Quotes about change
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“That is our Fairy Tail!! We don't live like we have already died, like you do!! We live with our lives on the lines, you bastard!! If you don't have the courage to change things then you might as well just die!!!”

Hiro Mashima (1977) Japanese manga artist

Courage

“You are James Herondale, said Uncle Jem. As you always were. Part your mother, part your father, part yourself. I would not change any part of you if I could.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: Nothing but Shadows

Parting

“When a caterpillar changes into a butterfly it loses it's caterpillar life.”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Source: Night World, No. 1

Life

“The truth was, I wasn't sure. But I wanted to keep believing people could change, and it was certainly easier to do so when you were in the midst of it.”

Sarah Dessen book Along for the Ride

Source: Along for the Ride

People, Truth

“It's not that I've suddenly become stronger or that something has changed. I'm still shaking. But… We don't have to let those fears stop us. What's most important is that we try to rise above our weakness.”

Natsuki Takaya (1973) Manga artist

Fear

“I believe in the goodness of fellow human beings. We have a true desire for greatness and genuine good intention to be helpful to others. That's enough. Change is possible.”

Ilchi Lee (1950) South Korean businessman

Source: Change: Realizing Your Greatest Potential

Help

“He'd always had that fearless optimism that made cynics like me squirm. I wondered if it was enough for both of us. I would never know from here, though. And time was passing. Crucial minutes and seconds, each one capable of changing everything.”

Sarah Dessen book This Lullaby

Source: This Lullaby

Optimism, Time

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.”

John Milton (1608–1674) English epic poet

Attributed to Milton at http://quotationsbook.com/quote/31964/#sthash.zAJjMqmY.dpbs, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverence_(emotion)#Quotations, great-quotes.com, and brainyquote.com. <br class="br">Spirituality author Sarah Ban Breathnach writes, in her 1996 Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude: "Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life (is it abundant or is it lacking?) and the world (is it friendly or is it hostile?)." A Milton quotation occurs on the same page. <br class="br">Misattributed

Life, World, Gratitude

“Prayer is like water - something you can't imagine has the strength or power to do any good, and yet give it time and it can change the lay of the land.”

Jodi Picoult book Sing You Home

Source: Sing You Home

Imagination, Water, Time

“Changing the world is good for those who want their names in books. But being happy, that is for those who write their names in the lives of others, and hold the hearts of others as the treasure most dear.”

Orson Scott Card book Children of the Mind

Source: Children of the Mind

Happiness, Books, World, Heart

“One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in his bed he had been changed into a monstrous bug…”

Franz Kafka book The Metamorphosis

Source: The Metamorphosis

Dreams

“You don't have to agree with me, but I think the heart of who we are stays pretty much the same," Hope said, "What changes is how those core traits manifest themselves over time.”

Megan McCafferty (1973) American novelist

Source: Fourth Comings

Hope, Thinking, Time, Heart

“A weapon is a device for making your enemy change his mind.”

Lois McMaster Bujold book The Vor Game

Source: Vorkosigan Saga, The Vor Game (1990)

“There are some things in life that shouldn't be given so much importance, if they don't change what is essential.”

Laura Esquivel book Like Water for Chocolate

Source: Like Water for Chocolate

Life

“Whether we change our lives or do nothing, we have responded. To do nothing is to do something.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Eating Animals

Source: Eating Animals

“The future is always changing. If we had no choices, there'd be no point in living.”

Richelle Mead Shadow Kiss

Source: Shadow Kiss

Future

“Let nothing disturb thee;
Let nothing dismay thee:
All things pass;
God never changes.”

Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582) Roman Catholic saint

"Poem IX", in Complete Works St. Teresa of Avila (1963) edited by E. Allison Peers, Vol. 3, p. 288
Context: Let nothing disturb thee;
Let nothing dismay thee:
All things pass;
God never changes.
Patience attains
All that it strives for.
He who has God
Finds he lacks nothing:
God alone suffices.

God

“Love and friendship. They are what make us who we are, and what can change us, if we let them.”

Emily Giffin (1972) American writer

Source: Something Blue

Love, Friendship

“That chain of relationships made me think of how connections are made--you read a book, you meet a person, you have a single experience, and your life is changed in some way. No act, therefore, however small, should be dismissed or ignored.”

Howard Zinn (1922–2010) author and historian

Source: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times

Life, Books, Way, Thinking

“For changes to be of any true value, they've got to be lasting and consistent.”

Anthony Robbins (1960) Author, actor, professional speaker

“How much can you change and get away with it, before you turn into someone else, before it's some kind of murder?”

Richard Siken (1967) American poet

Source: War of the Foxes

“All observations of life are harsh, because life is. I lament that fact, but I cannot change it.”

Margaret Atwood (1939) Canadian writer

Source: The Tent

Life

“People who can change and change again are so much more reliable and happier than those who can’t”

Stephen Fry book Moab Is My Washpot

Source: Moab Is My Washpot

People

“Change isn't always for the worst; the shell that forms around a piece of sand looks to some people like an irritation., and to others, like a pearl.”

Jodi Picoult My Sister's Keeper

Source: My Sister's Keeper

People

“One can never ask anyone to change a feeling.”

Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist

Source: As Consciousness is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964-1980

Feeling

“The changes we dread most may contain our salvation.”

Barbara Kingsolver book Small Wonder

Source: Small Wonder

Powerful

“Occasionally we all do wrong things from right motives. Only time can prove us right or wrong. The past is the past. Nothing can change it now, and who is to say that it was all wrong, anyway?”

Mary Balogh (1944) Welsh-Canadian novelist

Source: The Devil's Web

Motivation, Time, Past

“… just remember, darling, it is pain that changes our lives.”

Steve Martin book Shopgirl

Variant: It's pain that changes our lives.
Source: Shopgirl

Pain

“The hard thing about death is that nothing ever changes. The hard thing about life is that nothing stays the same.”

Sue Grafton (1940–2017) American writer

Source: J is for Judgment

Life, Death

“Any situation in which some men prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence;… to alienate humans from their own decision making is to change them into objects.”

Paulo Freire (1921–1997) educator and philosopher

Men, Decision

“But there is one thing you must remember, if you forget all else. There is no good or evil, save in the way you see the world. There is no dark or light save in your own vision. All changes in the blink of an eyelid; yet all remains the same.”

Juliet Marillier book Daughter of the Forest

Source: Daughter of the Forest

World, Way, Light, Evil

“So long as you do no harm to another, change your opinion once in a while. Contradict yourself without being embarrassed. This is your right. It doesn't matter what others think -because that's what they will think, in any case.”

Paulo Coelho Maktub

Source: Maktub

Thinking

“You always think that a bolt of lightning is going to strike and your parents will magically change into the people you wish they were, or back into the people they used to be.”

Nora Ephron (1941–2012) Film director, author screenwriter

Source: I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections

People, Thinking, Parent

“A power struggle collapses when you withdraw your energy from it. Power struggles become uninteresting to you when you change your intention from winning to learning about yourself.”

Gary Zukav (1942) American writer and revivalist

Learning

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the patience not to strangle my mother-in-law, chop her into little pieces, and dump them down a sewer.”

Jennifer Weiner (1970) American writer

Source: Little Earthquakes

God, Law, Courage, Patience

“Fix your eyes forward on what you can do, not back on what you cannot change.”

Tom Clancy (1947–2013) American author

“The present no matter what I brought couldn’t change the past. The Past was set and sealed.”

Ann Brashares book Sisterhood Everlasting

Source: Sisterhood Everlasting

Past

“change your brain, change your life”

Ilchi Lee (1950) South Korean businessman

Change: Realizing Your Greatest Potential

Life

“We are changed souls; we don't look at things the same way anymore. For there was a time when we expected the worst. But then the worst happened, did it not? And so we will never be surprised again.”

Douglas Coupland book Life After God

Source: Life After God

Way, Soul, Time

“Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon, everything's different.”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

Variant: You know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change, but pretty soon... everything's different.

“Who gets the change?" the clerk asked. "You or… your fella?"
Oh, he's not my boyfriend," I said. "He's my mother.”

Wally Lamb book She's Come Undone

Source: She's Come Undone

“History is moving pretty quickly these days, and the heroes and villains keep on changing parts.”

Ian Fleming book Casino Royale

Variant: History is moving pretty quickly these days and the heroes and villains keep on changing parts.
Source: Casino Royale

History, Parting

“The past can't be changed, can it? It can just be forgiven.”

Elizabeth George (1949) American woman mystery and thriller writer

Past

“Changing how we see images is clearly one way to change the world.”

Bell Hooks (1952) American author, feminist, and social activist

Source: Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies

World, Way

“Must colour change?”

Ronald Firbank (1886–1926) British novelist

Three More Novels: Vainglory, Inclinations, Caprice

“A girl meets a boy, Ed, and everything changes, or so she says.”

Daniel Handler book Why We Broke Up

Source: Why We Broke Up

Girl, Boy

“Nothing, nothing felt better than the way sand felt beneath my feet. It was both solid and shifting. Constant and ever-changing. It was summer.”

Jenny Han (1980) American writer

Source: It's Not Summer Without You

Way, Summer

“Step up to red alert."
Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb."
- Rimmer & Kryten, "Red Dwarf”

Rob Grant (1950) British writer

“Change is in the air, as old patterns fall away and new energies are emerging. Consciously release what needs to be released, and welcome with a full embrace the newness you've prayed for and so richly deserve.”

Marianne Williamson (1952) American writer

“For some time now she has had the conviction that life is about to change if only because it must….”

David Nicholls book One Day

Source: One Day

Life, Time

“If friends disappoint you over and over, that's in large part your own fault. Once someone has shown a tendency to be self-centered, you need to recognize that and take care of yourself; people aren't going to change simply because you want them to.”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

People, Disappointment, Parting

“The dream is like a river, ever changing as it flows and the dreamer just a vessel that must follow where it goes. We must lean from what's behind us never knowing what's in store keeps each day a contant battle just to stay between the shore”

Garth Brooks (1962) American country music artist

The River, written by Victoria Shaw and G. Brooks.
Song lyrics, Ropin' the Wind (1991)
Context: You know a dream is like a river,
Ever changin' as it flows.
And a dreamer's just a vessel
That must follow where it goes.
Trying to learn from what's behind you,
And never knowing what's in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores... andI will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry.
Like a bird upon the wind,
These waters are my sky.
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try.
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry.

Dreams

“Life is like underwear, should be changed twice a day.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

A Graveyard for Lunatics (1990)
Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

Life

“I could have. What does this phrase mean? At any given moment in our lives, there are certain things that could have heppened but, didn't. The magic moments go unrecognized, and then suddenly, the hand of destiny changes everything.”

Paulo Coelho book By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

Variant: At any given moment in our lives, there are certain things that could have happened but didn't. The magic moments
go unrecognized, and then suddenly, the hand of destiny changes everything.
Source: By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept