Quotes about life page 46
Christopher Moore (1957) American writer of comic fantasy
Source: The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror
“The worst lies in life are the ones we tell ourselves.”
Brad Meltzer book The Inner Circle
Source: The Inner Circle
“While there's life, there's hope.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero (-106–-43 BC) Roman philosopher and statesman
Heauton Timorumenos (The Self-Tormentor)
“You can spend your whole life building a wall of facts between you and anything real.”
Chuck Palahniuk (1962) American novelist, essayist
“The happiest part of a man's life is what he passes lying awake in bed in the morning.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer
Karen Blixen (1885–1962) Danish writer
As quoted in Journey Through Womanhood: Meditations from Our Collective Soul (2002) by Tian Dayton
“People are meant to go through life two by two. 'Tain't natural to be lonesome.”
"Mrs. Gibbs"
Source: Our Town (1938)
“Everything good in life is either immoral, illegal or fattening.”
Nicole Richie (1981) American television personality, musician, actress, and author
“One should not believe too strongly in a life which can easily vanish.”
James Salter book A Sport and a Pastime
Source: A Sport and a Pastime
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) politician, writer and playwright
This appears as an anonymous proverb in Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine Vol. XIII, (January - June 1883) edited by T. De Witt Talmage, and apparently only in recent years has it become attributed to Addison.
Disputed
Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer
Source: The Irrational Season
Rick Riordan book The Son of Neptune
Variant: Since Percy’d lost his memory, his whole life was one big fillin-the-blank. He was____________________, from____________________. He felt like
____________________, and if the monsters
caught him, he’d be____________________.
Source: The Son of Neptune
“Everyone has the right to tell the truth about her own life.”
Ellen Bass (1947) American writer
Source: The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse
“Mother's life flowed radiant. Flourescent-tipped waves on incoming tides.”
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet
“Life is only lived full-time by women with children.”
Marguerite Duras (1914–1996) French writer and film director
Benjamin Hoff book The Tao of Pooh
Spelling Tuesday.
Source: The Tao of Pooh (1982)
“For every bad thing in life, there are more good things to tip the balance.”
Richelle Mead (1976) American writer
Source: Succubus on Top
“There is nothing perfect. There is only life.”
Sue Monk Kidd book The Secret Life of Bees
Source: The Secret Life of Bees (2002)
“Life is a miracle, and being aware of simply this can already make us very happy.”
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
Source: Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life
“We demand too much of life, too little of ourselves.”
Christopher Lasch (1932–1994) American historian
Source: The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations
“Life is the past, the present and the perhaps.”
Bette Davis (1908–1989) film and television actress from the United States
“Wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still lead the same life.”
Aristophanés (-448–-386 BC) Athenian playwright of Old Comedy
“There are three constants in life… Change, Choice and Principles.”
Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker
Nicholas Sparks book A Walk to Remember
Variant: Jamie saved my life. She taught me everything. About life, hope and the long journey ahead. I'll always miss her. But our love is like the wind. I can't see it, but I can feel it." - Landon Carter
Source: A Walk to Remember
“You gotta take chances in this life or you're already
dead.”
Megan McCafferty (1973) American novelist
Source: Second Helpings
“Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant.”
Paulo Coelho book Eleven Minutes
Source: Eleven Minutes (2003), p. 50.
“I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom.”
Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist, and social theorist
The Blood of Others [Le sang des autres] (1946)
General sources
“Life has a way of breaking even the strongest among us.”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist
Source: Styxx
“When a caterpillar changes into a butterfly it loses it's caterpillar life.”
L.J. Smith (1965) American author
Source: Night World, No. 1
William Saroyan book The Human Comedy
Source: The Human Comedy (1943)
Context: Death is not an easy thing for anyone to understand, least of all a child, but every life shall one day end. But as long as we are alive, as long as we are together, as long as two of us are left, and remember him, nothing in the world can take him from us. His body can be taken, but not him. You shall know your father better as you grow and know yourself better. He is not dead, because you are alive. Time and accident, illness and weariness took his body, but already you have given it back to him, younger and more eager than ever. I don't expect you to understand anything I'm telling you. But I know you will remember this — that nothing good ever ends. If it did, there would be no people in the world — no life at all, anywhere. And the world is full of people and full of wonderful life.
Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Variant: And she kissed me. It was the kind of kiss that I could never tell my friends about out loud. It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life.
Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
“I'm not sure there's such thing a thing as a normal life.”
Cassandra Clare book City of Ashes
Source: City of Ashes
On meurt toujours trop tôt - ou trop tard. Et cependant la vie est là, terminée : le trait est tiré, il faut faire la somme. Tu n'es rien d'autre que ta vie.
Inès, Act 1, sc. 5
No Exit (1944)
“I like her; I could watch her the rest of my life. She has breasts that smile.”
Philip K. Dick book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Source: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) British missionary
Source: My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year
Barbara Kingsolver The Bean Trees
Animal Dreams.
Animal Dreams (1990)
Variant: The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.
Source: The Bean Trees
“Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending.”
Jim Henson (1936–1990) American puppeteer
Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist
The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes
Source: Fever Pitch
Mitch Albom Tuesdays with Morrie
Variant: Because if you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward.
Source: Tuesdays with Morrie
“My life is perfect even when it's not.”
Ellen DeGeneres (1958) American stand-up comedian, television host, and actress
Stephen King (1947) American author
Source: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: A Story from Different Seasons
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
“She was the kind of girlfriend God gives you young, so you'll know loss the rest of your life.”
Junot Díaz book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Source: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
“There should be so much more, not of orange, of words, of how terrible orange is and life.”
Frank O'Hara (1926–1966) American poet, art critic and writer
Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890)
Quote from Vincent's letter to Theo, from Amsterdam, 30 May 1877; Dear Theo: the Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh;, ed. Irving Stone and Jean Stone (1995), p. 26
1870s
Context: When we are working at a difficult task and strive after a good thing, we are fighting a righteous battle, the direct reward of which is that we are kept from much evil. As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed.
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Source: "Einstein's Reply to Criticisms" (1949), The World As I See It (1949)
Context: What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether? To answer this question at all implies a religion. Is there any sense then, you ask, in putting it? I answer, the man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.
Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish language literature
Scott Dikkers (1965) American comic writer
Source: You Are Worthless: Depressing Nuggets of Wisdom Sure to Ruin Your Day
“Life is a dream from which we all must wake before we can dream again.”
Robert Jordan The Fires of Heaven
Source: The Fires of Heaven
Jonathan Kozol (1936) American activist and educator
Source: Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation
“Life is too short to waste time on books that end badly”
Jayne Ann Krentz (1948) American novelist
Source: Running Hot
“Life doesn't do anything to you. It only reveals your spirit.”
John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor