Quotes about waiting
page 8

“They're waiting for you. Go on in." Adrian leaned close to Keith's ear and spoke in an ominous voice."If. You. Dare.”

Source: Bloodlines

“Why does it take girls so long to shower?” he demanded. “Mortal girls, Shadowhunters, female warlocks, you‘re all the same. I‘m not getting any younger waiting out here.”
-Magnus to Clary, pg.272-”

Cassandra Clare book City of Ashes

Source: City of Ashes

Girl

“There was nothing new in sitting on this dock, on this or that wooden bench, watching for his boat to come. In some ways, she was always waiting for him.”

Ann Brashares book The Last Summer

Source: The Last Summer

Way

“The non-fiction bestseller lists frequently prove that we all want to know more about everything, even if we didn't know that we wanted to know - we're just waiting for the right person to come along and tell us about it.”

Nick Hornby (1957) English novelist

Personality

“She waited for the train to pass. Then she said, "I sometimes think that people’s hearts are like deep wells. Nobody knows what’s at the bottom. All you can do is imagine by what comes floating to the surface every once in a while.”

Haruki Murakami book Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Variant: I sometimes think that people's hearts are like deep wells. Nobody knows what's at the bottom. All you can do is guess from what comes floating to the surface every once in a while.
Source: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

People, Imagination, Thinking, Heart

“We'll be friends until forever, just you wait and see”

A.A. Milne (1882–1956) British author

“Please God, please suh, don't let him love nobody else but me. Maybe Ah'm is uh fool, Lawd, lak dey say, but Lawd, Ah been so lonesome, and Ah been waitin', Jesus. Ah done waited uh long time.”

Zora Neale Hurston book Their Eyes Were Watching God

Source: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Love, God, Fools, Time

“If a man wants to be romantically involved with you, he tries to kiss you. That's the entire story, and if he doesn't kiss you, there is never a reason to wait around for him.”

Curtis Sittenfeld (1975) Novelist, short story writer

Source: The Man of My Dreams

Kiss

“It's first owner… well, things didn't turn out too well for her. Her name was Helena.'
Piper let that sink in. "Wait, you mean the Helena? Helena of Troy?'
Annabeth nodded.
"And it's just sitting in your toolshed?”

Rick Riordan book The Lost Hero

Source: The Lost Hero

“If we wait until life is in order before making our decision, we'll never make any”

Judith McCoy Miller (1944) American writer

Source: An Uncertain Dream

Life, Decision

“It's a coffee cup."
She could hear the irritation in her own voice. "I know it's a coffee cup."
"I can't wait till you draw something really complicated, like the Brooklyn Bridge or a lobster. You'll probably send me a singing telegram.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

Coffee, Singing, Drawing

“Don't cross me Scooby-Doo. I'm not an old man in a mask waiting to be thwarted by you meddling kids.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Infinity

“You gotta wonder about someone who would be dumb enough to fallo a person as crazy as him!
wait, I think I just insulted myself
- ganju”

Tite Kubo (1977) Japanese manga artist

Thinking, Personality

“Some women waited for a night in shining armor. She, apparently, had ended up with a knight in black jeans and leather, who wanted to chase her down and have his evil way with her.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Bayou Moon

Women, Way, Evil, Night

“The latest incarnation of Oedipus, the continued romance of Beauty and the Beast, stand this afternoon on the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, waiting for the traffic light to change.”

Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) American mythologist, writer and lecturer

Source: The Hero With a Thousand Faces

Beauty, Light, Change

“Waiting and hoping is a hard thing to do when you've already been waiting and hoping for almost as long as you can bear it.”

Jenny Nimmo (1944) British author of children's books

Source: Charlie Bone and the Time Twister

Hope

“I wrestled futilely, then relaxed as a vine wrapped three times around my throat and squeezed.
Right," I choked out, and shut my eyes. "I'll wait here, then.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Thin Air

Time

“I've seen you, beauty, and you belong to me now, whoever you are waiting for and if I never see you again, I thought. You belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil.”

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American author and journalist

Beauty

“When you quit drinking you stop waiting.”

Caroline Knapp (1959–2002) American writer

Source: Drinking: A Love Story

Drink

“Jews wait for the Lord, Protestants sing hymns to him, Catholics say mass and eat him.”

Walker Percy book Love in the Ruins

Source: Love in the Ruins

Singing

“Why wait any longer for the one you love
When he’s standing in front of you”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Love

“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, Hurt

“We are waiting for the long-promised invasion. So are the fishes.”

Winston S. Churchill book The Second World War

Radio broadcast, London, Dieu Protège La France [God protect France], October 21, 1940 ( partial text http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/LaFrance.html). <br class="br">The Second World War (1939–1945)

Fish

“Wait, wait, wait.” V waved his hand-rolled around. “I’m the son of a deity and she picked you?”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: The King

“I've waited a long time to show these flowers how pretty you are.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

Flowers, Time

“If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.”

Larry McMurtry (1936) American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter

“I guess it's true what they say: if you wait long enough everything changes.”

Junot Díaz book This Is How You Lose Her

Source: This Is How You Lose Her

Change

“Let me finish my beer." (Stark)
"Of course. The end of the world can wait.(Kasabian)”

Richard Kadrey (1957) San Francisco-based novelist, freelance writer, and photographer

Source: Kill the Dead

World, Beer

“That's it? That's your big goodbye?" Eve asked.
Claire looked at Eve mystified. "I think I need guy CliffNotes."
"Guys aren't deep enough to need CliffNotes."
"What were you waiting for, flowery poetry?" Shane snorted. "I hugged. I'm done.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Lord of Misrule

Guy, Thinking

“Luckily, I always travel with a book, just in case I have to wait on line for Santa, or some such inconvenience.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Books, Travel

“(Baseball) is a game with a lot of waiting in it; it is a game with increasingly heightened anticipation of increasingly limited action”

John Irving book A Prayer for Owen Meany

Source: A Prayer for Owen Meany

Game

“While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till grief be digested, and then amusement will dissipate the remains of it.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

April 10, 1776, p. 305
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol III

“If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make who would you call and what would you say?
And why are you waiting?”

Stephen Levine (1937–2016) American poet and author

“All around the world, we are gazing skyward waiting for God…
Never realizing that God is waiting for us.”

Dan Brown (1964) American author

God, World

“He who waits for the sword to fall upon his neck will surely lose his head.”

Stephen R. Donaldson (1947) Novelist

“I know how this feels: the tightening of the chest, the panic, the what-have-I-done-wait-I-was-kidding. Eating disorders linger so long undetected, eroding the body in silence, and then they strike. The secret is out. You're dying.”

Marya Hornbacher book Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia

Source: Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia

Secret, Feeling, Silence

“But she was waiting patiently. She no longer believed in talk. It never rescued anything. At seventy she had come to believe in time alone.”

Alice Sebold book The Lovely Bones

Source: The Lovely Bones

Time

“I had to decide what I was going to do, and what I was going to be.
I was standing there, waiting for someone to do something, till I realised the person I was waiting for was myself.”

Markus Zusak (1975) Australian author

Source: Underdog

Personality

“.. we were always taught, instead of waiting to be swept off our feet, to 'expect little, forgive much'.”

Helen Fielding book Bridget Jones's Diary

Source: Bridget Jones's Diary

Forgiveness

“Don't wait for someone to green light your project, build your own intersection.”

Tyler Perry (1966) American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, producer, author, and songwriter

Light

“Nothing quite has reality for me till I write it all down--revising and embellishing as I go. I'm always waiting for things to be over so I can get home and commit them to paper.”

Erica Jong (1942) Novelist, poet, memoirist, critic

Home, Reality

“So plant your own gardens and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.”

Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish language literature

Soul, Flowers

“I've learned that if you wait long enough, you might get a second chance at something you gave up on. And sometimes you'll be the one to give the second chance to someone else.”

Wendy Mass (1967) American children's writer

Source: 13 Gifts

Learning, Chance

“I think… the secret is to just settle for the shape of your life takes… Instead of you know, always waiting and wishing for whatmake you happy.”

Wally Lamb book She's Come Undone

Source: She's Come Undone

Life, Secret, Thinking, Happiness

“Well," I said finally, knowing he was waiting, "you make me laugh."
He nodded. "And?"
"You're pretty good-looking."
"Pretty good-looking? I called you beautiful."
"You want to be beautiful?" I asked him.
"Are you saying I'm not?”

Sarah Dessen book This Lullaby

Source: This Lullaby

Beauty

“It's not enough to believe! Don't you see that, you stupid girl? You could spend your whole life hoping and believing! If a love affair is one-sided, then it's only ever a question, never an answer. You can't live your life waiting for an answer.”

Sophie Kinsella book Twenties Girl

Source: Twenties Girl

Love, Life, Stupidity, Hope

“You'll use it [Perrin's axe], boy, and as long as you hate using it, you would use it more wisely than most men would. Wait. If ever you don't hate it any longer, then will be the time to throw it as far as you can and run the other way.”

Robert Jordan book The Eye of the World

Elyas Machera
(15 January 1990)
Source: The Eye of the World

Men, Hate, Way, Boy

“I want to write about people who dream and wait for the night to end, who long for the light so they can hold the ones they love.”

Haruki Murakami (1949) Japanese author, novelist

Source: After the Quake

Love, People, Dreams, Light

“Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one's thoughts.”

Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) American missionary

God, Question, Heart

“… if this Roman dude’s as bad as you say, then why are you lurking outside his store looking all charged and heated like a dog waiting for its owner?”

Alyson Nöel book Dark Flame

Source: Dark Flame

Dogs

“we are the ones we have been waiting for”

Alice Walker (1944) American author and activist

“He [Nico] regarded Jason, as if waiting for an attack. 'If the others found out-'
'If the others found out,' Jason said, 'You'd have that many more people to back you up, and to unleash the fury of the gods on anybody who gives you trouble.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

God, People

“Ages fourteen to eighteen, a girl needs something to kill all that time, that endless itchy waiting, every hour, every day for something — anything — to begin.”

Megan Abbott book Dare Me

Source: Dare Me

Age, Girl, Time

“It is always better
to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning.
For every one of us, living in this world
means waiting for our end. Let whoever can
win glory before death. When a warrior is gone,
that will be his best and only bulwark.”

Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) Irish poet, playwright, translator, lecturer

Source: Beowulf

Death, World

“Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words,-Wait and hope.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Count of Monte Cristo

Source: The Count of Monte Cristo

Wisdom, God, Hope, Future

“Sam gave Captain Suicide a droll stare. "How did you die again? Oh wait, I know this. 'I can take 'em. I don't need to wait for reinforcements. I can do it myself.' How'd that work out for you again?”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: No Mercy

Suicide

“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

Heartbreaking, Hurtful, World, Change

“I'd rather chase the sun than wait for it.”

Markus Zusak (1975) Australian author

Source: I Am the Messenger

Sun

“Life is always a matter of waiting for the right moment to act.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Source: Veronika Decides to Die

Life

“With each reunion (we) had to learn each other all over again. There was always that nervous moment at the airport when I would stand there waiting for him to arrive, wondering, Will I still know him? Will he still know me?”

Elizabeth Gilbert book Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

Source: Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

Learning

“Leo waited while the fish centaur put away his supplies. Aphros's lobster-claw horns kept swimming around in his thick hair, and Leo had to resist the urge to try and rescue them.”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

Fish

“Do you think we’ll be waiting long?” Valkyrie asked,
keeping her voice low.
“The last time we were in this building, we accused the
Grand Mage of being a traitor,” Skulduggery said. “Yes, I think
we’ll be waiting long.”

Derek Landy (1974) Irish children's writer

Source: The Faceless Ones

Thinking, Time

“To those who will see, the world waits.”

Libba Bray (1964) American teen writer

World

“Why don't you ever wait a second and see what I'm planning, or thinking, before you burst in with your opinions and ideas? You never even give me a chance.”

Sarah Dessen (1970) American writer

Source: Someone Like You

Idea, Thinking, Chance

“Things are always different than what they might be… If you wait for them to change, you will never do anything.”

Henry James book The Portrait of a Lady

Source: The Portrait of a Lady

Change

“He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

“… people made the imaginary real all the time: taking the music they heard in their head and recording it, seeing a house in their imagination and building it. Fantasy was always only a reality waiting to be switched on.”

Joe Hill (1879–1915) Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World

Source: NOS4A2

People, Music, Imagination, Reality

“Wait." Clary was suddenly nervous. "The melted metal-it could be, like, toxic or something."
Maia snorted. "I'm from New Jersey. I born in toxic sludge.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Ashes

Source: City of Ashes

“Talk. I'll just wait' shall I? Because my mission to save this town is of no importance whatsoever next to your girl talk."- Myrnin
"Oh, shut up, you medieval drama queen" - Claire”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Girl

“We are healed to help others. We are blessed to be a blessing. We are saved to serve, not to sit around and wait for heaven.”

Rick Warren (1954) Christian religious leader

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

Help

“We can't always do what we think we have to do. So when there's nothing else you can do, you wait… No matter what… pressure… you might feel.”

Jeff Lindsay book Dearly Devoted Dexter

Source: Dearly Devoted Dexter

Feeling, Thinking

“To love God is to love His will. It is to wait quietly for life to be measured by One who knows us through and through. It is to be content with His timing and His wise appointment.”

Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) American missionary

Love, Life, God, Time

“I think you'll just have to wait for that Loser of the Month tiara a little while longer while I wear it, with pride, around my neighborhood.”

Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer

Source: Saving Francesca

Thinking

“the greatest Americans
have not been born yet
they are waiting patiently
for the past to die”

Saul Williams (1972) American singer, musician, poet, writer, and actor

Past

“I will be waiting by candlelight in our tree house of the mind.”

Joe Hill (1879–1915) Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World

Source: Horns

Tree, Housing

“Now that she realized she had been waiting for him — she did not like that.”

Paulo Coelho book Eleven Minutes

Source: Eleven Minutes

“The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting”

Andy Warhol (1928–1987) American artist

Variant: The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting.

Idea

“What makes people so impatient is what I can't figure; all the guy had to do was wait.”

Ken Kesey book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Source: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

People, Guy

“If he waits for the ideal moment, he will never set off; he requires a touch of madness to take the next step. The warrior uses that touch of madness. For - in both love and war - it is impossible to foresee everything.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Source: Warrior of the Light

Love, War, Madness

“The real struggle is about you: you, a person who has to learn to live in the real world, to inhabit her own skin, to know her own heart, to stop waiting for life to begin.”

Caroline Knapp (1959–2002) American writer

Source: Appetites: Why Women Want

Life, World, Learning, Heart

“I lie there and wait, and remind myself over and over that it doesn’t last forever. That there will be another day and after that, yet another day. One of those days, I’ll get up and eat breakfast and feel okay.”

E. Lockhart book We Were Liars

Source: We Were Liars

Lie, Feeling

“A peasant that reads is a prince in waiting.”

Walter Mosley (1952) American writer

Source: The Long Fall

Reading

“Old pain doesn't completely die. Time may soothe it, stoke over it until it looks like it has healed, but it never dies properly. It stays with you, it lives in the cracks of your soul, waiting for moments when you feel true pain”

Dorothy Koomson (1971) British writer

Source: Goodnight, Beautiful

Pain, Feeling, Soul, Time

“Are you waiting for a clue to fall on your head?" Derek asked.
"Yep. Tell me if you see one coming."
"Nope."
"My super mental powers must be getting rusty.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Rises

“I'm still there, watching those possessed children, as far away from the mystery now as I was then. I've never written, though I thought I wrote, never loved, though I thought I loved, never done anything but wait outside the closed door.”

Marguerite Duras book The Lover

Source: The Lover

Love, Children

“I suspect the truth is that we are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us.”

Khaled Hosseini book And the Mountains Echoed

Source: And the Mountains Echoed

Truth

“Because of fear, they made shelter and found food and grew things. For the same reason, weapons were stored, waiting.”

Lois Lowry Gathering Blue

Source: Gathering Blue

Fear, Food

“Start walking. When you hit a spot where you’re gasping for breath, that should tell us our limitations. (Xypher)
Oh, joy. I can’t wait to be the guppy. (Simone)
Glub, glub, little fishy. Start walking. (Xypher)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Dream Chaser

Joy

“Yeah? What'd you name all those cats?"

Death, Famine, Pestilence, War, and Mr. Whiskers."

You named your cats after the riders of the apocal--wait. Mr. Whiskers?"

Well, there are only four horsemen.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Storm Born

Death, War, Cats

“As Lacy waited for her turn to speak on Peter's behalf, she thought back to the first time she realized she could hate her own child.”

Jodi Picoult book Nineteen Minutes

Source: Nineteen Minutes

Hate, Time

“You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

A.A. Milne book Winnie-the-Pooh

Source: Winnie-the-Pooh

For Friend

“If I waited till I felt like writing, I'd never write at all.”

Anne Tyler (1941) American novelist

“Does anyone smell roasting meat?' said Razo, 'Oh, wait, it's just Geric's face.”

Shannon Hale Forest Born

Source: Forest Born

“If you can wait and not be tired of waiting, or being lied about, don't deal in lies. Or being hated, don't give way to hating, and yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.”

Rudyard Kipling book The Second Jungle Book

Stanza 1.
The Second Jungle Book (1895), If— (1896)
Source: If: A Father's Advice to His Son
Context: If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.

Hate, Way

“Of course, I thought I was badass at sixteen, too. Wait, I was badass at sixteen. Oh, yeah.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: The Dead Girls' Dance