Quotes about harm
page 7

“I don't want our relationship to end like this. You're one of the very few friends I have, and it hurts not being able to see you. When am I going to be able to talk to you? I want you to tell me that much, at least.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“When we give ourselves in love we become our most vulnerable. We are never safe. We become open to disappointment and hurt.”

Leo Buscaglia (1924–1998) Motivational speaker, writer

Source: Loving Each Other

Love, Disappointment

“Because letting someone in close meant they could hurt you. I knew all about that kind of fear. I lived with it.”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Blue-Eyed Devil

Fear

“There is a tiger in my room,' said Frances.
'Did he bite you?' said Father.
'No,' said Frances.
'Did he scratch you?' said Mother.
'No,' said Frances.
'Then he is a friendly tiger,' said Father. 'He will not hurt you. Go back to sleep.”

Russell Hoban (1925–2011) American British novelist, children's writer and illustrator

Source: Bedtime for Frances

Sleep

“It will hurt." said Petra. "But let's make the most of what we have, and not let future pain ruin present happiness.”

Orson Scott Card book Shadow Puppets

Source: Shadow Puppets

Pain, Happiness, Future

“being physically intimidating didn't keep you from getting your feelings hurt. Everyone's heart is the same size.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Hit List

Source: Hit List

Feeling, Heart

“You cannot be with someone just because you don’t want to hurt him. You have your own happiness to think about.”

Melissa de la Cruz book The Van Alen Legacy

Source: The Van Alen Legacy

Happiness, Thinking, Heartbreaking, Hurtful

“Music could ache and hurt, that beautiful music was a place a suffering man could hide.”

Pat Conroy book Beach Music

Source: Beach Music

Beauty, Music, Suffering

“Poor gosling. It hurts to be lost. And worse to be home with no kind of homecoming… I'll be lucky if I can do as well as you when all this's done, just a bit out of breath, a bit bruised and scratched, a bit wiser and sadder for it all.”

Shannon Hale The Goose Girl

Source: The Goose Girl

Home

“If one believed in angels one would feel that they must love us best when we are asleep and cannot hurt each other; and what a mercy it is that once in every twenty-four hours we are too utterly weary to go on being unkind.”

Elizabeth von Arnim (1866–1941) Australian writer

Source: The Solitary Summer

Love, Angels, Feeling

“Other people are going to find healing in your wounds. Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts.”

Rick Warren (1954) Christian religious leader

Source: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?

Life, People

“To be left behind… or to leave behind. I wonder which hurts more.”

Natsuki Takaya (1973) Manga artist

Source: Fruits Basket, Vol. 16

“Oh, Celie, unbelief is a terrible thing. And so is the hurt we cause others unknowingly.”

Alice Walker book The Color Purple

Source: The Color Purple

“So you’ll just kill anyone who frightens you. Who could hurt you.”
“Well…yes.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: The Dead Girls' Dance

“You may be hurt if you love too much, but you will live in misery if you love too little.”

Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American author

Source: Napoleon Hill's Positive Action Plan: 365 Meditations For Making Each Day a Success

Love, Heartbreaking, Powerful

“I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.”

Yann Martel book Life of Pi

Source: Life of Pi

Life, Hurtful

“The hurt is not enough: I long for weight and strength. To feel the earth as rough to all my length”

Robert Frost (1874–1963) American poet

Source: Complete Poems Of Robert Frost, 1949

Feeling

“Sometimes I think that if it were possible to tell a story often enough to make the hurt ease up, to make the words slide down my arms and away from me like water, I would tell that story a thousand times.”

Anita Shreve book The Weight of Water

Source: The Weight of Water

Thinking, Water, Time

“rules exist for a reason. Rules exist because when people don't follow them, people get hurt.”

Ally Carter book Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover

Source: Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover

People

“Is this what love feels like?" he whispered to her. "I don't like it, my Beth. It hurts too much.”

Jennifer Ashley (1974) American author

Source: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

Love, Feeling

“I don't want to hurt myself. I want to stop hurting.”

David Foster Wallace book Infinite Jest

Source: Infinite Jest

“Waiting for your
answer is one of the most painful things I have ever been through. At
least let me know whether or not I hurt you.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

Pain, Waiting

“A fall from the third floor hurts as much as a fall from the hundredth. If I have to fall, may it be from a high place.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

“Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment.”

Rick Warren (1954) Christian religious leader

Source: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?

Pain, Past

“I knew you loved me and that you'd do anything for me. And that was one of the reasons it hurt so much when you ended it, Dawson. Because I knew even then how rare that kind of love is. Only the luckiest people get to experience it at all.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Best of Me

Source: The Best of Me

Love, People

“I knew how much it hurt to be the daughter of people who can't see you, not even if you are standing in front of them stomping your feet.”

Laurie Halse Anderson Wintergirls

Source: Wintergirls

People, Daughters

“If you can understand human behavior, it can’t hurt you nearly as much.”

Carol Plum-Ucci (1957) American writer

Source: What Happened to Lani Garver

Behavior, Understanding

“it's gonna hurt because it matters.”

David Levithan book Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Source: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

“Time ticks by; we grow older. Before we know it, too much time has passed and we've missed the chance to have had people hurt us. To a younger me this sounded like luck; to an older me this sounded like a quiet tragedy.”

Douglas Coupland book Life After God

Source: Life After God (1994)

People, Chance, Time

“It's always funny until someone gets hurt.

Then it's just hilarious.”

Bill Hicks (1961–1994) American comedian

Funny, Hurtful

“Werewolf games," Mercy said solemnly, "play for keeps, or go home." She was so cute sometimes it made Adam's heart hurt.”

Patricia Briggs book Frost Burned

Source: Frost Burned

Home, Game, Heart

“Don't be careful. You could hurt yourself.”

Byron Katie (1942) American spiritual writer

Your Inner Awakening

“It make one's mouth hurt to speak with such forced merriment.”

David Sedaris book Holidays on Ice

Source: Holidays on Ice

“People say you should give until it hurts. I say you should give until it stops hurting. Know what I mean?”

Elizabeth Berg (1948) American novelist

Source: Dream When You're Feeling Blue

People

“Lydia: Strange how you always remember the pain someone gave you, but seldom the hurt you caused them.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: The Guardian

Pain

“My heart hurts that means I’m alive.”

Kazuya Minekura (1975) Japanese manga artist

Source: Stigma

Heart

“Art hurts. Art urges voyages—
and it is easier to stay at home.”

Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000) American writer

"The Chicago Picasso" (1968)

Art, Home

“Hey, Mikey? You get her hurt and I'll end you."
"You let anything happen to Eve and I'll do the same," Michael said. He'd just finished kissing Eve, too. "While you're at it, don't get yourself killed, either, bro."
"Ditto. And don't kiss me.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Ghost Town

Kiss

“They played at hearts as other children might play at ball; only, as it was really their two hearts that they flung to and fro, they had to be very, very handy to catch them, each time, without hurting them.”

Gaston Leroux book The Phantom of the Opera

Source: The Phantom of the Opera

Children, Time, Heart

“Things that really, really hurt are the right things to do.”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

“Cutting pain was a different flavor of hurt. It made it easier not to think about having my body and my family and my life stolen, made it easier not to care… -Wintergirls”

Laurie Halse Anderson (1961) American children's writer

Life, Pain, Family, Thinking

“I've always protected myself when it comes to love. And maybe that's the problem. By not letting myself get hurt now, it ripples into much bigger pain later.”

Carolyn Mackler book The Future of Us

Source: The Future of Us

Love, Pain, Problem

“Do you know how sometimes - when you are riding your bike and you start skidding across sand, or when you miss a step and start tumbling down the stairs - you have those long, long seconds to know that you are going to be hurt, and badly?”

Jodi Picoult My Sister's Keeper

Source: My Sister's Keeper

“If she had hurt me, I could have forgiven her without even having to think about it; but I couldn't forgive her for being hurt.”

Tana French In the Woods

Source: In the Woods

Forgiveness, Thinking

“…. he said it was interesting. He used the word 'textured'. He said 'smooth' is boring but 'textured' was interesting, and the scar meant that I was stronger than whatever had tried to hurt me.”

Jeannette Walls book The Glass Castle

Source: The Glass Castle

“I'm just not having a very good time and I don't have any reason to think it'll get anything but worse. I'm tired. I'm hurt. I'm sad. I feel used.”

Marsha Norman 'night, Mother

Source: 'night, Mother

Sadness, Feeling, Thinking, Time

“That is like throwing two virgins into a bed. Enthusiasm, passion, and ignorance are not a good combination. Someone is likely to get hurt.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

Passion

“Even mocking people helped their face stats. In the reputation economy, the only real way to hurt anyone was to ignore them completely. And it was pretty hard to ignore someone who made your blood boil.”

Scott Westerfeld book Extras

Source: Extras

People, Way, Help

“I’m afraid of everything. Fear of being alone, fear of being hurt, fear of being made a fool of, fear of failure… Still, I think all my fears bleed from one big one…”

Tiffanie DeBartolo (1970) American writer

Source: God-Shaped Hole

Fear, Fools, Failure, Thinking

“Withhold a smile only when the smile can hurt someone. Otherwise, let it bloom forth in a riot.”

Vera Nazarian (1966) American writer

Source: The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Smile, Hurtful, Cute

“Don't mess with me, Calvin. You'll only get hurt.”

Susan Elizabeth Phillips book Nobody's Baby But Mine

Source: Nobody's Baby But Mine

“People tend the take everything too seriously. Especially themselves. Yep. And that's probably what makes 'em scared and hurt so much of the time. Life is too serious to take that seriously.”

Tom Robbins (1932) American writer

Life, People, Time

“What should I say? That I like him so much it hurts?”

Shannon Hale Princess Academy

Source: Princess Academy

“Anger is the most useless emotion," Henchick intoned, "destructive to the mind and hurtful to the heart.”

Stephen King book The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah

Source: Song of Susannah

Heart, Anger

“I wonder if it's possible to start a new relationship without hurting someone else. I wonder if it's possible to have happiness without it being at someone else's expense”

David Levithan Boy Meets Boy

Source: Boy Meets Boy

Happiness

“Because the truth sometimes hurts," I said.
Yeah," he said. "So do lies, though.”

Sarah Dessen book Just Listen

Source: Just Listen

Truth

“To make real friends you have to put yourself out there. Sometimes people will let you down, but you can't let that stop you. If you get hurt, you just pick yourself up, dust off your feelings, and try again.”

Kristin Hannah (1960) American writer

Source: Firefly Lane

People, Feeling, Heartbreaking

“I don't believe in guilt, I believe in living on impulse as long as you never intentionally hurt another person, and don't judge people in your life. I think you should live completely free”

Angelina Jolie (1975) American actress, film director, and screenwriter

Variant: I don't believe in guilt, I believe in living on impulse as long as you never intentionally hurt another person, and don't judge people in your life. I think you should live completely free...

Life, People, Thinking, Personality

“You don't die. You just… get really angry and then after you're angry you hurt a lot and then the best thing is that one day you remember something she said or did and you laugh instead of crying.”

Melina Marchetta book Looking for Alibrandi

Source: Looking for Alibrandi

Cry

“I closed my eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m tired. My knee is hurting again and I’m trying to teleport myself upstairs.”
“Um, Kate, you can’t do that.”
“I know. But I’m trying very hard. Let me know if I start fading?”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Slays

“Pride helps us; and pride is not a bad thing when it only urges us to hide our own hurts—not to hurt others.”

George Eliot book Middlemarch

Daniel Deronda (1876)
Source: Middlemarch

Help

“You have someone in your life whom you honor and revere so much that every hurt on them is inflicted on you as well. And the closer they are to you, the greater the pain.”

Masashi Kishimoto (1974) Japanese manga artist

Life, Pain

“you mourn, you hurt and you start to heal.”

Rachel Hawthorne (1950) American author

Source: A Year In Europe

“If, instead, you find yourself often pitying someone who consistently hurts you or other people, and who actively campaigns for your sympathy, the chances are close to 100 percent that you are dealing with a sociopath.”

Martha Stout (1953) American psychologist

Source: The Sociopath Next Door

People, Chance

“That's the funny thing about old hurts- they just wait for new heartache to come along and then show up, just as sharp and horrible as the first day you woke up with the world changed all around you.”

Lilith Saintcrow book Strange Angels

Source: Strange Angels

World, Change, Waiting, Heartbreaking

“He had been so many things. Seductive as silver and deadly as a cobra. And vulnerable like a hurt child underneath it all.”

L.J. Smith The Forbidden Game

Source: The Forbidden Game

“It's not your enemies who are likeliest to hurt you. It is, always, those you trust.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Bitter Blood

“He gets hurt by the smallest touch. It'll be okay, as long as there will finally be a day. Eventually, one day. It will be good if all our burdens would finally be released. I really hope you can do it. I hope you two can both live happily.”

Natsuki Takaya (1973) Manga artist

Hope

“Share too much and someone can hurt you.”

Dorothy Koomson book My Best Friend's Girl

Source: My Best Friend's Girl

“You mustn't be so afraid of life - it's all we've got. Don't let it hurt you so much.”

Anna Kavan (1901–1968) British artist

Life

“He didn't want to remember anymore. remembering only hurt him… everytime.”

Anthony Horowitz book Raven's Gate

Source: Raven's Gate

“So the fact that I’m me and no one else is one of my greatest assets. Emotional hurt is the price a person has to pay in order to be independent.”

Haruki Murakami book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Variant: The fact that I’m me and no one else is one of my greatest assets. Emotional hurt is the price a person has to pay in order to be independent.
Source: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Personality, Hurtful

“It hurts when they're gone. And it doesn't matter if it's slow or fast, whether it's a long drawn-out disease or an unexpected accident. When they're gone the world turns upside down and you're left holding on, trying not to fall off.”

Walter Mosley (1952) American writer

Source: Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore

World, Disease

“I wonder if it hurts to live,
And if they have to try,
And whether, could they choose between,
They would not rather die.”

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) American poet

Hurtful

“But there are people who'll try to hurt you through the good they see in you--knowing that it's the good, needing it and punishing you for it. Don't let it break you when you discover that.”

Ayn Rand book Atlas Shrugged

Source: Atlas Shrugged

People

“Here's what no one ever tells you about love: it hurts, having your heart broken”

Jodi Picoult (1966) Author

Source: Between the Lines

Love, Heart

“When you begin to realize that your past does not necessarily dictate the outcome of your future, then you can release the hurt. It is impossible to inhale new air until you exhale the old.”

T.D. Jakes (1957) American bishop

Source: Healing the Wounds of the Past

Past, Future, Hurtful

“For what is delusion but the prelude to hurt. And what is hurt but the prelude to rage.”

Joyce Carol Oates Blonde

Source: Blonde

Rage

“Life is so damned hard, so damned hard… It just hurts people and hurts people, until finally it hurts them so that they can't be hurt ever any more. That's the last and worst thing it does.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald book The Beautiful and Damned

Source: The Beautiful and Damned

Life, People

“We all get our dreams stamped on from time to time, right? And if it didn’t hurt, what kind of second-rate dreams would they be?”

Richard K. Morgan book Woken Furies

Source: Woken Furies

Dreams, Time

“A girl calls and asks, "Does it hurt very much to die?"
"Well, sweetheart," I tell her, "yes, but it hurts a lot more to keep living.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Survivor

Source: Survivor

Girl

“Styx and The Stones may break my bones but 'More than Words' will never hurt me”

Chuck Klosterman book Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story

Source: Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story

“I don’t want the world. I want you,” Alec said, and Magnus closed his eyes, as if the words almost hurt.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Source: City of Heavenly Fire

World

“[…]you don’t have to be Sun freakin Tzu to know that real fighting isn’t about killing or even hurting the other guy, it’s about scaring him enough to call it a day.”

Max Brooks book World War Z

Source: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

Guy, Sun, Fight

“Nothing can hurt you except sin; nothing can grieve me except sin; nothing can defeat you except sin. Therefore, be on your guard, my Mansoul.”

John Bunyan book The Holy War

Source: The Holy War

“We're all curious about what might hurt us.”

Federico García Lorca (1898–1936) Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director

“If you're not getting hurt, you're not riding hard enough.”

Sarah Dessen book Along for the Ride

Source: Along for the Ride

“My pride shut me up, my hurt shut me down, and together they ganged up on my hope and let her get away.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Hope

“I know what it's like to start something and have it suddenly grow out of control. And you want to get rid of it, because it's hurting you and everyone else around you, but every time you try to do that, it consumes you again.”

Jodi Picoult book Handle With Care

Source: Handle with Care

Time

“These are hard times. The world hurts. We live in fear and forget to walk with hope. But hope has not forgotten you. So ask it to dinner. It's probably hungry and would appreciate the invitation.”

Libba Bray Going Bovine

Source: Going Bovine (2009), p. 428

World, Fear, Hope, Time

“The past can't hurt you anymore. Not unless you let it. They made you into a victim, Evey. They made you into a statistic. But, that's not the real you. That's not who you are inside.”

Alan Moore V for Vendetta

Source: V for Vendetta

Past

“This was not a fearie tale. This was not the movies. This was life. It hurt more. It was excruciating. It was excruciatingly beautiful.”

Francesca Lia Block (1962) American children's writer

Variant: This was not a faerie tale. This was not the movies. This was life. It hurt more. It was excruciating. It was excruciatingly beautiful.
Source: Violet & Claire

Life, Beauty

“When he sat alone in the darkness and cried and was done, all done with it, nothing had changed. His leg still hurt, it was still dark, he was still alone and the self-pity had accomplished nothing.”

Gary Paulsen book Hatchet

Source: Hatchet

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