Quotes about doing
page 100

“I never could stand being forced to do something I didn't want to do at a time I didn't want to do it. Whenever I was able to do something I liked to do, though, when I wanted to do it, and the way I wanted to do it, I'd give it everything I had.”

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

Source: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Way, Time

“But chance runs like a river through all our lives, and being prepared for surprise is the best we can do.”

Kenneth Oppel Skybreaker

Source: Skybreaker

Chance

“The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do. The mystery which surrounds a thinking machine already surrounds a thinking man.”

B.F. Skinner (1904–1990) American behaviorist

Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis (1969).
Source: Contingencies Of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis

Men, Question, Thinking

“Dad, how do soldiers killing each other solve the world's problems?”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

Source: Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995: An Exhibition Catalogue

Peaceful, World, Problem

“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

Remarks During Signing of Defense Bill http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/aug/06/uselections2004.usa2 (5 August 2004). <br class="br">2000s, 2004

People, Way, Thinking, Country

“I do not think that I will ever reach a stage when I will say, "This is what I believe. Finished." What I believe is alive… and open to growth”

Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer

Thinking

“We make messes of our lives, but every now and then, we manage to do something that's exactly right. The challenge is figuring out which is which.”

Jodi Picoult (1966) Author

Source: Vanishing Acts

“What came first – the music or the misery? Did I listen to the music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to the music? Do all those records turn you into a melancholy person?”

Nick Hornby book High Fidelity

Source: High Fidelity

Music, Personality

“Why do you keep looking back there?" the guy in charge had asked.
"From time to time I need an antidote," Eddie said.
"From what?"
"Your face.”

Stephen King book The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three

Source: The Drawing of the Three

Guy, Time

“To not do what you can to protect someone, that's cowardly.”

Jodi Lynn Anderson American children's writer

Source: Tiger Lily

“If you believe in what you are doing, then let nothing hold you up in your work. Much of the best work in the world has been done against seeming impossibilities.”

Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American writer and lecturer

World

“How do you keep safe when your whole day is as wide and empty as the sky?”

Gillian Flynn book Sharp Objects

Source: Sharp Objects

“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, Smile

“I have always been aware of how I break.
I know what kind of situations will break me.
I know what kind of people will do it.
I know how much it will hurt.”

David Levithan book Every You, Every Me

Source: Every You, Every Me

People, Hurt

“Adrian suddenly made an abrupt turn onto a side street we'd nearly driven past. I jerked upright as he clipped the curb.
"What are you doing? Think about your tires!”

Richelle Mead book The Indigo Spell

Source: The Indigo Spell

Jerk, Thinking, Past

“When you get your,'Who am I?', question right, all of your,'What should I do?' questions tend to take care of themselves”

Richard Rohr (1943) American spiritual writer, speaker, teacher, Catholic Franciscan priest

Source: Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life

Question

“You realize that there's no point in doing anything if nobody's watching.
You wonder, if there had been a low turnout at the crucifixion, would they have rescheduled?”

Chuck Palahniuk book Survivor

Source: Survivor

“Part of me could do it. Run off and get married. But another part… Another part of me wondered if I could really trust anyone. If all relationships were all doomed.”

Sarah Mlynowski (1977) Novelist

Source: Ten Things We Did

Parting

“Sometimes it's a good thing we don't remember things half as well as books do.”

Cornelia Funke Inkheart trilogy

Source: Inkheart

Books

“you grab at any sign of hope. You grab it with both hands and breathe life into it, day after day. You do anything to keep it alive.”

Melina Marchetta Finnikin of the Rock

Source: Finnikin of the Rock

Life, Hope

“What strange phenomena we find in a great city, all we need do is stroll about with our eyes open. Life swarms with innocent monsters.”

Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867) French poet

Life

“I just won't sleep," I decided. There were so many other interesting things to do.”

Jack Kerouac book On the Road

Source: On the Road

Sleep

“No one knows better than I do how far heaven is, but I also know all the shortcuts. The secret is to die, when you want to, and not when He proposes. Or else to force Him to take you before your time.”

Juan Rulfo book Pedro Páramo

Source: Pedro Páramo

Secret, Time

“I mean, imagine how some unfortunate Master Criminal would feel, on coming down to do a murder at the old Grange, if he found that not only was Sherlock Holmes putting in the weekend there, but Hercule Poirot, as well." ~ Bertram "Bertie" Wooster”

P.G. Wodehouse book The Code of the Woosters

Source: The Code of the Woosters

Feeling, Imagination

“I do what I do without hope of reward or fear of punishment. I do not require Heaven or Hell to bribe or scare me into acting decently.”

Mary Doria Russell The Sparrow

Source: The Sparrow

Fear, Hope, Hell

“I do not want the peace that passeth understanding. I want the understanding which bringeth peace.”

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

Quoted in Henry More: The Rational Theology of a Cambridge Plattonist (1962) by Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, page 100.

Peaceful, Peace, Understanding

“They're always looking forward to going places they're just coming back from, or regretting doing things they haven't yet done. They say hello when they mean goodbye.”

Martin Amis book Time's Arrow

Source: Time's Arrow

“I do not understand why, when I ask for grilled lobster in a restaurant, I'm never served a cooked telephone.”

Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) Spanish artist

Understanding, Cooking

“Want me to warm up the sauce?”
“Do we do that? I mean, it’s in a jar, right? Can’t you just dump it over the pasta?”
“Well, you can, but it tastes better if you warm it up.”
“Oh.” Eve sighed. “This is complicated. No wonder I never cook.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: The Dead Girls' Dance

Cooking

“Don’t listen to what people say; watch what they do.”

Steven D. Levitt book Think Like a Freak

Source: Think Like a Freak

People

“I can do nothing for you but work on myself… you can do nothing for me but work on yourself!”

Ram Dass book Be Here Now

Source: Be Here Now

“I lost a child," she said, meeting Lusa's eyes directly. "I thought I wouldn't live through it. But you do. You learn to love the place somebody leaves behind for you.”

Barbara Kingsolver book Prodigal Summer

Source: Prodigal Summer

Love, Learning

“Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?”

John Keats (1795–1821) English Romantic poet

Source: Letters of John Keats

Depressing, Pain, World, School

“Dudes," He said, "Do not follow other dudes to the bathroom."

Isabelle sighed. "Latent homosexual panic will do you in every time”

Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels

Source: City of Fallen Angels

Time

“Every instinct in me wants to text someone OMG, I've lost my phone! but how can I do that without a bloody phone?”

Sophie Kinsella book I've Got Your Number

Source: I've Got Your Number

“It feels like the whole world has turned upside down. There aren't any more rules.

Hey,' I say to Sam, because if the world's gone crazy, then I guess I can do whatever I want. "Guess what? I'm a worker.”

Holly Black book White Cat

Source: White Cat

World, Feeling

“I'm sorry," he says. "I don't usually like people. So when I do, part of me is really amused and the other part refuses to believe it's happening.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Two Boys Kissing

People, Parting

“They did it for love, and sometimes love makes us do the irrational.. even the inexcusable.”

Melissa de la Cruz book The Van Alen Legacy

Source: The Van Alen Legacy

Love

“Do not dwell on past failures or it will ruin your future.”

Audrey Phillips

Failure, Past, Future

“The only advice I can give to aspiring writers is don't do it unless you're willing to give your whole life to it. Red wine and garlic also helps.”

Jim Harrison (1937–2016) American novelist, poet, essayist

Life, Wine, Help

“The truth is that nobody is owed an apology for anything. Apologies are lovely when they happen. But they change nothing. They do not reverse actions or correct damage. They are merely nice to hear.”

Augusten Burroughs (1965) American writer

Source: This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike.

Love, Truth, Change

“If you don't want to be in an argument with someone, it is probably best to try to solve the problem, rather than lying around hoping the other person will do it for you.”

E. Lockhart (1967) American writer of novels as E. Lockhart (mainly for teenage girls) and of picture books under real name Emily J…

Source: The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them

Hope, Lying, Problem, Personality

“Obey, obey, obey, then do what you want.”

Lisa See book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Source: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

“Maybe everyone is just trying to protect me by lying to me. I don’t care. I’m sick of people lying to me for my own good. Because really it’s mostly for their own good. Lie to Katniss about the rebellion so she doesn’t do anything crazy.”

Suzanne Collins book Mockingjay

Katniss (p. 118)
Source: The Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay (2010)

People, Lie, Lying

“You will receive everything you need when you stop asking for what you do not need”

Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) Indian guru

“It is not about doing what we feel like. It is about doing what God says.”

Joyce Meyer (1943) American author and speaker

God, Feeling

“You will die a worse death if you do not leave my domain,” a voice thundered down from the third story of the old tenement. “I am a servant of the Sacred Fire, the wielder of the flame of Arnor—”
“So I should call you Gandalf?”

Karen Chance American writer

Source: Death's Mistress

Death

“I ask one thing: I ask the right to hope and suffer as I do now."
Vronsky”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

Source: Ana Karenina

Hope, Suffering

“History,' Mari muttered, as if she'd overheard his thoughts. 'Why do we need to know what happened before we were born?'

'So hopefully we get smarter and don't make the same mistakes again.”

Cinda Williams Chima (1952) Novelist

Source: The Demon King

History

“So what do we do if we get bitten by something deadly?' I asked.
He looked at me as if I were stupid.
'You die, of course. That's what deadly means.”

Douglas Adams book Last Chance to See

Source: Last Chance to See

Stupidity

“There is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

Kenneth Grahame book The Wind in the Willows

Rat, Ch. 1
Variant: There’s nothing––absolutely nothing––half so much worth doing as messing about in boats.
Source: The Wind in the Willows (1908)
Context: There is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. In or out of ‘em, it doesn’t matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that’s the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don’t; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you’re always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you’ve done it there’s always something else to do.

“Magnus did not have enormous respect for the Law, but if he was breaking it he wanted to look good doing it.”

Cassandra Clare The Bane Chronicles

Source: The Bane Chronicles

Law

“Can I…I mean, do you mind if I sleep up here? If you don't, I, um, understand. I just—"
"Yes." The word bolted out of me. "Yes, please. Maybe I'll be able to sleep if you're here.”

Lilith Saintcrow (1976) American writer

Source: Jealousy

Understanding, Sleep