source: Essays and Aphorisms

Learning, Heart

“Cicero smiled at us. 'The art of life is to deal with problems as they arise, rather than destory one's spirit by worrying about them too far in advance. Especially tonight.”

Robert Harris (1957) novelist

Source: Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome

Life, Art, Problem

“Nick Gautier," he said with a charming, dimpled smile. "Better known as "Nick, get your butt in here, I need you to…" Fill in the blank”

Sherrilyn Kenyon book Night Pleasures

Source: Night Pleasures

“Encourage everyone you meet with a smile or compliment. Make them feel better when you leave their presence and they will always be glad to see you coming.”

Joyce Meyer (1943) American author and speaker

Feeling

“Hide your craziness behind a beautiful smile. That's all you need.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Beauty

“Something large and happy has unfolded in my chest, erupting in a smile that won’t quit. I can’t remember ever feeling so light-hearted. Or is my heart full? Or bursting? Not aching, that’s for sure.”

Fiona Wood (1958) British–Australian physician and plastic surgeon

Source: Six Impossible Things

Happiness, Feeling, Light, Heart

“.. we wear the mask that grins and lies,
it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes-
this debt we pay to human guile;
with torn and bleeding hearts we smile.”

Paul Laurence Dunbar book The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar

We Wear The Mask, in the 1913 collection of his work, The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Context: We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

Heart

“You built your walls too, she tells him. So I have my wall. She says it glittering in a beauty he cannot stand. She with her beautiful clothes with her pale face that laughs at everyone who smiles at her…”

Michael Ondaatje book The English Patient

Source: The English Patient

Beauty, Clothes

“It's a shame you know," he called over his shoulder.
"What's a shame?" Duncan asked.
"That I didn't capture her first."
Duncan smiled. "Nay, Edmond, it was a blessing. God's truth, I would have taken her from you.”

Julie Garwood (1946) American writer

Source: Honor's Splendour

God, Truth

“Our last impression of her as she turned the corner was that smile, flung backward like a handful of flowers.”

Wallace Stegner book Crossing to Safety

Source: Crossing to Safety

Flowers

“I'm smiled out, talked out, quipped out, socialized so far from any being, I need the weight of mortal silences to get realized back into myself.”

John Ciardi (1916–1986) American poet, professor, translator

Source: This Strangest Everything

Silence

“Who gets to be best-liked in any community? Who is the most trusted? Why, the man who does the dirty job, of course, and does it with a smile. The man who does the job you couldn't bring yourself to do.”

Stephen King book The Stand

Source: The Stand

Communication

“Beware the horns of a bull, the heels of the horse, and the smile of an Englishman.”

James Joyce Ulysses

Source: Ulysses

Horse

“And Kingsley being Kingsley, he smiled as he pretended to pull the trigger.”

Melissa de la Cruz book Revelations

Source: Revelations

“She gives him what he can only call a sweet smile. 'So you are determined to go on being bad. Mad, bad, and dangerous to know. I promise, no one will ask you to change.”

J.M. Coetzee book Disgrace

Source: Disgrace

Change, Madness

“Remember, heads high. Smiles. They're going to love you!”

Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games

Source: The Hunger Games

Love

“But then the girl moved, and smiled, and pulled her hand from the grate- a gorgeous green stone clutched tightly in her grasp. It was covered with dust and cobwebs, but it was uncracked and unharmed.
And, of course, completely fake.”

Ally Carter (1974) American writer

Source: Uncommon Criminals

Girl

“So,’ Nico said, ‘since we’re going to be spending at least a year seeing each other at camp, I think I should clear the air.’ Percy’s smile wavered. ‘What do you mean?”

Rick Riordan book The Blood of Olympus

Source: The Blood of Olympus

Thinking

“Never trust people who smile constantly. They're either selling something or not very bright.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Burnt Offerings

Source: Burnt Offerings

People

“A scary but yet beautiful smile”

Masashi Kishimoto (1974) Japanese manga artist

Beauty

“Humans were so stupid. They had something so precious, and they barely safeguarded it at all. They threw away their lives for money, for packets of powder, for a stranger's charming smile.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

Money, Stupidity

“They're betting on how long I'll live!" I burst out. "They're not my friends!"

"Well, try and pretend!" snaps Effie. Then she composes herself and beams at me. "See, like this. I'm smiling at you even though you're aggravating me.”

Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games

Source: The Hunger Games

“If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

Source: Being Peace

Happiness, Family, Peace, Flowers

“There was a sad fellow over on a bar stool talking to the bartender, who was polishing a glass and listening with that plastic smile people wear when they are trying not to scream.”

Raymond Chandler book The Long Goodbye

Source: The Long Goodbye

People, Sadness

“The smile was so painfully swift and fleeting that it was like the flash of a knife.”

Henry Miller book Tropic of Capricorn

Source: Tropic of Capricorn

“What are you looking at, foreigner?” the guard demanded roughly. The smile was a little unsettling. A prisoner shouldn’t smile at his captors like that.
“I’m just making sure I can remember you,” Gilan told him. “Never know when that might be useful.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: Erak's Ransom

“Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

XIV. 463–466 (tr. Alexander Pope).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)
Context: Tis sweet to play the fool in time and place,
And wine can of their wits the wise beguile,
Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile,
The grave in merry measures frisk about,
And many a long-repented word bring out.

Wine

“Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned.”

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) American poet

Chance

“Will you give me another chance?” Robert repeated. Smiling, Dougless kissed him on the cheek. “No,” she said, “although I thank you very much for the offer.”

Jude Deveraux (1947) American writer

Source: A Knight in Shining Armor

Kiss, Chance

“Strange children should smile at each other and say, "Let's play.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald book Tender Is the Night

Source: Tender Is the Night

Children

“Chin held high, Miss Ohio beamed at an imagined crowd. "I want to be a motivational speaker."
"What are you going to motivate people to do?"
Smile still in place, she cut her eyes at Adina. "You know. Motivational… stuff.”

Libba Bray (1964) American teen writer

Source: Beauty Queens

People, Imagination, Motivation

“Tell him,' the colonel said, smiling, 'that a person doesn’t die when he should but when he can.”

Gabriel García Márquez book One Hundred Years of Solitude

Variant: A person doesn't die when he should but when he can.
Source: One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), p. 241, said by Colonel Aureliano Buendía

Personality

“So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.”

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) American actress, model, and singer

Life, Beauty, Heartbreaking, Inspirational

“Never think I have abandoned you. When the sun shines on you, it is my smile. When you hear the breeze stir through the apple blossoms, it is my whisper that I love you. My love is yours forever.”

Robert Jordan The Shadow Rising

Source: The Shadow Rising

Love, Thinking, Sun

“I'm not myself," she offered, guiltily. She softened around Tik Tok, and when she did she was, for those rare moments, girlish.

He smiled. "You can never say that. You're just a piece of yourself right now that you don't like.”

Jodi Lynn Anderson American children's writer

Source: Tiger Lily

“Asil has appointed himself my guardian?" asked Charles softly. Asil was overstepping himself.

"He was bored, he told me," said his father. He gave Charles a small smile. "I have given him a job so he doesn’t get bored again.”

Patricia Briggs book Fair Game

Source: Fair Game

“Drive away and try to keep smiling. Get a little rock and roll on the radio and go toward all the life there is with all the courage you can find and all the belief you can muster. Be true, be brave, stand.”

Stephen King book It

Page 1087
Source: It (1986)
Context: Not all boats which sail away into darkness never find the sun again, or the hand of another child; if life teaches anything at all, it teaches that there are so many happy endings that the man who believes there is no God needs his rationality called into serious question...So drive away quick, drive away while the last of the light slips away...drive away from Derry, from memory...but not from desire. That stays, the bright cameo of all we were and all we believed as children, all that shone in our eyes even when we were lost and the wind blew in the night. Drive away and try to keep smiling. Get a little rock and roll on the radio and go toward all the life there is with all the courage you can find and all the belief you can muster. Be true, be brave, stand. All the rest is darkness.
Context: So you leave, and there is an urge to look back, to look back just once as the sunset fades, to see that severe New England skyline one final time... Best not to look back. Best to believe that there will be happily ever afters all the way around - and so there may be; who is to say there will not be such endings? Not all boats which sail away into darkness never find the sun again, or the hand of another child; if life teaches anything at all, it teaches that there are so many happy endings that the man who believes there is no God needs his rationality called into serious question... So drive away quick, drive away while the last of the light slips away... drive away from Derry, from memory... but not from desire. That stays, the bright cameo of all we were and all we believed as children, all that shone in our eyes even when we were lost and the wind blew in the night. Drive away and try to keep smiling. Get a little rock and roll on the radio and go toward all the life there is with all the courage you can find and all the belief you can muster. Be true, be brave, stand. All the rest is darkness.

Life, Courage, Hope

“He stepped closer to her. "Thank you for saving me," he said softly, and wrapped the bones of his arms around her. Valkyrie smiled and hugged him back.”

Derek Landy (1974) Irish children's writer

Source: Dark Days

“Peter smiles, and ugh, it's annoying how handsome he is.”

Jenny Han book To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Source: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

“I have to smile. He's such a dork. But I'm starting to realize the one good thing that's happened: he's my dork.”

Ally Carter book All Fall Down

Source: All Fall Down

“Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!” Tantalus smiled at us like we were all naughty children. “Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s’mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!”

Rick Riordan book The Sea of Monsters

Source: The Sea of Monsters

Children

“Amy felt her phone vibrate. She held it up. It was from Ian.

DON'T ASK THE PRICE OF ANYTHING. DON'T SMILE. DON'T SAY "DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING CHEAPER?" DON'T

Amy shoved the phone back in her pocket. "Just pretend to be Ian," she told Dan.”

Jude Watson book A King's Ransom

Source: A King's Ransom

“Do what makes you happy, be with who makes you smile, laugh as much as you breathe, and love as long as you live.”

Rachel Ann Nunes (1966) Author

Love, Happiness, Good Morning

“Hole…" He grips Risa's hand tighter. "Hole, Risa, hole…" And she smiles "Yes, Connor," she says. "You're whole. You're finally whole.”

Neal Shusterman (1962) American novelist

Source: UnDivided

“I gave him a smile. I was aiming for sweet, but he turned a shade paler and scooted a bit farther from me. Note to self: work more on sweet and less on psycho-killer.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Strikes

“Take back the smile and the night, take it all back, I wish I could.”

Daniel Handler book Why We Broke Up

Source: Why We Broke Up

Night

“Was it frisson when you saw a guy smile and it made your heart act all weird?”

Meg Cabot book All American Girl

Source: All-American Girl

Guy, Heart

“It was hidden inside another book. One Valentine was unlikely to ever open." Magnus smiled crookedly. "Simple Recipes for Housewives. No one can say your mother didn't have a sense of humor.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Glass

Source: City of Glass

Books, Sense

“What if I were smiling and running into your arms? Would you see then what I see now?”

Jon Krakauer book Into the Wild

Source: Into the Wild

“Enobaria smiles at Johanna. 'Don't look so smug,' says Johanna. 'We'll kill you anyway.”

Suzanne Collins book Mockingjay

Source: Mockingjay

“If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

Peace Is Every Step : The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life (1992) Bantam reissue
Source: Being Peace
Context: If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. If we really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile? Our smile affirms our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. The source of a true smile is an awakened mind.

Life, Happiness, Peace, Peaceful

“I will never shame you. I will hate the man you choose because he is not me, and love him if he makes you smile. No woman deserves the sure knowledge of widow's black as her brideprice, you least of all.”

Robert Jordan book The Eye of the World

al'Lan Mandragoran to Nynaeve al'Meara
(15 January 1990)
Source: The Eye of the World

Love, Hate, Knowledge